Ordinary Love and Good Will is a pairing of short stories written by Jane Smiley. I read "Ordinary Love," but, because that story was unsatisfying, I did not read "Good Will."
"Ordinary Love" transpires during a difficult weekend family reunion in which a 50-something mother of five discloses to her children the extramarital affair that years ago ruptured the family dynamic and prompted the father to steal the kids away to a new life in Europe. Now she is haunted by her choices.
I read reviews of this book and am perplexed because they all imply that in "Ordinary Love" the whole family is discussed thoroughly; my experience was that the mother's thoughts center on her twin sons, and somewhat myopically at that.
