Strange Fits of Passion

Book excerpt: “Thrilling and finely written” with an ingenious structure, a powerful portrait of truth, deception, and a troubled marriage from the bestselling author (The New Yorker). Everyone believes that Maureen and Harrold English, two successful New York City journalists, have a happy, stable marriage. It’s the early ’70s, and no one discusses or even suspects domestic abuse. But after Maureen suffers another brutal beating, she flees with her infant daughter to a coastal town in Maine. The weeks pass slowly, and just as Maureen settles into her new life and new identity, Harrold reappears, bringing the story to a violent, unforgettable climax. Nearly nineteen years later, a cache of documents regarding Maureen English is given to her daughter by a journalist. The truth should lie within them, but the papers raise far more questions than they answer . . . “Superbly rendered . . . both touching and troubling. The box-within-a-box structure moves Shreve’s subtle and searing book beyond the contemporary horror genre. It creates a kind of double novel.” —Cosmopolitan “The novel has a thought-provoking twist at the end, and Shreve leaves us with [a] haunting [question]: ‘Who could ever know where a story had begun?’” —The Washington Post Book World “Her elegiac, portentous prose provides effective pacing . . . insightful and moving.” —Publishers Weekly “A superbly crafted, intelligently written exploration of the complicities of an abusive relationship . . . Highly recommended.” —Booklist (starred review)