Evidence of the Affair

By: Taylor Jenkins Reid

Narrated by: Julia Whelan, George Newbern, James Daniels, Dara Rosenberg

Length: 1 hr and 19 mins

Publisher's Summary

The repercussions of an illicit affair unfold in this short story by bestselling author Taylor Jenkins Reid.

Dear stranger…

A desperate young woman in Southern California sits down to write a letter to a man she’s never met - a choice that will forever change both their lives.

My heart goes out to you, David. Even though I do not know you…

The correspondence between Carrie Allsop and David Mayer reveals, piece by piece, the painful details of a devastating affair between their spouses. With each commiserating scratch of the pen, they confess their fears and bare their souls. They share the bewilderment over how things went so wrong and come to wonder where to go from here.

Told entirely through the letters of two comforting strangers and those of two illicit lovers, Evidence of the Affair explores the complex nature of the heart. And ultimately, for one woman, how liberating it can be when it’s broken.

©2018 Rabbit Reid, Inc. (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Has all the magic of the short story form

This epistolary short story begins when Carrie Allsop, a young married woman, reaches out and writes to David Mayer, the husband of the woman with whom her husband is having an affair. She’s discovered their betrayal after finding the letters sent by David’s wife, Janet.

I loved everything about this story! The magic of the short story form, when done well, is its ability to capture and convey the essence of the characters swiftly and deftly. It took me all of a minute to be drawn in and mesmerized by the story. It’s heartbreaking, humorous and triumphant. The less said the better other than to praise the writing and the narrators. Julia Whelan and George Newbern carry most of the story and they turned in their typically great performances. I am so glad I opted to listen to this one...double the pleasure.

33 of 39 people found this review helpful

AN INCREDIBLE EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE!

When I began listening to this story, I had no idea it would have ended the way it did. It was quite the journey, living the heart rending experience of realising that one's spouse was cheating on one. I felt the pain in each word shared. The author wrote as though she had lived it, or at least was close to people who had, and walked with them as they did. At times I felt like a voyeur into these people's lives... That's how great the writing is. Thank you, Taylor Jenkins Reid for sharing this story. Brilliant work!

39 of 48 people found this review helpful

easy read - starts slow but becomes addicting

The book is amazing. Ending is perfect. I sincerely hope that this would be transformed into a movie as it would be the first of its kind. 10/10

Recommended to my younger sister and older sister in law and they both loved it as well !!

16 of 20 people found this review helpful

What If...?

I love the premise of the story. A woman finds out her husband is having an affair; rather than confront him immediately, she gets in touch with the lady's husband and they start up a kind of pen-pal friendship, being a comfort to them both. After all, no one else in their lives knows just how it feels. I also like how the end of the story is kind of an "all's well that ends well" type of ending. People were still hurt; everyone still went through difficult things.

The only things that felt untrue about it was neither party confronting their cheating spouses. I'm not an aggressive person, but relationships are based on honesty, and I (and everyone I know) would not keep my knowledge of my spouse's affair a secret. They would be confronted, and decisions would be made. I know these relationships took place in a different time (the 70s) but human nature doesn't change. Anyway, I'm not sorry I spent nearly an hour and a half listening! The performance by all four was really great.

19 of 24 people found this review helpful

Great

First of all I need to say that I loved all Taylor Jenkins Reid books, she is one of my top favorite authors!This was a great an unique story!I love the way the story was told and the concept was original.The narrators were perfect and it was fast paced!It was emotional and I just wished we had more!

21 of 27 people found this review helpful

Sooo good, you'll wish it was longer!

Realistic, smart and engaging... kept my interest and I wish it was longer! Characters were real and you could imagine this story happening and I imagine, having happened at one time or another somewhere out there....

13 of 17 people found this review helpful

tried and DNF

I wasn’t into it, corny plot, i felt like i knew the story already. Pass.

7 of 9 people found this review helpful

Highs and Lows

Inventive and clever. Pacing was even and logical. Great performance. But the characters were entirely irritating. Marriages are complicated but not one of the protagonists engendered any sympathy at all. Cheating on a spouse is never acceptable and glorifying that behavior in a “happy ending” short story does not get a bunch of stars in a review.

22 of 30 people found this review helpful

🙄Very ‘70s, and Unrealistic 🤔

Well, jeez. I’d love to be able to say that for 99 cents, this was a terrific bargain, but I just can’t do it. There are multiple problems with this story. First off, the two main characters speak in such a formal, stilted way in their letters, especially in their initial letters, that you’ll be rolling your eyes and imagining a drinking game where everyone has to take a shot whenever someone goes to obvious and artificial lengths to avoid a contraction (eg, “do not” instead of don’t, “will not” instead of won’t). Then, too, the narrator for the cheated-on husband adds to the problem by sounding as unrealistically cheerful as possible. Then there are plot problems: At one point, a main character almost literally changes her mind on a dime; she is 100% committed to Action A, announces her full intention to follow through on Action A, then walks a few feet away into a convenience store, picks up a penny from the Take a Penny, Leave a Penny dish, thinks sentimentally of how much Character Q always adored pennies, and flip flops on her entire life plan instantly, committing irrevocably to Action B (despite her very adamant insistence only moments before that Character Q was a hopelessly inept lover for whom she had no love or respect). There’s also the ending. Surprising, yes, but entirely a cheat (no pun intended), given that the two pen pals involved DEFINITELY would have mentioned such an event in their letters. Hmm. Grade: C+ or B-

5 of 7 people found this review helpful

That ending though...

Wow.. That short story took me by surprise.. Started off as I thought it would.. Predictable.. Then it did NOT go where I first thought it would have gone...Or my second thought.. Interesting stuff.. It's a good listen

9 of 14 people found this review helpful

Interesting, gentle story with genuine characters

Easy to care about these characters as their complicated story unfolds. A pleasure to listen.

Great for insomniacs

Fab short story perfect before bed to wind down after a long day. The different characters can be a little confusing if you tend to drift off into your imagination.

A heavenly listen!!

Wow, this was just the most gorgeous story! Truly beautiful and so engaging. I highly recommend it.

beautiful

I loved this little story! a fab novella to break a reading slump, and I loved the ending

Short, Sweet and packed full of content

This book is super short – under 200 pages! But is is crammed full of content.

Told in letter form, this is the story about Carrie and David.

In 1976, David receives a letter from Carrie shattering his illusion, hers has already been shattered, you see Carrie’s husband has been having an affair, and it looks like the person he is secretly seeing is Davids wife!

Carrie and David have never met, they live hundreds of miles away from each other, but Carrie feels that it is her duty to make David aware of the situation.

I loved this story, it was so well told, and I love the fact that Taylor Jenkins Reid gives a bit of a nod to Daisy Jones in this book (her next bestseller)

Because it is told in letter form between Carrie and David we obviously only know what we have been told, other things that have happened you have to piece together.

🎧🎧 – Expertly narrated by Julia Whelan, George Newbern and James Daniels, this was a fab little audiobook to zip through in just over an hour.

Great concept, fantastic performances

Any review of the story would be likely to spoil the plot line so I will just say: listen to this short story. It’s the best bit of audible entertainment I’ve listened to in a long time. Excellent performances to go with what feels like a very real story. Loved the characters, and so wanted to know more at the end. Exquisite.