Deception

Title: Deception

Author: Judith Michael

Setting: United States and Europe

Characters:

Stephanie

Sabrina

Garth Anderson

Theme:

The Story have included sharp and witty insights and observations in several of the novel's scenarios. Would you change places with your twin sibling? If you'd ask Sabrina Longworth, the one half of the duo protagonist team of DECEPTIONS, she'd probably say not on your life. She'd also say that having tried it more than once, thanks to the imagination of Judith Michael's Judith Barnard and Michael Faine, she lived to regret it, big time. Indeed, faith has a strange way of throwing a curveball when least expected. Especially to this fictitious bunch whose lives make for a pretty decent time-waster read despite the been there seen that plotline. Just go to show you that originality comes in small doses. Just simmer it in creativity and punchy dialogue, and you've got yourself one hot bestseller that is as juicy as a pack of Doublemint gum. What if you not only had a twin, but decided one day to trade places... just for a little while. What begins as a lark for sisters Stephanie and Sabrina quickly turns into so much more in this surprisingly satisfying read in which, perhaps not surprisingly, we are taught to be grateful for what we have for the grass is not always greener on the other side. For most of us, the perhaps unconscious thrill lies in the story of Stephanie, the twin whose life in suburbia has become almost stifling, especially when compared to that of her exotic, exciting twin sister, Lady Sabrina Longworth. Quicker than you can say, "Hey, what if we traded places?" Stephanie is living the high life, while Sabrina is trading cocktail parties for backyard bar-b-ques. This is classic Judith Michael, who for several years stirred the imagination by taking classic cases of "what if" and spun them into fanciful, frothy books. "What if... you won the lottery?" (Pot Of Gold) "What if... you found out that your newly deceased husband had a rich, secret family he never told you about?" (A Ruling Passion) But with Deceptions, the novel that started it all, the authors crafted perhaps their best "what if" scenario by playing on a theme nearly every one of us has pondered at one time or another. Those looking for a good time could do a whole lot worse than to spend their summer with Stephanie and Sabrina!

Learn about the strong bond between identical twins, Sabrina and Stephanie, and how they developed into two different women leading two different lives. We become immersed in Sabrina's exclusive world of London high society, antique dealerships, and exquisitely designed townhouses. Her more brazen personality allows her to survive quite nicely and make astute dealings among London's elite. Stephanie lives more obscurely in a small university town in the States with her professor husband, Garth. Their domestic, suburban life with their two children and supportive neighbors is surprisingly realistic and at times endearing. The major premise is that the sisters tire of the complications in their lives and decide to switch places. The novel is well structured as the reader flows from Stephanie's adjustment to Sabrina's jet-set life while Sabrina brings her strength and determination to life as a suburban professor's wife. This is definitely escape literature, but an intelligent read. If you enjoy reading good descriptions of the finer things in life and excellent character development, this book comes highly recommended.

Summary:

"Sabrina and Stephanie Longworth are twins. Sabrina married a wealthy English aristocrat and divorced him. She now runs a successful antiques business in London. Stephanie married Garth Anderson, a scientist and university professor. She stays at home in the suburbs with their two children and envies her sister's jet set lifestyle. Stephanie's desire for a more exciting life is putting a strain on her marriage.

Stephanie gets Sabrina to switch places so she can have some fun but does not want Garth to know. Garth did not like Sabrina when he met her and thinks she is the cause of Stephanie's dissatisfaction with her life. Sabrina quickly adjusts to Stephanie's home life, and gets to know and like Garth. Stephanie finds she is good at the antiques business. But just before they are to switch back, Sabrina breaks her leg and the deception has to continue. Stephanie does not mind because she has started an affair with one of Sabrina's friends. Nor is Stephanie upset when Sabrina confesses she could not say no when Garth wanted to make love. The longer Sabrina lives with Garth, the more she falls in love with him. Garth feels like he is falling in love with his wife all over again as she takes an interest in his work and encourages his dreams instead of wanting him to make more money.

Then Stephanie is killed when her lover's yacht explodes. Sabrina cannot bring herself to tell Garth it was really Stephanie and she tries to carry on the deception because she loves Garth too much to have him leave her once he learns the truth."

Resolution:

This book was first published in 1982. This is a very satisfying story with several unpredictable plot twists. The premise of the story, identical twins switching lives for a week, seems sort of contrived until the author actually immerses us into their new roles, challenges, and emotions. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, staying up extra late at night because I didn't want to put it down.
When I read Deceptions, I thought it was going to be a sappy-love story. Generally, all love stories have a sappiness; Deceptions was no different. Although, I loved it. It was very enthralling, and it told the story well by developing the characters so you could almost smell and feel the same things they did. I enjoyed Sabrina Longworth's passionate personality, and her sister's loving qualities; but the real story laid with Garth Anderson. He was Stephanie’s husband, and he had two children with her. The fact was that Sabrina and Garth met once and strongly disliked each other, but when Sabrina and Stephanie play on Garth with the deception--- they fall in love. A bit predictable, only you expect the story to lie with Stephanie and not Sabrina. Without Stephanie’s smaller, and not as developed life-style in Sabrina's world, you wouldn't be able to laugh at all the odd mishappenings that go on within the book. When Sabrina and Garth begin to fall in love, (Garth re-falling in love with his wife who seemed dead for so many years, and Sabrina falling in love with Stephanie’s husband) it's comical. It was fun to read about this odd circle the Authors developed. The two sisters, living in swapped worlds, and two men who don't know or care that they are not sleeping with the woman they think--- or for that matter, married to the woman they think. Stephanie kept messing everything up, and Sabrina kept trying to fix it. Then there was Garth who really was just going with it, blind to the obvious deception in front of him. My only objection to how these two people write, the husband and wife team of Judith Michael, is that it is free with swearing and intimacies. All in all, it was a rare, sappy love story, with an intricate plot that had it all: humor, love, and a well developed story back ground. It's well worth the time to read, and it won't take you long because it is so enthralling. Deceptions is the type of book that is just hard to put down at two-thirty in the morning, knowing you have five hours before you get up to work the next day; it's the type of book you keep saying: another chapter, and I swear I'll go to bed.