The Editor's Wife by Claire Chambers

Chris, recently made redundant, lives alone in a remote part of Yorkshire. The novel moves between the present day and 20 years ago when he had dropped out of university to write his novel and was befriended by Owen, a literary editor, and his wife Diana.

This was the first Claire Chambers book I'd read and I loved it! I'm thrilled I can now read her others. I found her style of writing poignant and funny. The story was so engaging, at times understated and other times devastating. I'm so sad to have left the characters and their world behind - always the sign of a brilliant book! Very highly recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.

I loved “Small Pleasures” by Clare Chambers so when this was made available I had to read it.

'When aspiring novelist Christopher Flinders drops out of university to write his masterpiece (in between shifts as a fish delivery man and builder's mate), his family is sceptical.

But when he is taken up by the London editor Owen Goddard and his charming wife Diana it seems success is just around the corner. Christopher's life has so far been rather short of charm - growing up in an unlovely suburb, with unambitious parents and a semi-vagrant brother - and he is captivated by his generous and cultured mentors.

However, on the brink of realising his dream, Christopher makes a desperate misjudgement which results in disaster for all involved. Shattered, he withdraws from London and buries himself in rural Yorkshire, embracing a career and a private life marked by mediocrity.

Twenty years on, a young academic researching into Owen Goddard seeks him out, and Christopher is forced to exhume his past, setting him on a path to a life-changing discovery.'

At times the plot was slow but on the whole, this is a wonderfully written book and I am glad I had the opportunity to read this. Thank you Netgalley and Random House for the eARC.

So, when I first read this blurb, it sounded like it might have elements of a thriller in it. I hadn’t read any of Clare Chambers’ work before, so it was something new. I really liked the character description and the flow to her writing. It painted a brilliant picture of the scenes, and the use of dialogue was executed really well. However, for me personally, it was too slow of a pace. An event would happen, and you think it might pick up from there, but the events are scarce and are over pretty rapidly. If you like your slow burn contemporary fiction you will enjoy it and I could appreciate the author’s style and language used but personally, it isn’t one I would have picked up and bought.

I very much enjoyed the setting and the contrast between the hecticness in London and then the slower pace of life out in the country in York. I also loved the description of the main character, Christopher’s new house, it sounded so picturesque and a perfect writer’s retreat. But I feel like the story was missing a bit more action and the main character needed a bit more depth. There were some characters such as his brother, Gerald who were brilliantly written and brought to life on paper. Gerald had so much life and personality, however Christopher was lacking in this. Nevertheless, there were some funny scenes which made me laugh as well as some events which may surprise you at times, but I felt that the plot was somewhat predictable from the outset, bar a few twists in the story which although were surprising were not explosive or jaw dropping.

If you are looking for a light, slow burn, easy read which is well written and almost prosaic at times you would enjoy this book. However, this book just wasn’t for me.

 – Beautifully written but very much a slow burn novel with no proper crescendo

I’m embarrassed to admit that this is my first Clare Chambers novel, but I’ve already fallen head over heels for her eloquent prose and languid storytelling and for her ability to fashion characters who are at once full and rich yet gently understated.

At heart, The Editor’s Wife is a love story. Of romantic love, forbidden, gained and lost; of fraternal love, difficult and unacknowledged; and of a mediocre life, lived in the shadow of dreams unfulfilled.

We meet its chief protagonist and narrator, Christopher Flinders, at his remote home in the wilds of North Yorkshire. Long divorced and newly redundant, he is drifting without purpose, when an unexpected encounter dredges up memories from his youth. Memories he’s kept buried for some 20 years out of hurt and shame.

The dual timeline takes us back to London and Chris’s unremarkable upbringing with unambitious parents and a brother who chooses to live on the margins of society. When Chris drops out of university to pursue his passion as a writer, he is flattered to be taken under the wing of editor Owen and his vivacious wife Diana. For the first time in his life, his future looks golden. Until, that is, a devastatingly misjudged decision snatches it all away.

