[MPOV] My Nemesis

My rating: 3/5

Goodreads rating: 3.75/5
Published: February 7, 2023
Author: Charmaine Craig
Genre: contemporary fiction

From the acclaimed author of Miss Burma, longlisted for the National Book Award and the Women’s Prize, comes a tense and thought-provoking exploration of an intellectual affair and its reverberations across the lives of two couples

Tessa is a successful white woman writer who develops a friendship, first by correspondence and then in person, with Charlie, a ruggedly handsome philosopher and scholar based in Los Angeles. Sparks fly as they exchange ideas about Camus and masculine desire, and their intellectual connection promises more—but there are obstacles to this burgeoning relationship.

While Tessa’s husband Milton enjoys Charlie’s company on his visits to the East Coast, Charlie’s mixed-race Asian wife Wah is a different case, and she proves to be both adversary and conundrum to Tessa. Wah’s traditional femininity and subservience to her husband strike Tessa as weaknesses, and she scoffs at the sacrifices Wah makes as adoptive mother to a Burmese girl, Htet, once homeless on the streets of Kuala Lumpur. But Wah has a kind of power too, especially over Charlie, and the conflict between the two women leads to Tessa’s martini-fueled declaration that Wah is “an insult to womankind.” As Tessa is forced to deal with the consequences of her outburst and considers how much she is limited by her own perceptions, she wonders if Wah is really as weak as she has seemed, or if she might have a different kind of strength altogether.

An exercise in empathy, an exploration of betrayal, and a charged story of the thrill of a shared connection—and the perils of feminine rivalry—My Nemesis is a brilliantly dramatic and captivating story from a hugely talented writer whose portrayals are always gracefully phrased and keenly observed.

I've gotten this e-ARC from Netgalley in return for my honest review. The cover captured my attention and I half expected it to be a thriller but it turned out differently. I honestly was surprised with the outcome of this novel.

This novel is written in the view of Tessa, a writer who has a very intense mindset that I do find her to be self-absorbent. She view others negatively and even thought highly of herself. She's intellectually above others literally, I would give her that, but she has that tendency to ensure everything goes her way or the highway. That's my impression of her lah LOL!

After reading through, I began to realize that the characters in this novel are so relatable! I would say this is like a story of my neighbours or friends, with similar experiences hence it felt so close to home! It truly captures the essence or diva of some women literally! After all those drama, even though from 1 person's point of view, can be quite daunting but the true reveal at the end sort of summed it up best LOL!

I'm surprised that I managed to finish it as I did find it hard to read at the start, so dry that I wanted to DNF it. Maybe I wasn't used to this author's way of writing so it took me awhile to get used to and when I finally grasps it, I've reached the end. 

Overall, it is an interesting read that I wished I understand more philosophically LOL! Literally filled with Camus and Nietzsche and Sisyphean..... here's a snippet:

You see, much as Sisyphus stood for Camus as the figurehead for his early phase, Nemesis represented what he hoped to achieve ultimately with this work. In ancient Greek religion, she was the goddess of retribution, ruthlessly punishing those who exceeded limits; and for Camus - because she represented the moderation that accounted for the variety of human experience and perspectives - she was also the goddess of love.