The Passionate Friends by H.G. Wells is told in the first person in the form of an autobiography of a middle-aged man to his son. That a man would write to his son about a passionate involvement with a woman that was not his mother is a strange construct, I thought.
The woman in question, Lady Mary Christian, comes from an aristocratic family. Stephen Stratton is a lifelong family friend. They become lovers but Lady Mary decides to marry a Lord for the social position and wealth it brings with it.
The story is interesting while the two are involved with each other.
Stephen goes away to South Africa for five years and Wells writes a boring chapter about social conditions there. When he returns the lovers take up where they left off, and the story becomes interesting again.
When it is discovered that Mary and Stephen are lovers, as part of the agreement between the parties he must go abroad again for three years. More boring chapters ensue while Wells writes a socialist essay, which has absolutely nothing to do with the story.
Several years go by and after Stephen returns to England he marries. Three years later he receives a letter from Lady Mary, which is absolutely preposterous in its content in that it is the voice of Wells expounding his views on the role of women in society, which is another boring chapter.
Finally, they meet in Switzerland by accident. The old passion is there but they only chat. The husband finds out and begins divorce proceedings. To save him from all the pain and anguish of a divorce case Lady Mary commits suicide.
Wells wraps up with another boring final chapter which kind of fizzles out.
This book was a love story and with socialist essays intertwined. I enjoyed the story but was infinitely bored by the essays.
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