What do readers think of The Affairs of Others by Amy Grace Loyd? Write your own review.

The novel is about two women recovering from the loss of a husband - one by death and one by betrayal.

Celia is a young widow who becomes the owner of a small apartment building, and her tenants are chosen because they respect privacy. The book is well written. Each chapter is a mini story within the novel. Both Celia and Hope are well developed as characters, but personally, I couldn't relate to their choices. I wanted them to move on. I did enjoy Celia's thought and opinions about her tenants and those who visited the apartment. It is a thoughtful book not one for those looking for a page turner.

The only thing that kept me going to the end of this book was the superb writing. And considering the morbid cast of characters this book needs all the help it can get.
A group of dysfunctional, barely making it misfits trying to get through life by escaping is not new news. I didn't like any of the characters, especially Celia - whose sanity is teetering on the brink. She's carrying a heavy load and should have gotten help a long time ago. I found the sex gratuitous and mildly offensive.

Everything comes together beautifully thanks to Mr. Coughlan who comes in at the end to rescue this sorry lot. A thoroughly delightful character, I wish there had been more of him. This book was basically a downer. No new news here.

This is the first novel of Amy Grace Loyd. I found her voice unique. I can't compare her writing style to any other "popular" novelists. A widow buys a small apartment building in NY. She respects the privacy of her tenants and expects them to do them same for her. Slowly but surely she is drawn into their lives. The story moves along although I found it slow going at times. I did finish the book and I will be interested to see what she writes next.

I received a copy from Picador, and was looking forward to reading it. The story had great potential; Celia was a recent widow and owner and landlord of a 4 unit brownstone. I was looking forward to this nice complicated story with all sorts of plot lines...and yes, I guess maybe they were there, but I just didn't care much. I thought the characters were flat, and just really didn't care about Celia either. Some of her writing was beautiful though, and I would read her next book.

The lackluster plot in this book was really disappointing. Several promising threads were brought up, but nothing ever developed, or things inexplicably resolved themselves. The end just kind of glided by while I was still waiting for something to happen. While it had the makings of a promising story, it was not at all a satisfying read.

When a person experiences the severe illness of a beloved spouse, learning to administer drugs to alleviate the pain but still loses the partner, one normal tendency is to withdraw from social interaction. This is the scenario in which the reader encounters Cassie Cassill. But instead of withdrawing completely, she purchases a small Brooklyn brownstone apartment building, carefully interviewing prospective tenants to establish clear boundaries of privacy. But when one tenant accepts a job in Paris and sublets his apartment to an older woman artist, Cassie is introduced to the sounds of that woman's rough sex with a lover. Gradually, in learning about all her tenants and their peccadillos, she learns not only about them, but about herself and her own emotions.

I am a huge Jess Walter fan so when I read his comments regarding this book I was excited. However, the book was a forced read for me. I felt I owed it to the publisher to read a book that was given to me free of charge, so I did. The main character was clearly a tortured soul who was filled with sadness woven with guilt regarding her husband's death. But, she didn't earn my respect or curiosity. I read with confusion her thoughts and imaginings. The angst of the characters was real, but hard to follow. I feel like my husband's description of the University of Chicago graduate philosophy program fits this story line: obtuse and arcane. I finally got into the book enough to be interested in how it ended. I definitely enjoy a book that presents deep, real characters. These characters were deep and somewhat realistic, but the action was just too hard to follow. I'm making it sound terrible, and it wasn't that. The voyeurism of the narrator was creepy and real along with sad. But all in all, I had to work too hard to follow the plot. It seems to be a novel that will attract those who love to enjoy their own intellect.

The very flowing and sometimes quite expansive writing style in The Affairs of Others gave me early concern. I was reminded of Elegance of the Hedgehog, which was also set in an apartment building and whose concierge gave rambling diatribes about her superior intelligence and discourses on Foucault and postmodernism. I did not like that book at all, but I soon realized that at least The Affairs had a plot! My real problem is that I did not care about the characters and thought that some of the evolving relationships were contrived. I was not compelled to pick up the book and continue reading, though I did finish it. I will not recommend this book to others