Explore our new BookBrowse Community Forum!

Book Summary and Reviews of Indiscretion by Charles Dubow

Indiscretion by Charles Dubow

Indiscretion

by Charles Dubow

  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Readers' Rating:
  • Published:
  • Feb 2013, 352 pages
  • Rate this book

  • Buy This Book

About this book

Book Summary

With the evocative power of The Paris Wife and the aching vulnerability of John Irving's books, a heady and addictive debut novel, set in the present day, in which the idyllic lives of a wealthy and glamorous husband and wife are upended when they meet an impressionable and ambitious young woman.

Harry and Madeleine Winslow have been blessed with talent, money, and charm. Harry is a National Book Award-winning author on the cusp of greatness. Madeleine is a woman of sublime beauty and grace whose elemental goodness and serenity belie a privileged upbringing. Bonded by deep devotion, they share a love that is both envied and adored. The Winslows play host to a coterie of close friends and acolytes eager to bask in their golden radiance, whether they are in their bucolic East Hampton cottage, living abroad in Rome thanks to Harry's writing grant, or in their comfortable Manhattan brownstone.

One weekend at the start of the summer season, Harry and Maddy, who are in their early forties, meet Claire and cannot help but be enchanted by her winsome youth, quiet intelligence, and disarming naivety. Drawn by the Winslows' indescribable magnetism, Claire eagerly falls into their welcoming orbit. But over the course of the summer, reverence transforms into dangerous desire. By Labor Day, it is no longer enough to just be one of their hangers-on.

A story of love, lust, deception, and betrayal told through the omniscient eyes of Maddy's childhood friend Walter, a narrator akin to Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby, Indiscretion is a juicy, deeply textured novel filled with fascinating true-to-life characters - an irresistibly sensual page-turner that explores having it all, and the consequences of wanting more.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

"Despite a disappointing and drawn-out ending, smart and observant writing makes the story well worth the ride." - Publishers Weekly

"Starred Review. Dubow's book is a page turner that skillfully tugs at the heartstrings." - Kirkus

"Dubow's first novel is a deliciously absorbing page-turner. His captivating characters jump off the page to pull the reader into their story." - Library Journal

"Charles Dubow has pulled off something remarkable: a finely tuned, perfectly pitched literary novel with the urgency of a tensely plotted thriller. I couldn't put it down." - Chris Pavone, author of The Expats

This information about Indiscretion was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Roni S. (Pittsburgh, PA)

Indiscretion
This is Charles Dubow's first novel and it is beautifully written with good character development. There are 4 main characters and one of them is the narrator. The reader cares about some of the characters. You feel their joy and their pain. Anyone interested in life in the Hamptons would enjoy this book but it also has a much wider appeal. Other settings include Manhattan, Paris and Rome. Some of the early parts of the book are very sensual. I will look forward to other books by this author. Of course, the title, "Indiscretion" tells it all.

Laurence O. (Phoenix, AZ)

No Discretion Needed to Enjoy Indiscretion
I will admit, after about 30 pages I was ready to return the book--it was so slow and somewhat trite. However I am the type of person who has never walked out of a movie. I was not enjoying and never put down a book I started to read, but didn't enjoy.

I am so glad I read the next 20 pages--it captivated me. Charles Dubow does an excellent job developing the characters and you love the 6 major characters. The book is a great read for hopeless romantics and those that ponder what we do while we are here in this universe.

Dubow artfully takes you through and you experience all the emotional highs of the great, happy moments and the depths of the negative and sad moments.

Great for a book group or club--so much to discuss.

Sarah N. (Corte Madera, CA)

I couldn't look away...
Indiscretion kept me wanting more and terrified of where it was going to take me. As a married woman, I am always fascinated and repelled by the thought of such indiscretions. I was thrilled by the fact that I thought I knew where the book was taking me but then didn't. I will put Charles Dubow on my list of "must read" authors for when his next book comes out.

Shirley D. (Amherst, MA)

A Tug at the Heart.
Ever been at a gathering where you knew no one nor were familiar with their privileged lifestyles?
But you decided to stick it out for a time anyway. This is how the beginning of INDISCRETION felt – not easy to get started. Yet as in life we usually (and if you continued reading) adjust and find that in this crowd of strangers, some quickly became familiar. It was thus with Walter and Claire, Maddy and Harry. Once we slipped into their lives, their problems, their highs and lows were understandable. Depending on your own life experiences, one person may stand out, become an individual you won't forget long after the story ends. Through the skill of the writer, these seem to be real "people" with real lives. You will care and this novel will tug at your heart.

Wendy F. (Kalamazoo, MI)

Indiscretion
Great read! I fell in love with the characters throughout their happy times as well as struggles. Although there was a familiarity about certain parts of the story, I didn't want it to end. The beautiful and loving Maddy, handsome, witty Harry, the newcomer Claire and of course Walter, all caught up in a complex web of emotion. Thank you Charles Dubow for giving me this engrossing read.

Edie M. (Kennett Square, PA)

Indiscretion is the ultimate love story
I was captivated from the beginning with this book.
The characters are very easy to relate with. I found myself being drawn back again and again. I love Harry and Maddy, my heart was celebrating and breaking along with theirs. The narrator Walter's view was very interesting and from that aspect, it did remind me of Gatsby.

We should all have such a devoted friend!

...18 more reader reviews

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Author Information

Charles Dubow

Charles Dubow was born in New York City and spent his summers at his family's house on Georgica Pond in East Hampton. He was educated at Wesleyan University and New York University. He has worked as a roustabout, a lumberjack, a sheepherder in New Zealand, a congressional aide and was a founding editor of Forbes.com and later an editor at Businessweek.com. He lives in New York City with his wife Melinda, children William and Lally, and Labrador Retriever Luke. This is his first novel.

More Author Information

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

More Recommendations

Readers Also Browsed . . .

more literary fiction...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Graveyard Shift
    Graveyard Shift
    by M. L. Rio
    Following the success of her debut novel, If We Were Villains, M. L. Rio's latest book is the quasi-...
  • Book Jacket: The Sisters K
    The Sisters K
    by Maureen Sun
    The Kim sisters—Minah, Sarah, and Esther—have just learned their father is dying of ...
  • Book Jacket: Linguaphile
    Linguaphile
    by Julie Sedivy
    From an infant's first attempts to connect with the world around them to the final words shared with...
  • Book Jacket
    The Rest of You
    by Maame Blue
    At the start of Maame Blue's The Rest of You, Whitney Appiah, a Ghanaian Londoner, is ringing in her...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Pony Confidential
    by Christina Lynch

    In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.

Who Said...

A million monkeys...

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

F the M

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.