Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me

When Brodeur (cofounder, Zoetrope: All-Story magazine) was 14, her mother woke her up in the middle of the night in their family’s house on Cape Cod to tell her a secret that would derail the course of their lives: her husband’s best friend had just kissed her. This kiss jump-started an affair between the author’s mother, Malabar, and her stepfather’s best friend, Ben, that went on to span decades, with Brodeur as her mother’s sole confidante for most of that time. After her mother’s admission, the author found herself thrust into the role of accomplice to the couple’s infidelity. Keeping a secret of such magnitude had a colossal effect on Brodeur’s relationships with her stepfather, her brother, and eventually her own husband. Malabar, an accomplished food writer, and Ben, an avid hunter bringing wild game with him each time he visits the Cape, make this memoir potentially appealing to foodies.