Love Among the Single Classes

It was disappointing compared to her other work..

This book was okay but predictable, and not as interesting as I had hoped it would be, but not awful either.

Constance is a middle-aged divorcee who is looking for love and, importantly, marriage. When she sees an advertisement from a Polish gentleman looking for an intelligent person to whom he can become married, Constance, despite being a seemingly intelligent woman, jumps right in. She meets up with Iwo, a good-looking and intellectual political refugee, who makes no secret of the fact that he wants to stay in Britain and that marriage is the way that he can achieve this (despite him still being married to his estranged wife back in Poland). Constance is instantly attracted to Iwo and, after they have slept together (he is very good in the bedroom department), she becomes totally obsessed with him. Iwo, however, has more than one woman who is attracted to him and Constance tortures herself by imagining him with someone else - especially when Iwo seems to avoid committing himself to her. Despite Iwo’s lack of real interest in her, Constance refuses to admit to that their relationship is going nowhere and even when she makes it clear that she can provide him with a beautiful house and a share in all she has, she still fails to secure him and continues to desperately hope that they can have a future together…A beautifully written but rather sombre tale of a woman who cannot bear to be unattached and who feels somewhat diminished as a single person - which is a shame because Constance has a lot that is good in her life (three healthy children, a lovely home in London, a job she enjoys, no lack of money, plenty of friends and a good relationship with her ex-husband) and although I liked Constance and could understand her wanting to have someone special to share her life with, I became annoyed with her for being so obviously desperate to capture Iwo and for not realising that her over-accommodating behaviour was actually driving him away. And what sort of a prize was Iwo anyway? Although apparently good-looking and sexually attractive, he seemed a very self-orientated and self-serving person and emotionally rather cold. That said, I very much enjoyed the author’s descriptions of Constance’s day-to-day life and of the insight she provided about life for Iwo as a Polish refugee and, indeed, for other refugees living and working in London at the time - especially Marina, an ex-student of Iwo’s when he was teaching at the Lodz University in Poland. So, despite my annoyance with Constance, I found this a very interesting and enjoyable read and I am keen to read the other books I have by Ms Lambert on my bookshelves.4 Stars.Also recommended by this author: 'No Talking After Lights' and 'Kiss and Kin'