"Unflinchingly honest, with contradictory accounts of blame and abusive behaviour, this authentic presentation of the brutal breakdown of a marriage is devastatingly powerful."
Often uncomfortable, and always authentic, CE Riley’s Is This Love? packs thought-provoking punch. From the throes of first lust and love, to the ugliness of bitter divorce proceedings, through accusations of controlling, belittling, abusive behaviour disseminated through legal documents, this shard of real-life grittiness provokes readers to question the nature of love, marriage, manipulation, and how we treat those who are closest to us.
Narrated by J in the months after their marriage breaks down and they’re issued with divorce papers, Is This Love? presents conflicting accounts of who was to blame for a devastating break-up. There’s rawness and searing heat, and icy cold-heartedness, and really it’s impossible to know who’s telling the truth. The legal documents J receives detail abusive behaviour J is alleged to have committed during the marriage - accounts that enrage J, whose version of events contradicts those of the documents.
That J’s gender is never revealed adds an extra layer of power to this spark of gritty short fiction that exposes the worst of human behaviour with extraordinary aplomb. As J remarks, “How quickly poison takes hold”, and that poison runs through Is This Love? with breathtaking potency.
| Primary Genre | General Fiction |
| Other Genres: |
Did you mean to marry me?
Did you understand the vows that we took?
J's wife has left, and J is trying to understand why. How could someone you loved so much, who claimed to love you once, just walk away? How could they send divorce papers accusing you of terrible things, when all you've ever done is tried to make them happy?
Narrated by J in the days, weeks and months after the marriage collapses, and interspersed with the departed wife's diary entries, Is This Love? is an addictive, deeply unsettling, and provocative novel of deception and betrayal, and passion turned to pain. As the story unfolds, and each character's version of events undermines the other, all our assumptions about victimhood, agency, love and control are challenged - for we never know J's gender. If we did, would it change our minds about who was telling the truth?
Is This Love? features in the following genres: General Fiction, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Fiction, Romance / Relationship Stories, Shorter Reads, Fiction: special features
Is This Love? is available in Paperback, Hardback
Is This Love? was written by C. E. Riley and published by Serpent's Tail an imprint of Profile Books Ltd
Is This Love? has 224 pages
£13.49
