Vow: A Memoir of Marriage (and Other Affairs)
“I was born on the windy side of the personality island,” writes news reporter Plump in this sobering memoir of serial infidelity. “If it’s blowing a gale of emotion, that is where I want to be.” This tendency toward the theatrical might explain, at least in part, why not long after she married her husband Bill, Plump began to cheat. Here she revisits her affairs and examines the fallout that occurred in their wakes. Among her many lovers: Tommy, the sexy twin brother of a friend’s fiancé; Steven, tan, ruggedly handsome—and married; and Terry, a talented marksman “with eyes as blue as an acetylene torch.” Plump’s marriage was one of equal-opportunity betrayal. Turns out, Bill had a second family, including a baby he fathered, living just a mile from his and Plump’s home in the Pennsylvania farmlands. Plump’s discovery of that affair was the deal-breaker. After decades of forgiveness, the couple finally called it quits. This relentlessly self-indulgent confessional grows tiresome at times, but Plump’s candor is impressive. --Allison Block