Book Review: "Sudden Rain" by Maritta Wolff

 Let me start with a little background on how I came to read this book. I had never heard of Maritta Wolff prior to purchasing this book nor do I make spur of the moment purchases especially in regards to literature. Despite saying all of this, I found myself leaving my local bookstore with a receipt in one hand and the book in the other. I had nothing else to go on with apart from the few quotes on the back of the book, not even recommendations from trusted friends or peers (they too didn’t know anything about Maritta Wolff or ‘Sudden Rain’). What attracted me to this book was not the enthusiastic quote from Woman & Home placed above the author’s name; ‘A riveting tale of infidelity, love and divorce’ it read. I wasn’t attracted either by the summary of the story on the back of the book. What I was attracted to was the story of how this book came to be, printed on the inner sleeve of the book.

Maritta Wolff (American born in 1918), I came to learn from the short paragraph below her photo, was a rather successful author. They had called her a ‘prodigy’ because she had found success as a published author with her first novel ‘Whistle shop’ at only twenty-two. She had then mysteriously stopped writing suddenly after publishing six books. Following her death in 2002, the manuscript for ‘Sudden rain’ was discovered hidden in her refrigerator. She had completed this manuscript some thirty years earlier. Once I read that I knew that there was no way I was going to leave this book on the shelf at the store. I had too many questions, ‘What was it about this book that made her hide it?’ ‘Why the refrigerator?’ etc… My curiosities aside, what is ‘Sudden Rain’ really about? Is it any good?

In short ‘Sudden Rain’ is centred on the love triangles of well-off suburbia families in the 60s. There is Tom & Nedith Fallons and Hallie Christopher (a.k.a Mrs C.), Pete & Killian Fallon and Rob Wilson, Cynny & Jim Holman and Mick Sanford (a.k.a John Miguel). There is also Nancy & Dave Friedman but their story is not one of infidelity. The quote from Woman & Home certainly sums up this paperback quite well. ‘Sudden Rain’ is certainly about infidelity, love and divorce. However I would not use the word ‘riveting’ to describe this tale.

The book depicts very well the emotional and psychological impact of life against the backdrop of marriage, love and infidelity. The characters ultimately face critical moments in their lives whereby a change is certain, whether the moment is reached voluntary or by interference from fate/serendipity. The serendipitous aspect of their lives brings about a sense of connections between the characters and thus their stories. There is definitely a sense of six-degrees-of-separation in this book. In some way this connection may present a problem in the reader in so much as the characters interwoven nature blurs the necessary distinction required in finding a main ‘focus’/ character for the narration. This lack of a main focus, a main character or story that grasps at the reader’s attention in this book can make the characters easy to forget and the book difficult to read. The reader may find him/herself having to refer to previous pages in order to follow the character’s stories without confusion.

It is not just this connection that can pose a problem for the reader but also the stories themselves. Although there is a genuine depiction of the character’s experiences and the dilemma faced, the narrative lacks the necessary embellishments required to keep the reader’s interest. Since I am not accustomed to Wolff’s writing style I can not tell whether this is deliberate or not. The scenarios are too realistic and thus in a way mundane. There is nothing shocking about Nancy (a soccer-mum type woman) experiencing what can only be described as middle-life crisis, nor is it surprising that excessive work commitment can lead to marriage breakdown as experienced by Cynny for example. Moreover, when the stories appear to evolve into something interesting/unexpected such as Tom and Hallie’s affair or Nancy’s unfortunate incident or even the reunion between Pete and Killian, the excitement is too short-lived leaving the reader puzzled and/or unsatisfied. The twists are not fully explained and the reader is expected to draw whatever outcome he/she desires. The embellishment-free narrative style adopted in this book restricts its entertaining value and thus makes it unsuitable for anyone who enjoys literal escapism. There are no grand, whirlwind romantic affairs, no tantalizing twists, no provocative story lines and/or characters that aim at shocking, entertaining and getting under the skin of the reader, keeping him/her spellbound and glued to the narration. ‘Sudden Rain’ lacks the narrative extravagancy of Taylor-Bradford or Steele to name just two popular authors in this genre.

Despite the lack of piquancy in this book, it is a nice read. The normality of the characters and stories make it believable. “Sudden Rain’ is imbued with modest and realism, which distinguishes it from other books in this genre. This fact will attract readers to it. Perhaps the best quality of this tale is not one of infidelity, love or divorce but rather the private conflict within and/or between individuals against the public masks/persona. Wolff triumphs in her legitimate depiction of the private battles of self-doubt, self-identity, self-worth and mortality, which most readers will find endearing.

‘Sudden Rain’ is published by Pocket Books and can be purchased from any major bookstores. It consists of 434 pages. ‘Sudden Rain’ retails at £7.99 but it can also be found in some good second hand shops for much less.

P.S: I still don’t know why she hid the manuscript in the fridge!