Odd Girl Out

I picked up Odd Girl Out at a used book sale because of the reviews on the cover; it didn't disappoint. There are only three main characters, Anne and Edmund, who've been comfortably married for ten years, and Arabella, an intriguing young girl (and non-blood relative of Edmund) who comes to stay with them. The three become embroiled in a complicated relationship that calls into question and shatters what it means to be "comfortably and safely" married. Absorbing and well done.

There are three main characters in this novel: Anne and Edmund Cornhill are an idyllic couple living safe and secure in their private world; Arabella, a distant relation of Edmund's, is the stereotypical poor little rich girl but with an interesting twist. When the Cornhills open their home to Arabella, a complicated web of love, longing, and unexpected emotions erupt. All Arabella wants is "a peaceful happy life with - people who want that too - with me in it." All the Cornhills want is the domestic bliss they have known and cherished for the past ten years. What transpires is shocking and damaging, but written with the passion and intensity that make Elizabeth Jane Howard highly readable and every page of her book alive with tension and excitement. When one of the characters proclaims at the end "I'm truly sorry if I've made either of you feel unhappy," the reader is torn with the moral dilemma expressed in this novel. There are no black and white characters here, only gray, and when you have read the final page you will feel relieved it was only a novel and didn't really happen.

having myself mistakenly believed in a romantic situation where there was none, i found myself invested in this book...howard juxtposes one couple's safe relationship ("like an island") with the solitude of a young girl's quest to be loved. although few can resist loving arabella, no one seems interested in keeping her. yet, when she moves in with the cozy couple, readers watch the characters' emotions and insecurities unravel. every odd girl out will love this book, and every member of a 'safe' couple should read it for vicarious thrills.