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