The Other Side of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon

-

Three's a Crowd

Happy New Year!  This site will showcase short descriptions and opinions of books I have read.  I hope to gain feedback on books as well as new suggestions.  Mostly I hope to connect with fellow readers. 

I want to start the new year off with an oldie but goldie. Like scents and music, certain books can trigger memories of specific times in your life. The Other Side of Midnight was one of those books. 

Lake Wakatipu
I will never forget where I was when I read The Other Side of Midnight—mainly because I was on my honeymoon in romantic Queenstown, New Zealand.  Outside our hotel door lay Lake Wakatipu with mountains dipping down into the crystal clear water.

As my new husband and I watched the sunset on the lake, a steamship drifted by lit up with a stream of lights and blowing thick black smoke out of the stack.  It was magical.
Me and my men.
But, Sidney Sheldon shamelessly wooed me away to The Other Side of Midnight. I was nearing the end of the book. Catherine was in trouble and I just couldn’t leave her like that. Despite protests, I slid inside to finish my book. I left him there--my new groom staring at the sunset alone, until he went to the bar by himself and had a drink with a couple of elderly ladies who enjoyed spending time with the young "Yank."
Amazingly, my husband stuck with me and we’ve been together over twenty years even after deserting him on our honeymoon.  That night I finished the book and we finished our honeymoon—just the two of us, no Sidney. We went on exciting Shotover Jets that can soar on inches of water, then to a rain forest, Milford Sound, Franz Josef Glacier, and ended in Wellington. And regardless of my shameful
betrayal, I’m still married to the same man.

Of course, out of respect, I’ve never cracked open another Sidney Sheldon novel. We don’t mention Sidney in our house.  When I’m in bookstores, I sometimes steal quick glances at the “S” section. My heart skips a beat when I see Sidney, and I wish I could be with him again.  It’s true, my husband has my whole heart now, but Sidney and I, we’ll always have Queenstown.  
The Other Side of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon
This story follows the lives of two women, beautiful, cunning actress Noelle Page, and smart Catherine Alexander. Although both are on very different tracks, their lives eventually connect. This is a suspenseful page turner. First published in 1973, it’s still as good today as it was back when it first came out, or when I read it in the late eighties. This book is NOT recommended to take on honeymoons! Not every groom may be as understanding as mine when you ignore him in order to learn the fate of Catherine and Noelle.
UPDATE: (2015) My mom recently read The Other Side of Midnight some twenty years after Sidney seduced me on my honeymoon.  While mine was a memorable, but one-time fling, my mom has become Sidney’s regular mistress. She searches out his books and slinks away with him over and over again.  Not only that, she gushes about him and sends me more of his books as further proof of their dalliances.  She’s addicted.  Just take that as a warning. Sidney has a powerful, irresistible draw.


Happy Reading!
Annette

Comments

Anonymous said…
Sounds as if this is a must read!
January 5, 2013 at 8:00 AM
Unknown said…
Oh, too funny. You are a lucky woman to have such a very understanding husband. As a groom he must have been a little concerned...you having an affair with Sheldon on your honeymoon, no less.
January 9, 2013 at 5:37 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

-
Image
  You Go, Girl! Pure love—that’s what I felt about this book!  It’s smart, witty, and emboldening! I don’t know how many countless times I cheered or chuckled.   A female chemist struggles to rise above the chauvinistic male domination of the 1960s and live life on her terms despite ingrained oppression of women.  Hooray for this feminist heroine who points out that just because women’s bodies are smaller than men's doesn’t mean their brains are!   I fell in love with brilliant Elizabeth and her support system:  her impressively  smart daughter Mad; her straightforward neighbor Harriet; her kind-hearted producer Walter, the irreverent Reverend Wakely; and her obstetrician/rower Dr. Mason. Oh, and let’s not forget Six-Thirty, her beloved dog!   I would definitely be one of Elizabeth’s devoted fans of her show,  Supper at Six !  If my kids were still at home, I’d mimic Elizabeth and tell them, “Children, set the table. Your mother needs a moment to herself.” (Even though I’m not the
Read more

The Little Italian Hotel by Phaedra Patrick

-
Image
Italy: Just What the Doctor Ordered   This book is a sweet ray of sunshine (with a few stabs to the heart)! A group of grief-stricken people find solace in Italy and each other.   After a husband leaves his self-help radio talk show wife, she invites four random listeners to join her on what would have been her 25 th  wedding anniversary trip to Italy.  On this healing retreat, they each face their own grief in an old-world charming hotel where the innkeeper is stuck in the past and faces his own challenges.    I loved everything about this book:  the setting, the side trips to Florence and Venice, the delicious homemade food the hotel owner whips up, and the friendships formed through bonds of sorrow.   Charming and uplifting!    Pub date: June 6, 2023 If you like books set in Italy you may want to check out: One Italian Summer  by Rebecca Serle The Seamstress of Sardinia  by Bianca Pitzorno Beautiful Ruins  by Jess Walter Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions  by Mario Giordano A Room
Read more

All the Broken Places by John Boyne

-
Image
  Guilt and Consequences. Oooh this book knocked me off my feet!  I have read a lot of good books, but this one was one of the best I’ve read in a long time!   It’s about guilt, conscience, our role in society and as humans.  It was such a well-crafted slow burn, I had a difficult time putting it down.     In this riveting narrative, we are pulled from one page to the next edging toward a 91-year-old woman’s secret from WWII.  At the same time a drama plays out in current-day London, with both culminating to a jaw-dropping moment.   So good!!    Here are a couple lines to give you a taste of the book.   “I told myself that none of it had been my fault, that I had been just a child, but there was a small part of my brain that asked me, if I was entirely innocent, then why was I living under an assumed name?”   –pg 29   Gretel thought the sparkle had left her eyes—her best feature. “Now they were the color of barbed wire, of rusty ovens, of smoke and ash.”  –pg 98   “My wife belongs to m
Read more