The Forgotten Waltz, By Anne Enright

See how the other woman lives

Anne Enright's tale of forbidden love is not the sensationalist story you might expect.

A little girl, Evie, sees her father kissing another woman inappropriately, but what occurs thereafter is just the sad realisation by Gina Monaghan, the "other woman" in the affair, that she will always come second to her lover's child. Enright tells the story from Gina's point of view, describing her guilt at betraying her husband as well as her resentment of her lover's wife and her inexplicable attraction to this married man who doesn't seem to be her type. But what emerges unexpectedly is Evie's prominence to the story; how she becomes the stain on Gina's breast that marks out who she is and what she has done. Quietly devastating.