Unhurried and mellifluous, soothing and nuanced, Chambers’ prose flows effortlessly. It is somehow wholly absorbing without being thrilling. A journey without any obvious direction or destination, but one you revel in nonetheless, because the scenery is so breathtakingly beautiful.

I loved every single one of Chambers’ flawed but genuine characters, From passive, let-life-pass-me-by Chris to quirky brother Gerald to sassy ex-wife Carol. I loved that they were all so different yet pulled together at a watershed moment when it mattered most.

The redemptiveness of the ending filled me with a quiet joy in the wonder of life’s twists and turns, of fate, of second chances. In the notion that mistakes made in the callowness of youth can be rectified. And in the old adage that blood is indeed thicker than water.

A captivating, wondrous tale that clung to my consciousness long after I turned the final page.

An aspiring author connects with an editor and his family, but the relationship with his wife does not stay on the page. Clare Chambers has a wonderful way with characters and the personalities in this book, particularly Gerald, shine through. Everyone knows a Gerald, a man who is just not suited to the world but nevertheless carves his own path and Chambers writes about him with great sympathy. I found a few of the twists a little too convenient but this is a hugely enjoyable novel

The Editor’s Wife is a book that’s well written in the kind of way that you have to pause and appreciate how easy it is to get swept up in the story. I got this on the strength of Clare Chamber’s Small Pleasures (which was LL for the Women’s Prize and a great read), noting this appears to be a re-issue.

Chris Flinders has taken voluntary redundancy. Living on a farm outside of York we know that he started out as an idealistic novelist. However, it takes some big events to get from undergraduate writer to a man with untold stories. Gerald, his nomadic brother lends further colour along with Owen, his editor and Owen’s wife Diana.

The whole ensemble are well crafted and believable. The observations from Chris are often warm and witty, adding to the thrust of the book. With an engaging beginning and throughly satisfying ending, I thought it lost its way a little in the middle. Overall a solid 3.5*

Thanks to Penguin Random House, Cornerstone and Netgalley for an ARC

I loved “Small Pleasures” by Clare Chambers and was hoping to read more of her books, so I was naturally excited when I have received this one.
Unfortunately the plot was really slow, which I did enjoy in “Small Pleasures” as everything unfolded very slowly and it added to my excitement, however with “The Editor’s Wife” I didn’t get the same feeling and after a while I got uninterested in the story.
Apart from that it is a wonderfully written book and I am very pleased I had the chance to read it.

The Editor's Wife by Clare Chambers starts a little slowly but soon builds to become an engrossing story which spans the course of more than twenty years.
Christopher Flinders dropped out of university to write a novel, to his family's chagrin. They are sceptical about his ability to support himself in his chosen career but are slightly mollified when a London editor Owen Goddard shows an interest in his work in progress. It seems like Christopher's future is in good hands, especially since Owen befriends him. Soon Christopher is regularly visiting Owen and his wife Diana but almost inevitably he begins an affair with Diana that could cost them both everything. When disaster strikes it not only destroys Christopher's career, it almost destroys Christopher himself. Twenty years later a sudden contact from out of the blue brings everything back to the surface and has the potential to change everything.
The heart of this book are the characters, they are so wonderfully realised that they spring to life on the page, wonderfully flawed, funny and believable. My favourite happened to be Christopher's brother Gerald, but I was spoiled for choice.
The book starts out very slowly, but the pace does pick up in part two which is set in London, in the past , so I would encourage readers to stick with it , it is definitely worth the build. I liked the bittersweet ending, I felt it fit the book really well , more than a traditional happy ending would have. I went into this book not knowing what to expect, and found I really enjoyed it, so much so that I am adding the author's other books to my to read list.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

The Editor's Wife tells the story of Chris and how his relationship with a book editor and his wife changes his life. It isn't my usual choice of book, but after seeing Sara Cox rave about Small Pleasures, I knew I had to read Clare Chambers. So when I saw this crop up on Netgalley I just had to hit request.

The story is told in 3 parts with parts 1 and 3 taking place in the present, and part 2 is Chris telling his story. I really liked this method of putting the entirety of a flashback into its own section rather than the common jumping back and forth technique often used. It meant I was never confused about what timeline I was currently reading about.

