In this sequel to Pam of Babylon, Don't You Forget About Me, Suzanne Jenkins investigates the power, the passion and the unhappiness that romance can bring. Whom do we love and why? And what happens when our trust in that person is shattered? When charming, seemingly devoted Jack Smith dies, his...
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In this sequel to Pam of Babylon, Don't You Forget About Me, Suzanne Jenkins investigates the power, the passion and the unhappiness that romance can bring. Whom do we love and why? And what happens when our trust in that person is shattered? When charming, seemingly devoted Jack Smith dies, his wife and his two girlfriends are astonished to learn that they were not the only love of his life, and that, in fact, Jack was a rogue who was carrying on secret existences with other women. Shattered by grief and stunned by Jack's betrayals, these three women, Pam Smith, Marie Fabian, and Sandra Benson, find themselves suddenly thrown together. They could have despised one another, jealously guarding their private memories of their time with Jack and hating those they perceived to be their rivals, but instead, the women begin to realize there might be strength in numbers and in shared pain. Slowly, they begin to open their hearts to one another. They bind together to try to make sense of their lives and to try to heal the terrible shock. But the more they learn about Jack and his nefarious past, the more they begin to question everything they thought they ever knew about him. Not only did Jack carelessly cheat on each of them, without thought to the harm he was causing, but the women are stunned to discover a yet another secret Jack never revealed. As the women try to piece together the real life story of Jack, they begin to deal with their own lives differently, as well. They must deal with Jack's heartbroken mother, who knew something about her son's clandestine dealings in life. The tragedy also takes a toll on their working lives, and most of all it takes a toll on them, robbing them of sleep, hope, and even dreams. But with a sense of shared sisterhood, these women forge brave new lives that are full of promise. Jenkins expertly probes the difficulties in thinking that we can ever really know a person, even a loved one. All the women in Don't You Forget About Me wonder if they had been really and truly loved by Jack, or if he had simply played them for fools. They question their own blindness to his faults and how they allowed themselves to believe that they might have had it all, when what they had was really more of a dream. Jenkins also investigates modern social problems with grace and warmth. Infidelity, she shows, can break more things than hearts. In showing some of the worst things that can happen in relationships, Jenkins also teases us to imagine the best, a world in which loyalty, devotion and fidelity are prized. As her characters grow and change, they have the possibility for those things. Gorgeously written and filled with the kind of quirky and provocative characters that Jenkins is known for, Don't You Forget About Me is a stunning tale of love lost and then found again. A sequel to her enormously popular Pam of Babylon, Don't You Forget About Me can also be read all on its own. Whether you are in love or you've lost love or you are hoping for love, you are sure to adore this richly revealing and warm-hearted novel.
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