Unravelling

Lindsay Stanberry-Flynn

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Lovereading Price £7.99

RRP: £7.99

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Why I wrote this book

I wrote Unravelling because I wanted to explore the concept of a love that survives a lifetime, despite separation, estrangement and betrayal. Its early title was All That Remains from the notion that whatever life throws at us, what counts in the end – what ‘remains’– is love.

I was interested in the idea taken from Plato’s Symposium that humans were once made up of two halves, one female, one male. The gods, out of jealousy, split them in two, and now we spend our lives looking for our other half, our ‘soul mate’. It’s an idea that’s prevalent in modern culture and perhaps something we all yearn for.

When I read an article about someone’s parents who remarried aged 58 and 73, having first eloped in the 1960s, the love affair at the heart of Unravelling was born.

Unravelling is different because it explores the contrasts between ‘young’ love and ‘old’ love, between passionate, dangerous love and quiet, secure love. It considers the forces that shape love at different times in our lives. While it is a novel about love, with a powerful love affair, passionate characters and an involving plot, it is not a romantic novel in the accepted sense.

Readers should buy it not only because it is a passionate, thrilling story, but also because it will make them think about the complexity of an emotion that can pull us together, but also drive us apart.

Synopsis

Vanessa and Gerald first fall in love in the sixties when she is an art student and he a sculptor. As her tutor, he is a charismatic figure in the young Vanessa's eyes. Their relationship is passionate, thrilling, sexy. They marry and Vanessa pictures them as the glamorous couple of the art world. Reality is different. They have children and Gerald's personality and artistic talent soon eclipse Vanessa's. He belittles her early attempts at fashion design. Eventually he leaves. Suppressing her heartbreak, Vanessa makes a new life for herself with Andrew and her children. Her design business thrives. However, Gerald can't stay away, and Vanessa finds herself captivated by his magic all over again. He insists she belongs with him and must leave Andrew, so triggering a tragic chain of events that comes to dominate their lives. Haunted by grief and remorse, Vanessa rejects Gerald, but she never stops loving him. When they are finally reunited, years later, and find the chemistry between them is as strong as ever, they have to come to terms with their past and accept the power of their enduring love. Unravelling explores the complexity and contradictions of love and sexual attraction: their power to generate both passion and heartbreak; to cause delight and despair; to drive us to betrayal and lead us to redemption. Unravelling is a story that engages both the heart and the mind.

Reviews

‘a powerful and involving story’

Helen Corner, Cornerstones Literary Consultancy

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