I read this novel in two nights. This is the story of what happens to marriages, what causes people to stray, to cheat and to wonder if they are making the right choices to leave their spouses and find happiness elsewhere. And is that other happiness truly without jealousy and issues?

This novel is also about 2 couples that meet and one of the women finds the other woman’s husband attractive. They start out thinking that what they are doing is innocent enough. Meeting for coffee, etc. But nothing is ever innocent where there is attraction and this attraction causes a breakdown of both marriages.

The spouses not involved in the cheating are portrayed well. This is what it feels like. I can attest to that.

While all of this is going on there’s a second story about Sungae, a woman from another country struggles with her own past and her own demons.

The back cover states, “What is the cost of leaving a country, a child, a marriage? What is the cost of not leaving? These are the questions at the heart of “The Language of Goodbye”.

That pretty much sums up what this book is about. The writing style is clear and easy to follow along with. The storyline does not jump around and is clear to understand. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It was one that I bought quite awhile ago and pulled down from the shelves on a rainy day. It was a pleasure to be surprised by good writing and a believable story line.

So many times I wanted to yell at this book’s characters… “oh please!” But this is how reality is when someone is cheating or leaving or thinking of going back, trying to go back, leaving again and ending up where love pulls them. It’s real. Reality is frustrating. And most often the grass may look greener on the other side, but you get yourself over there and you realize that life is complicated no matter where the fence line runs.