Award-winning author Kate Taylor returns with a scintillating, intricate novel about marriage and infidelity in two lushly distinct eras: Dickens' England and our own present day.
When Sharon learns that her husband Al is having an affair with one of his students, her life is sent into turmoil, and the couple decides to split. But when Sharon is diagnosed with cancer, she and Al are brought together once again. Will they find a way to repair their relationship under the most trying and unlikely circumstance?
Meanwhile, in an interwoven thread, we meet Nelly, a young, beautiful nineteenth century woman with ties to the theatre. Magnetized toward the incomparable Charles Dickens, Nelly becomes his secret mistress. But soon, she will learn the cost of her captivity and the limits she has placed on her own life.
As these dual narratives each work through the mysteries around fidelity and marriage, love and passion, creativity and the secrets at the heart of domestic life, they will also ask deep questions about biography and infamy, and what really makes up the story of a life.
NOMINEE
| 2017 OLA Evergreen Award
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
"Serial Monogamy is gripping and entertaining; Kate Taylor plays an artful game here using two time periods―contemporary and Victorian―to provide the reader with illuminating insight into the way that couples can at times make each other miserable while also making each other happy. The book is a page-turner as well as a clever take on Charles Dickens, his wife, his mistress and the fine art of the serialized novel." ―Kate Pullinger, award-winning author of Landing Gear
"The focus of the Toronto writer's deft third novel is marriage and fidelity. . . . Taylor is a smooth writer and her time shifts . . . are executed without a stumble." —Toronto Star
"Compelling. . . . [Serial Monogamy] seduces the reader." —The Globe and Mail
Praise for A Man in Uniform:
"A rollicking novel . . . The book moves along at such an admirable clip that it's hard to believe it won't carry on without you if you dare put it down." —Toronto Star
"Taylor is an aficionado of belle époque France. [Her] twisting plot is rich in romance and disturbing in its implications about the fragility of human rights." —Elle Magazine
"An engrossing mystery that neatly bridges literary and popular fiction . . . Taylor deftly draws out the delicate balance between civil liberties and national security." —Chatelaine
KATE TAYLOR was born in France and raised in Ottawa. Her debut novel, Mme Proust and the Kosher Kitchen, won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for best first book (Canada/Caribbean region) and the Toronto Book Award. Her second novel, A Man in Uniform, was nominated for the Ontario Library Association's Evergreen Award and won Kingston Reads: Battle of the Books in 2011. A recipient of the National Newspaper Award and the Atkinson Fellowship in public policy journalism, she is a long-time contributor to the arts pages of The Globe and Mail, where she currently serves as lead film critic and writes a weekly column about culture. She lives in Toronto.
View titles by Kate Taylor
Award-winning author Kate Taylor returns with a scintillating, intricate novel about marriage and infidelity in two lushly distinct eras: Dickens' England and our own present day.
When Sharon learns that her husband Al is having an affair with one of his students, her life is sent into turmoil, and the couple decides to split. But when Sharon is diagnosed with cancer, she and Al are brought together once again. Will they find a way to repair their relationship under the most trying and unlikely circumstance?
Meanwhile, in an interwoven thread, we meet Nelly, a young, beautiful nineteenth century woman with ties to the theatre. Magnetized toward the incomparable Charles Dickens, Nelly becomes his secret mistress. But soon, she will learn the cost of her captivity and the limits she has placed on her own life.
As these dual narratives each work through the mysteries around fidelity and marriage, love and passion, creativity and the secrets at the heart of domestic life, they will also ask deep questions about biography and infamy, and what really makes up the story of a life.
Awards
NOMINEE
| 2017 OLA Evergreen Award
Praise
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
"Serial Monogamy is gripping and entertaining; Kate Taylor plays an artful game here using two time periods―contemporary and Victorian―to provide the reader with illuminating insight into the way that couples can at times make each other miserable while also making each other happy. The book is a page-turner as well as a clever take on Charles Dickens, his wife, his mistress and the fine art of the serialized novel." ―Kate Pullinger, award-winning author of Landing Gear
"The focus of the Toronto writer's deft third novel is marriage and fidelity. . . . Taylor is a smooth writer and her time shifts . . . are executed without a stumble." —Toronto Star
"Compelling. . . . [Serial Monogamy] seduces the reader." —The Globe and Mail
Praise for A Man in Uniform:
"A rollicking novel . . . The book moves along at such an admirable clip that it's hard to believe it won't carry on without you if you dare put it down." —Toronto Star
"Taylor is an aficionado of belle époque France. [Her] twisting plot is rich in romance and disturbing in its implications about the fragility of human rights." —Elle Magazine
"An engrossing mystery that neatly bridges literary and popular fiction . . . Taylor deftly draws out the delicate balance between civil liberties and national security." —Chatelaine
KATE TAYLOR was born in France and raised in Ottawa. Her debut novel, Mme Proust and the Kosher Kitchen, won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for best first book (Canada/Caribbean region) and the Toronto Book Award. Her second novel, A Man in Uniform, was nominated for the Ontario Library Association's Evergreen Award and won Kingston Reads: Battle of the Books in 2011. A recipient of the National Newspaper Award and the Atkinson Fellowship in public policy journalism, she is a long-time contributor to the arts pages of The Globe and Mail, where she currently serves as lead film critic and writes a weekly column about culture. She lives in Toronto.
View titles by Kate Taylor
