Bishop skillfully invokes and revises the “forbidden passion” trope of a relationship between an older teacher and a young ingénue. The meta-conversation in the book is smart — What does it mean to tell a true story? As J.B. becomes a suspect in Patrick’s death, she returns to Australia for the first time since she got married. They have an uncanny, dreamlike quality, unfolding without J.B. quite being able to participate in them fully. J.B. is a very good narrator, but I suspect she is not recounting her saga for the reader — she’s telling it for herself.

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Persons: Bishop, Patrick, “, Meg Wolitzer’s “, Liane Moriarty’s “ Locations: Australia