Finished: The Good Soldier (Ford) A very good book that I'm still contemplating. :-) This is one of those books that I have to think about for awhile before I decide how much I like it, lol. It is in the Top 100 list, so it had to be read. However, where does it fall on MY Top 100 list (which I'm slowly compiling), if at all? I think it does. Anyway, it's the story of two young, married couples who meet in a German "spa" town before WWI. Florence, the wife of the narrator, and Edward, the husband of the other couple, both supposedly have heart issues, hence their yearly stays at the spa town. Florence and John are married Americans. Edward and Leonora are married English folk. It was hard to get a grasp on the story at first, because it's told in a very random stream of conscious, here's my story, oh wait I forgot this part so let's go back, fashion. However, once you get used to it, it's a very good story that I really hated to put down. John tells his story, but rather peels off each piece like an onion until you get to the real heart of the matter. You go on supposing things, but don't know the real truth of things until they are revealed. Florence is first presented as a sickly young woman who just wants to live out her life in Europe. Oh, I forgot to mention that both couples are wealthy enough to basically do nothing but live all around various parts of Europe, doing nothing. So, Florence pretty much fakes a heart ailment on her honeymoon night...which is a cruise over to Europe, and poor John, I'm pretty sure, never even consummates the marriage because it would be too much for her heart. Meanwhile, once she gets to Europe, Florence continues an affair with another American who had gone over before who she had begun an affair with before she married John, pretty much for his money. Then, once Florence and John meet the stoic Brits, Leonora and Edward, at the spa they become pretty inseparable as couples...but then Florence and Edward carry on an affair right under unsuspecting John's nose. Of course, Leonora knows what's going on because she's been through it now three other times with Edward. Edward is a complicated character. His marriage to Leonora had been arranged by both their parents and though he respects her (because she kept his properties from going belly up with his magnanimous spending for the community and his estate employees), he has never loved her. He has, though, fallen in love with (or so he thinks) each of the women he has his affairs with. It all becomes pretty sordid once every knows what's going on with everyone else....especially when Leonora's 22 year old, beautiful young ward, Nancy, (who she has been the guardian of since she was 13) steps into the picture and Edward and SHE fall for each other (even though Edward and Leonora have been like an aunt and uncle to her her entire life.) So, what results is Florence committing suicide when she realizes that John has found out she has basically been a strumpet and has no heart ailment; Edward committing suicide when he resists the temptation to have an affair with Nancy, yet realizes that Nancy's love for him has gone away when Leonora tells her all about Edward's infidelities over the years; Nancy's going crazy because all her illusions about Edward, Leonora, and the sanctity of marriage have all been shattered; John ending up taking care of Nancy, another physically loveless relationship for the gullible, lonely man; and Leonora, the only strong one, happily remarried with a baby on the way. Of course, all that is a gross understatement and trivial synopsis of the entire interesting, intense, fast-moving story!!!