Just Jennifer

A Small Indiscretion by Jan Ellison (Random House, January 27, 2015)

Annie Black has put her nineteenth winter, a winter spent with reckless abandon in London, far behind her.  Living in San Francisco, she is now almost forty years old, has a successful career and business as a lighting designer, is married and has three children.  An anonymous letter brings a photo in the mail one day, making Annie realize she hasn’t put things as far in the past as she thinks; there are things that happened that winter details about which she is still unsure.  Annie finds a strong pull back to London and back to a past that holds the secrets, some of which will help reveal recent events in Annie’s life, some of which will cause the life she has built to unravel at an alarming rate.  This family drama is written with more a sense of curiosity than urgency about Annie’s past; so much so that when a secret is revealed it is startling both to Annie and the reader.  Ellison has carefully crafted the details of both her narrative and her characters, even choosing Annie’s career as a lighting designer, someone who illuminates and sets the mood, even as she keeps herself and others in the dark about her past.  The narrative is effectively told in Jane’s alternating voices, first person for her time in London, but then directly addressing someone, telling them the story that has led to their present, almost as if it is a confession.  Annie’s story is compelling and addictive, Annie’s secrets shocking, their effects lasting, but perhaps not irreversible.