This is stupid, she told herself. Then you were a timid eighteen-year-old with little knowledge of the world. Now you are married, a successful business woman in your fifties - she winced at the thought of her age - who has faced far bigger challenges than this. Relax! You don't know what this reunion will bring. Who knows, you might enjoy it! And if not exactly that, you could have a significant achievement by the end of this weekend.
A Taste of His Own Medicine by Linda Fawke is a dark, gripping novel of lust and revenge.
Kate Shaw is a successful pharmacist, competitive and career-driven from her early days at the University. When an invitation arrives to a thirty-year reunion at her old alma mater, her first impulse is to delete the message and forget all about it. Her husband Neil thinks she should attend the departmental reunion on the campus. Kate argues that those were not the happiest years of her life.
"Thoughts of the reunion crept back like a bad cold she couldn't shake off. She discovered she was curious to know what had happened to the people with whom she shared three years of her life. And bitter thoughts crossed her mind. Perhaps she could make use of the weekend. Maybe she could get more of it than being pleasant to folk she never liked".
She would like to settle old scores with several people, but her main target is Jonathan, her ex.
"Would Jonathan be there? She didn't want to ask herself but her brain had a mind of its own. It's years since I've been aware of his existence, she thought. I did a thorough job of building a wall between us".
She needs a plan on how exactly to handle him. "Jonathan Carson, her beautiful man. To say he was handsome was like saying Shakespeare wrote plays, He was the epitome of good looks". He was handsome, and he knew it. In his student days, he has been modelling. This defined him and made him stand apart from the others. Thirty years ago, Kate and Jonathan's relationship ended on bitter terms. Joy turned to vengeance, "desire for him became the desire to hurt him; to scar him as much as she could".
Kate is set on revenge, and the reunion offers an excellent opportunity to wreak vengeance. Her friend and confidante Becky is enrolled in her plans, but only in vague terms. At first she goes along with the crazy plan, finding it amusing, but as the revenge plans become more elaborate, Becky tries to reason with Kate, saying the best approach is to put it behind her, "I don't approve of this. You're going too far this time".
And Kate's ambitions to settle scores grow out of proportion. Her desire to scar her ex for life works to her advantage. What she doesn't expect is that her grim measures of vengeance would bring a strange reaction, "You've come back into my life like an explosion", says Jonathan.
A Taste of His Own Medicine is a study of corrosive effects of the wish for revenge and the damage it does to ourselves first of all. It is a disconcerting read, twisted and gripping.
I've never been to a school or University reunion in my life. While I'm quite content to see the photos of my former class mates and University pals on social media, I am not interested in attending any reunions. Reading the novel, I thought that all this meeting up to reminisce about the past, exchange life stories and eat/drink oneself into a state of stupor does not appeal to me whatsoever. I would be that one person from Kate's class who decided not to attend, and who people were bitching about later.
Overall, you feel sad for a person who keeps grudges and dreams of revenge for 30 years.
They all seem pretty infantile and quite unpleasant. It's like Mean Girls, 30 Years Later. Aren't people supposed to grow up?! Yet they make fun of each other's fading looks, unflattering details, and ridicule less successful careers. Kate finds it cruel but amusing. The pharmacists at the reunion are either boastful of their current status, or wallow in self-pity. And Kate is utterly deranged.
Yes, Kate had a hard blow, being dumped by her fickle lover when she felt at her most vulnerable, but letting herself stew in hatred and anger has turned her positively unhinged. She remembers every single detail from her Uni days as if it were yesterday. "And now, thirty years later, it could be time to rebalance the scales. The memory of their last conversation was as vivid as the denouement of a novel read yesterday".
I didn't like any of the characters, but at the same time I was rather fascinated by the whole venomous narrative, and will be interested in reading the sequel.
This book review is part of the Book Birthday Blitz.
Many thanks to Linda Fawke and Rachel's Random Resources for my copy of the book!
Purchase Links
UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Taste-his-own-Medicine-ebook/dp/B01N2NYZVN/
US - https://www.amazon.com/Taste-his-own-Medicine-ebook/dp/B01N2NYZVN/
Author Bio –
Linda Fawke is an arts person who studied science but always wanted to write. Now retired, she indulges this passion, writing fiction and non-fiction, even occasional poetry, preferably late at night. She has now written two novels, 'A Taste of his own Medicine' and its sequel, 'A Prescription for Madness' using her background in pharmacy as the setting of both. These are easy books to read, suitable for Book Club discussions. ' A Prescription for Madness' is more serious than the first book, dealing with such issues as pregnancy in later life and Down's Syndrome.
She has been a winner of the Daily Telegraph 'Just Back' travel-writing competition and has published in various magazines including 'Mslexia', 'Litro' online, 'Scribble', 'The Oldie', 'Berkshire Life' and 'Living France'. She was a finalist in the 'Hysteria' short story competition.
Linda blogs at www.linimeant.wordpress.com where her 'Random Writings' include a range of topics from travel to 'Things that pop into my head'.
Social Media Links –
Twitter: @LindaFawke
Facebook: Linda Fawke
It seem quite dark. 30 years seems like a very long to hate someone. I'm not sure I would enjoy it, as, like you, I wouldn't connect with the characters.
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