The Innocents

Strange that as I began reading this book I said… I just read this.  Funny to find out this is an adapted story from a book I read last month, the Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton.  The book I just finished is The Innocents by Francesca Segal.  Interesting that a contemporary author would find a famous tale and update it to the present day, but this time placed in the UK using American characters and not UK characters in the US, specifically NYC.  Segal does a nice job using current day issues, though I didn’t like her characters as deeply as I did Wharton’s cast.  This is a love story using the tried and true “triangle” of man is in a relationship but falls for the woman who has some “major character flaws” – at least from mainstream society.  Adam is a young 28-year-old Jewish man who is seen as an upstanding citizen very involved in his religion and the people in his community.  He falls in love with young beautiful Rachel and as they plan their wedding, we meet Ellie (Rachel’s cousin) who returns from America (full of the American traits) – beautiful, voluptuous, and a former porn star, Ellie gets Adam’s attention and he begins to focus solely on leaving Rachel for her cousin.  The triangle brings in the grandmother, who is an important character in the story as the matriarch of the family.  What can stop Adam’s attraction? If you read Wharton’s book, guess what, same thing!  I won’t give it away.  There are a number of secondary stories and characters that add to the complexity of Adam and Ellie’s attraction.  While the scene is a bit different the age old questions remain, why do we get tempted to leave a good thing?    Again, I thought the depth of the development of characters was more real for me with Wharton.  I find this story to be a reminder of the old Monday night at the movies on NBC (sorry I am dating myself).  Sometimes someone doesn’t get what they deserve, as is the case with Adam.  I enjoyed the final ending in Wharton a bit better than Segal’s version.  For those in the Jewish tradition, the depth of this story might provide at least some intriguing correlations to your own life, for others, some mundane day-to-day moments.  I’d take a pass on this one, unless you like reading somewhat-trashy beach novels.  This would then be a pretty good read.  Sorry, not my cup of tea, especially after reading Wharton’s work last month.