"My Favourite Wife" by Tony Parsons

I have shared so many stories of human interest from self-development books that most of you would probably think by now that I don't read novels. Well, I do and many novels too. I would like to share with you an interesting novel that reflects what's happening in China, Shanghai really, as the country seeks to develop quickly. Many westerners are attracted to Shanghai because they are unable to ends meet in their home countries and in China, they are respected as expatriates and conferred a lifestyle beyond their expectations in their home countries. They have a fat tax-free salary, quality accommodation, maids, car and driver paid for by their employers.

Against this backdrop the plot is spun when Bill and Becca Holden decided to join the "gold rush" to Shanghai, bringing along their little daughter Holly. Things started off innocently enough. Then a family tragedy forces Becca to return to London with their daughter. Bill remains and in his loneliness in a foreign land, working day and night, he befriends a neglected second wife that threatens to grow into something more serious. You can feel his struggles and his inability to find emotional footing for this dangerous development. You feel like you can see him falling into an abyss, helpless and yet not helping himself. His frustrations in failing to grapple with the situation puts all he has at risk, including his marriage.

When Becca finally returns, all of them are forced to learn something about the meaning of love and family bonds, going out of their previously defined parameters of love in a comfort zone.

This is a great read.

"My Favourite Wife" by Tony Parsons.