The Editor's Wife is set between rural Yorkshire (present-day) and London (flashback). I thought this suited Owen really well as where better to run from problems and mistakes but to a rural location. It also helped the plot move along too.

I really liked the characters too, despite their flaws. I think my favourites were Carole, Chris' ex-wife, and Gerald, Chris' brother. I loved the relationship that Carole and Chris had. There were not really any hard feelings between them and they showed that exes can still be quite close friends. (Even if it's a bit weird that her current husband isn't aware). I just loved Carole's independent, take-no-shit attitude. Gerald on the other hand is the complete opposite. He's a bit of a recluse sofa-surfing his way through life, but very funny. I loved reading about Gerald's escapades.

The story is told from Chris' POV and although some parts are predictable (for instance what actually happens with the editor's wife...), there were plenty of twists to the story that held my interest. His story is quite poignant really.

When it comes to pacing, part 1 was slower-paced than the other parts. My reading really sped up when I hit part 2. Based on part 1, I wasn't sure if I was going to like this book (even considered DNFing for a millisecond), but by part 2 my opinion had changed so much. It's definitely a book to stick with until you get to the main story.

The ending tied the story up very nicely, although it wasn't the most climatic. I found the ending quite bittersweet for what Chris's life could have been like. But at the same time, his story ends in quite a nice place.

I really enjoyed The Editor's Wife and loved Clare Chambers' style of writing. It's such a character-driven story which I love. She ties together the characters and setting with their story so well. I'm definitely recommending this book to a lot of people, particularly those who like contemporary fiction. To me, it just has a message of hope and being in charge of your own choices. I do own a copy of Small Pleasures and after reading The Editor's Wife I really hope I can bump it up my TBR a bit.

"I had discovered too late a great truth: that to be happy it requires nothing more than a clear conscience, and that there can be no happiness without one. I didn't know it then, but in the matter of guilt I was a mere amateur. I had only scaled the foothills, while the vast ranges were all ahead of me."

Christopher Flinders has stumbled through life passively, flawed and lacking in confidence. His parents lacked ambition for their sons - 'aim low, keep your head down, don't make a fuss' and 'don't get above yourself' - gave them little opportunity or encouragement to do well and find joy. After being made redundant from a mundane job, Chris retreats to his North Yorkshire home. He gets on rather better with ex-wife Carol since they divorced long ago, and following the death of their parents, he and eccentric brother Gerald, get along tolerably, if awkwardly. Out of the blue, contact from a young woman, Alex Canning, researching an editor, Owen Goddard, dredges up Chris's past with Owen and wife Diana (the titular Editor's Wife). Having had one novel published, which Owen edited, Chris became involved with the Goddard's lives many years ago. Initially reluctant, Chris sees the opportunity to be honest with Alex and atone for his past decisions and actions, which hugely impacted his, and the Goddard's lives.

Chambers' characters are disparate and so very real, even if not likeable (such as Gerald, although even he improved over time as I understood him better). Chris is likeable, if despairingly passive for most of his life (I wanted to shake him!). Similar themes, in terms of a lost character finding brief respite, and romance, in another family, leading to tragedy for both of them as in Small Pleasures, there is a happy ending for Chris. Acutely observed and written, focusing on characterisation and the minutiae of their lives, making this an engaging and satisfying read, which I adored.

An enjoyable read by Clare Chambers. I liked how the novel was split into 3 parts, with the timeline altering between the present day and the past. I didn't really like the main character Christopher but the supporting cast were great and brought the story to life. The novel centres on themes of family, love and friendship and was quite funny in places.

I would recommend for fans of Small Pleasures.

This was my first book of Clare Chambers I've read, and it certainly won't be my last. The characters were all rather likeable and very believable, and I enjoyed the jump between present day (parts 1 and 3) and the past (part 2) without it being too jumpy like some books can be. It was a wonderfully written book, and was perfect to read on my holiday.

