A Small Indiscretion

A Novel

By: Jan Ellison

Narrated by: Kathe Mazur

Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2014 Jan Ellison (P)2014 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Part psychological thriller, part character study . . . I peeled back the pages of this book as fast as I could.”—The Huffington Post

“[Jan] Ellison is a tantalizing storyteller, dropping delicious hints of foreshadowing and shifting back and forth in time, . . . moving her story forward with cinematic verve. . . . [She] masterfully captures the confusing and powerful moment when a young woman realizes her effect on men. Compellingly sympathetic characters bring the London chapter of Annie’s story to dramatic life. If you are clinging to a stash of letters and ticket stubs from old lovers, Indiscretion may have you rethinking the cost of holding on to the past rather than basking in the virtues of the present.”—USA Today

“Astonishing . . . This voice is alive. It knows something. It will take us somewhere. The magic is accomplished so fast, so subtly, that most readers hardly notice. . . . A Small Indiscretion is rich with suspense. . . . Delectable elements of this terrific first novel abound: Its characters are round and real. . . . Ellison gives us an achingly physical sense of family life. . . . Lovely writing guides us through, driven by a quiet generosity. . . . This voice knows something, and by the end of the novel, so do we.”—San Francisco Chronicle (Book Club pick)

A wonderful story about life

A wonderful story about real life problems and old love and how it can affect your new life . Is it really worth harming your life to relive an old one?

It was not bad

The characters were well developed and there were enough mysteries to keep my interest. However, the story got stuck on superfluous descriptions and lagged a bit. She also left out the conclusion of two of the characters, which was a big bummer.

Slow

it took me nearly a month to listen because I was just bored. The story is ok, but so slow and drawn out that I couldn't stay interested. There was one twist in the final chapters, but by then I just wanted to get it over with.

Deeply emotional

This was an absolutely amazing story portraying fully the emotions of different experiences of a life. Well written & the narrator was excellent in expressing the all of the emotions very clearly. Excellent story.

Wanted to love it but disappointed

This story had a good start and promise. But never really got off the ground. Too many boring spots. Had to listen to it at 2x speed and still skipped ahead quite a bit.

Dry not Juicy

Would you try another book from Jan Ellison and/or Kathe Mazur?

I'm not sure. I might try another.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

The characters are flat - author fails to give motive for their actions. Thus the book has potential to evolve into a very good story but falls short. Chapter after chapter you expect the story will take off but towards the end you finally realize this is all you get so you go with it.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

I believe she did the best she could with the material she was given.

Could you see A Small Indiscretion being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No

Wasn't very small Indiscretion

A good story, a bit long winded
I enjoyed and couldn't stop listening, can say it was predictable. Thank you

No small discretion

I didn't feel this was a 'small discretion', this was a huge discretion that Annie made. It changed so many people's emotional DNA.

Outstanding, all around!

Excellent! The narrator did an outstanding job of presenting a story that was mysteriously presented to us in a way that was very captivating !

Well.....

This is well written and the author did put a lot of effort into detailing the story very thoughtfully. To me though it was not a captivating nor satisfying read. It falls into the genre of contemporary troubled marriages like other novels such as The Vacationers-Emma Straub and Us-David Nicholls. I did enjoy the twists towards the end of the story. For the most part the narrator did a good job but her male Irish accent quite often sounded like a Pakistani accent.