2.5 stars ( )

Intriguing novel about a widow, a mistress and the ghost of the man who brought them together, but all slightly too pretentious for my taste. The characters, particularly Bridget, are amusing if nothing else, and the supernatural subplot satisfied my reason for choosing this novel in the first place. I just couldn't stand all the blather about religion, and the endless quoting of Shakespeare. Sort of Evelyn Waugh meets Barbara Pym, which is not my idea of an enjoyable story. ( )

A good novel about three-way relationships that "tend to collapse into two — or expand into four . . ." The writing is quite good, even if the sun does lay a "benediction" on some spring wheat (p. 102). There are a few offbeat uses of the inverse of negative-prefix adverbs, as in "She felt accountably shy" (p. 244). But the rapport between certain characters is unbelievably perfect, giving the feel of a romance novel for intellectuals — a sense of escapism. It would have been better without that. I still liked it very much.

Elegant. ( )

Sally Vickers' novel Instances of the number 3 reads like a kaleidoscope of possible combinations of people in relationships. Shortly after her husband, Peter Hansome, has died, Bridget discovers that he had a mistress, Frances. Honoring Peter's choice, she decides to be friends with Frances. Soon after that, an Iranian boy, Zahin, described as very beautiful literary shows up on her doorstep, and she takes him in. The young man claims to be friends with Peter, who also provided him with accommodation. Throughout the book, there is the vague sense that Peter may or may not have had a relation of sorts with Zahin, who is probably bisexual, if not gay. In the broader context of the stories, the two women also explore other relationships, with men they meet. In addition to that, Peter haunts them, as his ghost observes the action of the story, initially only "visible" to the reader, but later also showing himself to the female characters in the book.

Originally, I did not like the idea of a "ghost" appearing, observing events and revealing itself to the characters. However, if viewed in the sense that deceased loved ones probably "haunt" people, they stay in their minds, or the thought of them keeps the "alive" in our mind, in our lives, there is something poetic to the idea. (although the suggestion in the novel is that the initiative of appearing seems to lie more on the part of the ghost.)

Very well written, and a joy to read. ( )