Two failed marriage, an affair that broke it all. There is no romance or separation drama in Anne Enright´s The Forgotten Waltz. Set in Ireland during the bubbling years of Internet success, this was my first book by this author.
The story is told by Gina, the woman protagonist of the affair. Séan, the man she fell in love with, according to her own description of the feelings while she wanted desperately him in her life, is her sister´s neighbour. She assumes things about him and his family - as often happens in such double life situations - and until the end, he remains a voiceless character, although cold and too business oriented in both personal and professional life.
Gina is successful, working in communications, with a beloved husband with whom she bought a house together. Séan is the attraction, attractive for her maybe because of his coldness and refuse to get involved. He had affairs in the past, maybe he is still having some. He has a daughter, Evie, the one who may have full access to him, in a way that Gina herself acknowledges, is completely forbidden to her.
Both main characters do lack self-reflection and often it is difficult to get into their mindsets. Each chapter has a song name, which is a kind of ironic game of the author´s. The story pace sets in the end as a dance of two. The moves are clear, but no one knows where they are heading to next. Which is not necessarily in the advantage of the story, as sometimes there are many side details introduced that could be or not gather into the story later - especially down the memory lane when after the sudden death of her mother, Gina is lost in childhood memories.
There were definitely parts of The Forgotten Waltz that I´ve found attractive but for a relatively short story I would have enjoyed more brievity and some extra characters construction.I also enjoyed the particular Irish context and most probably will return to this author soon.
Rating: 3 stars
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