SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP

Author: Robyn Sisman ISBN: 0452288266 3/2007 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: PLUME

Renowned London literary agent Annie Hamilton never forgot Jordan Hope. And now he's back. As the saxophone-playing United States presidential hopeful, Jordan is a constant reminder to Annie of their whirlwind love affair during the heady days of Oxford in the 1960s—and of the secret she's kept ever since. Comfortably married with three wonderful children, Annie thinks her life is complete. But her son Tom, now twenty-one years old, discovers Annie's secret—and his own shocking connection to it. In tumult, Tom flees to Manhattan to try to unravel the past and confront the man who might be his father, with no regard for Jordan's delicate political situation. Desperate to explain, Annie races after Tom . . . and straight into the arms of the man she thought she'd never see again.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP was a very difficult read for me. Sisman writes of a relationship between two lovers that began in the 60's and 70's. The relationship went wrong and the two individuals, Jordan and Annie, go their separate ways.

Fast forwarding two decades to the 90's finds Annie with three children and Jordan running for President. Annie's oldest child, Tom, is actually a product of Annie and Jordan's love affair. As Tom finds out the truth, he goes on a crusade to meet his biological father, thus bringing Annie and Jordan back together again.

The political ties of this novel were almost too much for me. I think Sisman does an outstanding job with her story, but for me, the novel did not work. The plot was complex and the characterization well developed. But, as a whole, I was left wanting something more after I finished reading the book.

Kym Oetting