A review by rebeccagee
The Act of Love by Howard Jacobson

3.0

The narrative is beautiful, as I expect from Howard Jacobson, but the story is odd to say the least: the lengths to which a man will go to be 'cuckolded' by his wife, apparently because he loves her so much. His belief is that all men secretly harbour the desire to see their wives with other men and, to support this, the slightly barmy antiquarian picks examples from history and his own experiences to lend tie in with his ever-increasing fervor for his wife to cuckold him. He goes so far as to set up an intricately-plotted meeting between her and the man of his choice and eventually wallows in his own self-made mess when she leaves him (presumably for being an insufferable bore, constantly asking her to recount everything she gets up to). Having said that, I couldn't put it down. Jacobson has the maddening skill to make me hate every character, almost every idea that c

omes out of his protagonist's (antagonist?) pen, and yet remain hooked. I was fascinated and I loved the end, not just because it was the end but because it seemed fitting. A very unusual story and one that I would recommend just so that someone else can feel as confused by it as I still am.