This is only my second Clare Chambers novel, after Small Pleasures which I had loved when it was longlisted for the Women’s Prize. I imagine that, making the most of the publicity created by such a listing, the decision was made to re-publish this ten-plus year old predecessor.

And it is apparent that Chambers is drawn to a certain theme: her characters here, as in Small Pleasures, fall in love with people they probably shouldn’t, relationships which conflict with their other personal and or professional ties. In Small Pleasures, Jean Swinney fell for the husband of a woman she was writing a newspaper article on; here, Christoper Flinders falls for the wife of the man whom he wants to publish his novel. Will the emotional depth and authenticity of that novel be repeated here?

Unfortunately, not.

The novel opens in a contemporary world in which Christopher is living a somewhat secluded life in a rural Yorkshire farmhouse – served by a single road and prone to infrequent but severe floods. He has been offered a voluntary redundancy from his job at the Inland Revenue, his parents have died, his brother is somewhat estranged, his marriage has broken down. He does seem a rather resilient fellow, taking all these vicissitudes in his strides – although some of them were some distance in the past, to be fair – and fills his days with walking, riding, fishing and entertaining his ex-wife with whom he has managed to maintain a close friendship.

Somewhat lazily, the plot drifts for a few chapters as Chambers introduces us to Christopher’s relationship with Gerald, his brother, and his ex-wife. It is a meandering read at this point, but this was a novel where I liked these secondary characters more than the main one. Gerald, possibly with some form of learning difficulty, is semi-vagrant and semi-squatting in their father’s house after his death and delaying the inevitable sale of the property was a delight. And Carol, the ex-wife, was wonderfully self-obsessed – having left Christopher following an affair and marrying her lover, she proceeds to ask whether Christopher would donate sperm for her.

“We don’t have to have sex, if that’s what’s bothering you. You can jerk off into a beaker. That’s no problem”

“You make it sound so tempting.”

Eventually we are introduced to Alex Canning, investigating the life of Owen Goddard, the editor of the title, with whom Christopher was acquainted twenty years previously when he was writing his novel after quitting university. And whose wife, Diana, he fell in love with.

Chambers chose to use a particular device here – one which, thankfully, she rejected for Small Pleasures. Flinders had written out in longhand the events of his entanglement with the Goddards. 150 pages of it. Which he had kept for over a decade in his loft. And which he delivers to Canning; and which Chambers delivers to us. Lock, stock and barrel. Only once it is complete do we return to the present day to discover the aftermath of the love affair and of the issues raised with Gerald and Carol.

What didn’t work for me, in terms of plotting, was the management of these two strands. Flinders’ account of his love affair was rather peremptory and lacked the depth of emotion or worldbuilding that I had loved in Small Pleasures. And Flinders was a rather unlikeable narrator in this second section: naive at best in his introduction of literary London society in which he is wholly at sea, and in his assumption that visiting Diana with whom he readily accepted he had come to love was unproblematic:

The fact that I was falling in love with the wife of my mentor and friend, a man who had gone out of his way to help me, and shown me nothing but kindness, didn’t trouble my conscience at all.

His decision not to act on his feelings was lauded (by himself) as “the highest compliment”. But a compliment that evaporated extraordinarily quickly in the narrative. This was so different to the characters of Small Pleasures, so desperate not to act in a way which was “shabby” to one another and possibly a reflection of the time period – my recollection of the 1980s was that is lauded self-interest above self-sacrifice, perhaps.

In fact, the speed and pace of his falling in love, the development of the affair, the inevitable resolution and emotional trauma resultant on it was rather startling. These seismic events were dispatched rather quickly, and flatly and emotionlessly with none of the passion and the immediacy of feeling that I had enjoyed in Small Pleasures. This is, I suppose, consistent with the form here, being – a what? report? memoir? first draft of an autobiography? cathartic healing process? – a manuscript written in hindsight and from a distance, but it did distance me as a reader. There was none of the gorgeous evocative depiction of the time period – and perhaps 1985 inherently held less charm and appeal than the 1950s that still remembered the Blitz – nor as much social satire in this novel.

