Book review: Thomas And Mary: A Love Story by Tim Parks

Tim Parks’ love story in reverse begins bluntly with its central characters establishing their separate routines and contrasting views on marriage.

It is a cold opening into a cold marriage that feels instantly alienating, however as the novel plays out, you discover the reasons they found each other and the emotional connections that bind them.

As a fan of The Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, I can appreciate Parks’ desire to present you with heartbreak and then explain why the love was worth it, however Thomas And Mary does not offer enough balance to make you really wish the protagonists will end up together.

The fragmented style of the novel offers a wider context on their marriage, which is generally engaging. But largely you are left wondering who is narrating from one moment to the next, and I never really lost the feeling that the narrative offered a misogynistic bias towards the adulterer, Thomas.

Though witty and pleasantly asymmetric, Thomas And Mary unfortunately never gets off the ground in the way you want it to.

Published by Harvill Secker