Instances of the Number 3

When a man dies and leaves behind a wife and a mistress we expect certain responses to follow. But as the narrator of Salley Vickers''s second novel explains this is not an account of feminine jealousy or even revenge and not all human beings (not even women) conform to the attitudes generally expected. Indeed in this ironic and witty novel nothing is quite as we expect to find it. Telling the story of Bridget Hansome and Frances Slater Vickers brings to life a loving marriage and a love affair that exist side by side for years - and continue to reverberate after secretive generous sexually prodigal Peter Hansome dies suddenly in a car accident on his way home from an assignation with yet another lover about whom neither woman knows.While Frances a London art dealer and sometime artists'' model gradually makes friends with the older Shakespeare-loving Bridget these two unconventional women start to learn the whole truth (or almost the whole truth) about the man whose death brought them together and whose ghost watches over them still. Wise wry and intellectually playful Instances of the Number 3 explores the mysterious power of triangles in love art and theology. It confirms Salley Vickers as one of the most intelligent new voices in British fiction.