Click here to purchase The Photograph by: Penelope Lively
The Photograph

by: Penelope Lively

2003; 231 pages

Rating: 4

After his wife Kath's death, Glyn is going through all her paperwork and finds a folder with 'DO NOT OPEN: DESTROY' on it. Of course he opens it, only to find a picture of his wife holding hands with another man. Glyn then sets out to find out about the details of his wife's life that he never knew about, and he finds out that he really didn't know his wife all that well. As he finds out more and more, he needs to enlist Kath's friends and her sister Elaine to fill in the gaps to the mystery, 'Who was Kath, really?'

This book is about marriage, friendships, and family relationships. Who takes precedence over whom and why. Who really knows the true soul of a person and why. How does one even go about trying to find out the true self of a loved one? This book really engaged me because of the intertwined, complex relationships of all the characters and how they related to the 'mystery' of who Kath really was. Recommended.