In grad school, I dated a guy for about five months. It was a very intense 5 months with lots of road trips, live music, drugs etc. It was a lot of fun until one day it just wasn't. I was driving home from school, and realized it was done. I don't know why, I just didn't want to do any of it anymore. So I drove home where he was waiting for me, and told him our short-lived relationship was over. He protested a little and left. On the phone the next day, my best friend said something about how I was always so surgical at the end of a relationship, one cut and then over. No discussion, no remorse. There was some truth to that in terms of approach, but it almost ended up that way in the long run. In this case, said ex-boyfriend started stalking me and I ended up moving across town a few weeks later after he broke into my house for the second time and threatened by dog. Apparently surgical wasn't okay with him.
Clean Break centers on this very idea. Do we ever get a clean break? Can you sever a relationship, walk away relatively unscathed, and move on? Well this I can assure you, you are less likely to if you have a kid and your ex is a struggling gambling addict. In this story, Celeste, has been a stay at home mom to her son Spenser, for his entire life. She is married to Adam, an almost professional athlete, who is being released from rehab for his gambling addiction again this week. The difference this time is that she's moved out.
The novel centers on the first several months Adam is out and how Celeste deals with him: the negotiating of his recovery, the impending divorce, her new love interest, and the care of her young son. The first two acts are compelling, although I felt like I got less insight into addiction than other reviewers have suggested. This book demonstrates how easy it is to relapse, and of course, Adam thinks a lot about gambling, but beyond that I didn't feel that affected by Adam's character. He seemed a little ridiculous...although maybe that is the point.
The story, for me, unravels in the final act. I think in our culture today there is too much to suggest that regular folks are capable of extreme acts. That humans can rationalize to much too easily and just move on. I don't buy it. I think the end is a departure from character for the lead, and a too-easy clean up of what is a realistically fucked up situation. Not to say it wasn't enjoyable, I just found myself at the end thinking "really?"
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