Diana Forsyth is planning a party to celebrate her husband Will turning sixty and their thirtieth wedding anniversary. They have two adult children, Aiden and Persephone, and they are returning home to Australia for the big event. The venue, plane tickets and accommodation have been booked and Diana has almost finished her working on Will’s big surprise.

Diana and Will have just recently sold the family home on Turpentine Street, the place where their children grew up, they have bought an apartment, and Diana is slowly unpacking years of memories. Will spends most of his time overseas working, he always has, and her friends can’t understand why Didi doesn’t mind being on her own?

Diana finds a torn scrap of paper hidden inside one of Will’s jumpers, with the words, "I forgive you" written on it and Didi wonders if Will's cheating on her? Diana starts looking back at the years they have been together and their marriage, it began with them being madly in love, as time goes by, children, family commitments, and work and have all affected their intimacy, and closeness.

The Tricky Art of Forgiveness is a story about relationships, marriage, friendship, family, tragedy, putting others first, losing yourself, and lack of communication. It’s a realistic and engaging narrative, that grabs your attention and keeps it, many of us can relate to the topics covered in the story, and especially women whose children have grown up and left the nest.

Five stars from me, thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for my copy in exchange for a review, well done Meredith Jaffe, I loved the use of music in the narrative, and Didi's supportive and funny friends, and I’m looking forward to reading Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison.

Another enjoyable read from Meredith Jaffe, it was very much in the same vain as her novel The Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison, it was fun, enjoyable and a quick read. A perfect way to while away a weekend.

Thank you so much to the publishers and Netgalley for gifting me this book!

A big thumbs up from me.

I was looking forward to this one after reading and loving The Dressmakers of Yarrandarah Prison.

I really enjoyed this story of a marriage and all the highs and lows, secrets and forgiveness.

Another great read from Meredith Jaffe 💜

Diana and Will have recently down sized and are about to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. Will travels a lot for work so Diana is left to party plan and unpack and comes across a note that simply states "I FORGIVE YOU." This causes her to question who is needing forgiveness and for what and doubt what Will may be up to. But before she can question him, she herself becomes the target of doubts about what she is doing whilst Will is away. The reader gets to see the relationship of Diana and Will in both "Now" and "Then" time periods and we get to discover the tragic event that nearly ripped their marriage apart years ago that has a lasting impact through to current times. Will they even make it to celebrate their 30th anniversary?? A brilliant story by Jaffe.

I really enjoyed reading this book, it was a quick read and it was really easy to follow the story and feel for the characters!

What a wonderful book. A story of family, secrets and the lives lived. It is a story of marriage, forgiveness and choices. It has humour, is heartfelt and has something everyone can in some form relate to.

I love Diana but found all the characters well written and had their own personalities that brought the story together. It is honest, telling but also fun. The author really weaves a tale that is believable and is worth reading as it will make you think.

A great read that is worth every minute you spend reading it.

Note: I forgot to mention that as this was a sample extract of only 36 pages that I actually borrowed this book from my library so I could read the whole book.

Diana and Will are empty nesters and have downsized to an apartment.
Diana is reflecting after finding a note that brings back a flood of memories.
I loved the idea of this storyline, the ups and downs of marriage, but I really couldn’t connect with the characters or story, unfortunately.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

After reading so many great books at the start of the year, I’ve now hit a speedbump with a couple of books in a row I’ve really not liked much at all.

I wanted to read The Tricky Art of Forgiveness as the main characters were heading towards sixty and there's really not enough 'older people' representation in books. Unfortunately though, their actions never reflected their ages and Jaffe should not have bothered.

Besides characters acting immature given their age, there were so many things that made no sense about this book. The beginning introduces us to Diana, our heroine, unpacking at her new apartment. Will, her husband, is not there and she is having trouble contacting him. Diana thinks about how Will has basically forced her to sell up their family home and now he’s overseas, apparently uncontactable because they still use landlines and answering machines instead of texting. Then, in amongst one of his jumpers, she finds a scrap of paper with the message, ‘I forgive you’ in his handwriting and she goes into panic mode.

