I would love to welcome Emily Listfield to Planet Books and congratulate her on the release of her brand new novel, Best Intentions, available in stores Tuesday, May 5th. Emily has written a guest post for Planet Books’ readers and shares some insight into what is happening in Best Intentions. She also asks a pretty interesting question so read on to find out and enter to win a copy of Best Intentions.
What would you do if you if these clues began to pile up?
In Best Intentions, the narrator, Lisa, has been married to Sam for fifteen years. They met in a college and now, both 39, they have two daughters they love dearly. But their marriage is going through a down period. “Sam has seemed restive for reasons I can’t quite place,” Lisa says. “It has grown contagious, a malaise that has metastasized between us into a desultory low-level dissatisfaction, nothing I can touch, nothing worthy of accusation or argument, and yet.” Slowly she begins so suspect he is having affair. Here are the clues:
1. Sam tells Lisa he will be working late but she when she listens to a message on his cell phone, she hears a woman’s voice, soft and intimate, saying, “I’m going to be a little late tonight. Can we make it six-thirty? Same place.”
2. Later that same night, she hears him whispering into the phone: “I just couldn’t do it. Not tonight.”
3. Sam, a business journalist, tells Lisa he is going to Chicago to interview a source for a story. But when Lisa calls his office, she finds out the story was killed weeks ago.
4. When Lisa confronts Sam and asks if he is having an affair, he denies it. In fact, he has a perfectly reasonable explanation for everything.
5. But then Lisa discovers photographs of Sam with another woman (you’ll have to read the book to find out who) and suddenly it seems like a game change.
So here’s the question: Lisa loves Sam and they have two young children she wants to protect. She’s known him most of her life – and he’s never lied to her before. She doesn’t have absolute proof and she’s worried that if she confronts him she will lose everything. And yet…. What would you do? Weigh in. But while you’re thinking up your answer, ask yourself this, too: How well do you really know the people you love?
Emily
www.emilylistfield.com
Emily Listfield and her publisher, Atria, is providing a copy of Best Intentions for a giveaway here at Planet Books. To enter to win, weigh in on Emily’s question, “Lisa loves Sam and they have two young children she wants to protect. She’s known him most of her life – and he’s never lied to her before. She doesn’t have absolute proof and she’s worried that if she confronts him she will lose everything. And yet…. What would you do? Weigh in. But while you’re thinking up your answer, ask yourself this, too: How well do you really know the people you love?” The giveaway will commence on Sunday, May 10th at Midnight EST.
Planet Books 
What a juicy question!
Trust is a big issue with me. I know people aren’t perfect but liars and cheaters are not folks I need to know. I would definitely confront my husband, tell him what I know, let him know how it makes me feel and wait for his response.
Having children makes it hard but I would want my daughter to know how to stand up for herself and if I had a son, I certainly would not want him to ever treat a woman poorly. People know when they are being fed a line but they often deny it to keep the peace. I wouldn’t.
i am also reviewing this book later in the month! i recently visited emily’s blog and was surprised to find a story that’s been getting a lot of play in my area on her blog. the fiance of the craigs list guy lives about 15 minutes from here and it’s all we can do to NOT read about it in the paper.
i guess we all think we know our spouses or SOs…but when so many people in this world aren’t even honest with themselves, how can we begin to imagine that family, friends, and spouses don’t have secrets. 🙂 (not that i have any…and my husband better not either!!!)
Oh, good question, although I have a hard time imagining myself in the situation, since my husband of 11 years is the last person on Earth who would cheat! It just isn’t in his nature.
this is great!
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