Amy P. Knight

The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy

I seem to really like memoirs about people going through really terrible things– here, the loss of a baby and a marriage. This one felt a bit different because the writer’s hands are not clean. She has an affair, behavior she doesn’t really try to defend.

I wish it had been longer. I think there was more to explore, especially around the protracted affair her mother had when she was a child and how it may have shaped her views on fidelity.

The writing grabbed me right away. In fact I think the reflection at the opening was some of the book’s strongest writing. Interesting that she chose to write this part without revealing the gender of her spouse.

“Writing is communicating with an unknown intimate who is always available, the way the faithful turn to God.”