Okay… I assumed maybe Will had done a runner considering this build up but no, he then calls, using a mobile phone to which Diana could have just given in and texted earlier if things were so worrisome… And I’m still trying to work out why ‘I forgive you’ would scare someone so much. I mean, it might be some bit of self improvement strategy, I don’t know, but it doesn’t actually have ‘Carmen, you’re the best shag I’ve ever had, I’ll call you when my stupid wife Diana is out of earshot’ written on it, does it?

So… The book then swaps between ‘then’ (from when Will and Diana met) and ‘now’ (with Diana party planning and day drinking). Literally, nothing happens in this book. Unless you think reading about Diana running errands and meeting friends for coffee is something happening. It actually took to the 50% mark of the book for the next significant moment to happen and it made even less sense than the note in Will’s clothes. I mean, seriously, without saying what it actually is and spoiling it if you really are thinking of reading the book, I cannot work out on what planet such a thing would happen to anyone. If Diana and Will were famous movie stars, maybe, but they’re apparently not. Although, now that I think about it, they’re not short of a dollar, Diana did throw $2000 down for a venue hire without blinking an eyelid…

Anyway, it was around this time that I began to skim. Then, I skimmed some more. Then, I gave up and DNF’d the book. So, I don’t know what the note meant and I’m afraid I have no real desire to find out.

I suppose I shouldn’t rate it as it might have suddenly become a Liane Moriarty-like effort but all my DNFs automatically get a one.

The Tricky Art of Forgiveness is the fourth novel by Australian author, Meredith Jaffé. While her husband Will is overseas on business, Diana Forsyth is unpacking boxes in their new seaside apartment on The Green. The move from Turpentine Street in The Village was a wrench, but their kids are grown with families of their own, and living overseas; downsizing makes sense.

So, on her day off from being a school choir mistress, with the Big Party (Will’s 60th and their 30th wedding anniversary), and The Big Surprise still to organise, Didi is refolding Will’s hastily packed pullovers when she finds a crumpled note on a Singapore hotel letterhead, in Will’s hand: “I FORGIVE YOU”.

Immediate recall of their very first encounter is triggered (a meet-cute on vacation in the Whitsundays), but Didi is also reminded of darker times in their marriage, infidelities and betrayals, grief and desperation, over two decades earlier. And she has to wonder: to whom did Will write this?

Then Will returns and a bombshell drops. Will their marriage survive this?

In this dual timeline narrative, Jaffé slowly and skilfully builds the story of a marriage with its attendant highs and lows. She populates it with complex characters who are mostly appealing despite, or perhaps because of, their flaws and failings, but who occasionally disappoint with poor behaviour. And the ones who seem despicable? Even they might deserve a chance, or some sympathy.

This is a story that will particularly resonate with readers of a certain vintage, especially “empty-nesters”, but certainly has a broader appeal. Jaffé touches on both topical and perennial themes: career versus family and children; extra-marital affairs; the economic security of older women; grief; and surviving the post-child-rearing years.

As a bonus, Jaffé makes her protagonist a singer and throws in a list of songs that are bound to exercise the nostalgia muscle. There is plenty of humour, some of it quite black, but also a good deal of heartache, so have the tissues ready. With a tale that is thought-provoking and heart-warming in equal measure, once again, Jaffé does not disappoint.
This unbiased review is from a copy provided by Harper Collins Australia.

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I wish I was in a book club for this one. I need to discuss!! It's very introspective and all about marriage and the choices we make. I have a lot of thoughts about this one but no spoilers. Would make a great book club pick, especially for a more mature group.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins Australia for this review copy.

Based on the 36 pages of the novel made available to reviewers, I hope to enjoy this novel when I have an opportunity to read it in full.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

I have read a few of Meredith's book, including The Fence and The Dressmakers Of Yarrandarrah Prison and I have really enjoyed them, so was happy to see that she has a new book due for release. This small sample gives a taste into her latest story, and I look forward to reading the story in full!

Having read all Meredith’s books I was interested to see what we have in store with this new one and as expected this small taste has totally drawn me into the story. I look forward to buying a copy once it is out.