Read between April 22nd 2017 to April 26th,2017
Edition Details:
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 205
Publisher: Mastermind Books
ISBN:9788184680416
First Sentence:
The fat woman smiled self-consciously at Harry as he gave her the card.
Harry was a photographer barely eking out a living. He used to click photos and hope that people would come and buy the prints.
When he saw her in that bar, he knew she didn’t belong at that joint. She deserved all the good things in life as she was the most beautiful woman that he had seen. She was Clair Dolan and he wanted to give those things to her.
Harry couldn’t believe his luck when the gentleman with whom she had come, asked Harry to join them on the table. He agreed reluctantly. And then Clair came into his life and so did the problems.
Who was Clair Dolan? What was she doing in that bar? What were the problems that Harry got himself into? How did he deal with them?
I have always expected a James Hadley Chase novel to be a thriller and more often than not i have been right. But this book was different. I kept reading it expecting something thrilling to happen but it didn’t. A murder happens but not much importance is given to how it’s done. We just know it was committed. But then this book is not about thrills. It’s about love. The kind of love that ends up destroying the people who are in it.
I have of late often thought about love. What is love? Do we really love some one or we just love the idea of some one? The more that person coincides with that idea of ours the more we tend to love them and the more he deviates from it the more we think they have changed and so our love diminishes proportionately.
This book is more about love that Harry has for Clair. He knows what Clair is and also knows she’s not going to change. He tries but fails. But his love, although at the end slightly wanes, but still has a strong hold over him. There are also moments where Harry feels belittled because he earns way less than his woman. Most guys even now get intimidated by it. Then the idea of sex for Clair is just physical and she can clearly separate the fucking and making love. As a guy it would be very difficult for me in Harry’s position. He too felt bad because of it but then he dealt it with a manner which i think wouldn’t have been possible for me. But even with all these problems and more, he does love her. I completed this book and thought is that kind of love possible?
And it’s not as if Clair doesn’t love him back. She loves him with that much intensity. For all her selfishness and the kinks in her personality she does a lot for him. There is a character who at one time wonders what she sees in Harry. She could wrap any man around her finger. She used to use them and chuck them out without giving second thoughts but for Harry she could take a bullet with a smile on her face. And if they could leave one another then they could have not met the end they had. But then they couldn’t leave.
This book is all about their relationship and how they sustain it in the face of hardships that fall upon them because of Clair’s urges.
Do i hate Clair? No, i think she had made it very clear in the beginning what she was. I feel pity for Harry but then he was in love and love sure is blind.
If you read James Hadley Chase for thrills then this book may disappoint you but if you read it with an open mind you could appreciate him writing about this kind of relationship. The book sure is dark and i felt sad in the end. I think it the ending sucked not because it was bad but because it was unfair.
You can get the book from the following link:
Amazon
