Ha, yes, I just answered your email! And yes, I think one of the things that makes the book so good is its virtuoso portrayal of someone who *thinks* she's so self-aware but is deeply un-self-aware.
TBH nowadays when I meet someone who actually states out loud that they are VERY self-aware, I mentally detract two self-awareness points, on the grounds that a truly self-aware person would know how clueless that sounds. It's sort of like meeting someone who brags that they're so humble, or talks over someone else to say that they're a GREAT listener.
Perhaps the possibly-imaginary love triangle is Irene's attempt to resolve that ambivalence toward Clare? It would give her an excellent excuse to get Clare out of her life, where she can no longer distress Irene, and also maybe provides an outlet for some pent-up aggression she feels toward her husband. (I read the book focused mainly on Clare & Irene but the marriage is also chillingly well-observed: outwardly functional but emotionally hollow.)
Nervous breakdown might be one period-appropriate term for Irene's mental state by the end, and yes! That's also so well-done. At first it builds up slowly (you have this sense of unhappiness in her marriage, fear of the future, just general low-key dissatisfaction), and then Irene absolutely fixates on this idea of an affair and suddenly her whole mind revolves around it endlessly.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2021-11-16 11:14 pm (UTC)TBH nowadays when I meet someone who actually states out loud that they are VERY self-aware, I
mentally detract two self-awareness points, on the grounds that a truly self-aware person would know how clueless that sounds. It's sort of like meeting someone who brags that they're so humble, or talks over someone else to say that they're a GREAT listener.
Perhaps the possibly-imaginary love triangle is Irene's attempt to resolve that ambivalence toward Clare? It would give her an excellent excuse to get Clare out of her life, where she can no longer distress Irene, and also maybe provides an outlet for some pent-up aggression she feels toward her husband. (I read the book focused mainly on Clare & Irene but the marriage is also chillingly well-observed: outwardly functional but emotionally hollow.)
Nervous breakdown might be one period-appropriate term for Irene's mental state by the end, and yes! That's also so well-done. At first it builds up slowly (you have this sense of unhappiness in her marriage, fear of the future, just general low-key dissatisfaction), and then Irene absolutely fixates on this idea of an affair and suddenly her whole mind revolves around it endlessly.