As Long as He Needs Me: 09/05/10

In As Long as He Needs Me by Mary Verdick, Kitty and Clem are on cruise from New York to Montreal, a trip that may tear their marriage apart. Kitty faces the temptation of a dashing Englishman and Clem has to overcome his own weaknesses.

Closed environments can make for interesting character studies. Take for instant Murder on the Orient Express with a murder and a train full of suspects all stuck in a snowdrift. As Long as He Needs Me had the potential to pull apart a marriage and put it back together. Unfortunately the heroine was so unlikable that I was unable to finish the book.

Kitty is written as overbearing, nagging, racist, and self entitled. Every scene I read begins with her either nagging Clem or passing a quick judgment on the people around her. Best of all, at the close of the book, we learn that her daughter sent her off for the cruise so she and her fiancé could get married without her interference. I only know this because I skipped to the end. That tidbit alone justified me leaving the book unfinished.

Before they even make it to the ship, Clem and Kitty are robbed of all the money they had for the trip. Of course they'd taken it as cash. And of course it was a black boy who robbed them while pretending to help them. From that scene onwards I started keeping track of how people were described. Interestingly, ethnic descriptions were typically only given to characters who do something wrong to Kitty.

From all the positive reviews of this book I feel like I must have read another book entirely. Follow the links below for very different opinions on the book than mine.

I received the book for review.

Comments (2)

Comment #1: Monday, September, 6, 2010 at 15:54:19

Mrs. Q: Book Addict

Oh, this one sounds really interesting. Enjoy!

Comment #2: Friday, September 10, 2010 at 21:17:55

Pussreboots

It should have been but it ended up being really disappointing for me.