There was a rather sudden twist in the final part which I won’t dwell on or give any details about, but it was not quite as well handled as I would have liked – it felt that Chambers was shoe-horning in a happy ending without quite laying enough of a foundation. It became… insecure, even if I was ultimately glad that the characters did obtain their happy ending.

What I did love in the final part was the depiction of one memorable evening in Yorkshire when, despite being such a loner, Christopher is visited and is forced to house not only Gerald who arrives on a rain-sodden evening but also Carol who has rowed with her husband, and Alex Canning who, heavily pregnant, has arrived to collect the 150 page manuscript before being trapped by floodwaters over the ford as the telephone lines go down and mobile reception is non-existent. The evening of music, Trivial Pursuits, the weather forecast, communal cooking, bickering and reconciliation was lovely.

The novel suffers, I think in a split focus: is this the novel about the love between Christopher and Diana, or is it a novel about the Flinders family. In fact, Chambers is exquisite at those strained but still loving family relationships both here and in Small Pleasures – Jean Swinney and her mother were a wonderfully realised pair, as were Christopher and both Gerald and Carol.

It is perhaps unfair to compare the two novels so much – and re-reading this review I really have! – but they do explore very similar emotional landscapes that it feels inevitable. It was certainly not a bad book at all and I did enjoy reading it. It has, however, left me willing to read another Chambers if I come across one, not desperate to catch up on her back catalogue.


What I Liked
The secondary characters, Gerald and Carol, and Christopher’s relationships with them – some of the dialogue between them was wonderfully judged!
The setting in a literary world.
The flooded-in communal dinner in Part Three.

What Could Have Been Different
The plotting and pacing of the first part was very meandering and could have been tighter.
The use of the manuscript to narrate the love affair did not, to my mind, work as well as it could have!
The twist in the final part could have been more … credible and convincing.

Note: If it were possible, I would give this 3.5 stars but NetGalley does not seem to offer that opportunity!

Another immersive and engaging story about friendship, family and love from Clare Chambers with sympathetic and well developed through the novel characters. Split into three clear sections, two in the current day and one in the past which create ongoing ‘aha’ moments whilst reading. Very engrossing gentle read. Beautifully written

3.5 stars

This was a very easy and enjoyable read following the life and times of Christopher Flinders.
With a timeline that goes back twenty years to tell the tale of how Christopher ends up in his current situation, it is a humorous and gentle read with a very uniques and diverse cast of characters that pop up throughout his life.
Perfect holiday read!

Chambers seems to be a master of gentle, immersive storytelling with warm characters that you can genuinely root for. The Editor’s Wife is a rerelease, presumably after the success of Small Pleasures, and while I liked her most recent novel I actually much preferred The Editor’s Wife because it had a satisfying ending after a little bit of suspense and plot twisting. It’s split into three sections: the present day of Chris dealing with his late father’s estate, then a memoir section where Chris describes to a researcher his relationship with a literary editor and his wife 20 years previously, then a final section in the present day when we finally discover just how these people are still connected in the present.

Another engrossing and compelling read from Clare Chambers. I was immersed in the stories affecting all the characters and the writing exposes the complexities behind the actions taken, It is subtle but realistic and is a novel that will stay with me. I just love Clare Chamber's writing.

This was fun to read because it was lighthearted and funny. I wasn't sure what to anticipate, and I didn't think she fit into any genre - there's a love element to the narrative, but it's not truly a romance, in my opinion. I was. anticipating someone along the lines of Joanna Trollope, but I was more reminded of Adrian Mole at moments.
The book is divided into three sections, with parts 1 and 3 set in the current day and part 2 in the past. All of the characters are believable, though not necessarily likable. I expected it to be typical chick-lit material, but it's so much better that I'm not sure where to put it. I'd want to read more from this author.

3.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was my first Clare Chambers book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s a 3.5 as I felt it was too slow paced for my liking, it doesn’t get interesting until about 50% in. Book is very well written and I will now add the author’s other works onto my TBR.

Many thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve loved the author’s other books but this one was possibly even better. Rich and detailed but so well-plotted. Masterful.