The Engagements

The Engagements (2013) by J. Courtney Sullivan. This book is concerned with diamonds and people's reasons for getting into relationships and the conduct of those relationships. It jumps around among the years, from 1947 to 1972 to 1983 to 2012, first telling about a woman who works in advertising, then about a man who works as an EMT, then about a Parisian who leaves her husband for an attractive young American and lives to regret it. The structure of the book was a puzzle to me, as I couldn't see a good reason for all the leaping from year to year, and I didn't see why it was necessary to break up all these different stories into different eras and present them out of order. I'm sure the author had a good reason for structuring the book as she did, I just couldn't see it. I found the book a little depressing, but that's just me. Grade: B+