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A Small Indiscretion
A Small Indiscretion: A Novel | Jan Ellison
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE • With the emotional complexity of Everything I Never Told You and the psychological suspense of The Girl on the Train, O. Henry Prize winner Jan Ellison delivers a brilliantly paced, beautifully written debut novel about one woman’s reckoning with a youthful mistake. “Part psychological thriller, part character study . . . I peeled back the pages of this book as fast as I could.”—The Huffington Post At nineteen, Annie Black trades a bleak future in a washed-out California town for a London winter of drinking and abandon. Twenty years later, she is a San Francisco lighting designer and happily married mother of three who has put her reckless youth behind her. Then a photo from that distant winter in Europe arrives inexplicably in her mailbox, and an old obsession is awakened. Past and present collide, Annie’s marriage falters, and her son takes a car ride that ends with his life hanging in the balance. Now Annie must confront her own transgressions and fight for her family by untangling the mysteries of the turbulent winter that drew an invisible map of her future. Gripping, insightful, and lyrical, A Small Indiscretion announces the arrival of a major new voice in literary suspense as it unfolds a story of denial, passion, forgiveness—and the redemptive power of love. Praise for A Small Indiscretion “Ellison is a tantalizing storyteller . . . moving her story forward with cinematic verve.”—USA Today “Rich with suspense . . . Lovely writing guides us through, driven by a quiet generosity.”—San Francisco Chronicle (Book Club pick) “Delicious, lazy-day reading. Just don’t underestimate the writing.”—O: The Oprah Magazine (Editor’s Pick) “Rich and detailed . . . The plot explodes delightfully, with suspense and a few twists. Using second-person narration and hypnotic prose, Ellison’s debut novel is both juicy and beautifully written. How do I know it’s juicy? A stranger started reading it over my shoulder on the New York City subway, and told me he was sorry that I was turning the pages too quickly.”—Flavorwire “Are those wild college days ever really behind you? Happily married Annie finds out.”—Cosmopolitan “An impressive fiction debut . . . both a psychological mystery and a study of the divide between desire and duty.”—San Jose Mercury News “A novel to tear through on a plane ride or on the beach . . . I was drawn into a web of secrets, a world of unrequited love and youthful mistakes that feel heightened and more romantic on the cold winter streets of London, Paris, and Ireland.”—Bustle “Ellison renders the California landscape with stunning clarity. . . . She writes gracefully, with moments of startling insight. . . . Her first novel is an emotional thriller, skillfully plotted in taut, visual scenes.”—The Rumpus “To read A Small Indiscretion is to eat fudge before dinner: slightly decadent behavior, highly caloric, and extremely satisfying. . . . An emotional detective story that . . . mirrors real life in ways that surprise and inspire.”—New York Journal of Books “If you liked Gone Girl for its suspenseful look inside the psychology of a bad marriage, try A Small Indiscretion. . . . It touches many of the same nerves.”—StyleCaster
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review
reneelyons
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Pickpick

My thoughts are a little scattered after finishing A Small Indiscretion; there‘s so much more to this book than I was expecting. There is an element of mystery that initially drew me in, but I wasn‘t expecting such a rich, complex story. Ellison‘s writing is quiet and poetic, and at times staggeringly beautiful. 5 stars.

Full review: https://reneereadsbooks.wordpress.com/2018/01/05/book-review-a-small-indiscretio...

24 likes1 stack add
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Jessnoice
Panpan

I got pretty tired of reading about the slutty exploits of this woman throughout her life. She's never really forced to learn from her mistakes and still gets a neat happy ending. Also, the twist was predictable beyond belief.

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JoeStalksBeck
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This book has a deep foreboding feeling about it. Very atmospheric. The narrator truly brings out the disparity of the lead lady

tricours Nice cover! 7y
BittersweetBooks I really enjoyed this book! 7y
NovelGirl82 This looks fantastic! 7y
88 likes8 stack adds4 comments
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janeycanuck
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Mehso-so

Good plot, though the author went down a few too many introspective over-analysis tangents and the narrator of the audio didn't quite do it for me. Oh, and the big "twist" was pretty obvious and I saw it coming really early on.

Reviewsbylola This was one of my worst reads of last year. I struggled through it and literally cannot remember a single thing about it at this point. That's the most telling--if I cannot recall a single detail about a book, it seems almost like a waste of time. 7y
janeycanuck @Reviewsbylola yeah, I don't think it'll stay with me long. It was recommended to me as a read-alike for Girl on the Train but I figured out the big reveal really early on and that was a big disappointment. 7y
3 likes2 comments
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Sarah.Regalado
Pickpick

LOVED this book! The characters were well thought out and the language was beautiful.

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LynneGriffin
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Pickpick

The point of view and novel structure of explaining a series of events to the protagonist's son can be confusing. Otherwise the writing and the story are quite compelling.

6 likes1 stack add
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ebookrecs
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Listening to A Small Indiscretion by Jan Ellison during the #24in48 readathon.

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BittersweetBooks
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I suppose unrequited love is the hardest kind to shed because it is not really love at all. It is half-love, and we are forever stomping around trying to get hold of the other half 💔

7 likes3 stack adds
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mauveandrosysky
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Pickpick

A profound story about the infallibility of memory, the choices we make, and the lies we tell — not only to ones we love, but to ourselves. So much more thoughtful and complex than I expected.

2 likes2 stack adds