Evelyn, After

Writing under a pseudonym, Victoria Dahl (Taking the Heat) pens a fast-paced domestic story. At 41 Evelyn has a boring but fulfilling life running the household for her psychiatrist husband and teenage son and keeping a part-time job volunteering at her son's school. Her husband's infidelity and implication in a death shatter her world, leading her to stalk her husband's lover Juliette obsessively. As her righteous anger grows, Evelyn becomes passionately entangled with Juliette's husband, Noah, causing her to take stock of her life and regret dropping the artistic aspirations of her 20s. Written in alternating chapters of "Before" and "After," the story portrays how immoral actions can lead to secrets, betrayal, and worse. In the dramatic ending Evelyn realizes she didn't choose certain events but shares responsibility. She reaches the depths of despair before being able to rebuild her life and be true to herself, rather than exist as a pale reflection of others.