WIJFR: Mariana by Susanna Kearsley questions (SP)

Adjudi-Kate

ETA: MAJOR SPOILERS Just finished this one after recs on this board and I liked it, but what ever happened with Geoff? Did anyone like Geoff except for me? He totally got the shaft! He's going to come home from France and his best friend Iain will be hooking up with his girlfriend. That would suck to be him! I know there wasn't a ton of chemistry between Geoff and Julia, but man, that would be a major betrayal by your best friend. Why was Geoff calling her? It kind of kills me not to know why he called. It must have been important because he set an appointment for the call and everything. Also, I guess I understand why Iain couldn't tell Julia that he was Richard right away, but he could have still tried to woo her as Iain, you know, instead of letting Geoff mac on her all summer. Despite these issues, it was a lovely book and I really enjoyed the setting and the general plot idea.

SnShne322

I won't deny that this is my favorite Susanna Kearsley book, so I'm coming at it from the perspective of she can do no wrong.

I have thought about poor Geoff.  Though, I like to think of it as him spending the time away and realizing that they just wouldn't have worked out together in the long run.  Don't get me wrong, I imagine there has to be some serious WTFery when he comes back, but I don't feel like it will ruin the friendship he has with Iain, at least not long term.

As far as Iain goes, I think he was just determined to let her live her life until she figured it out.  He had to do the same thing himself and I imagine if someone just told her all the details, it wouldn't have been as meaningful as her living through it.  I read it again about a year after the first time and I got to witness Iain and all his grumblings about Geoff and Julia while it was happening and it was a lot more clear.  Kind of like watching The Sixth Sense after you know the ending.  It's all there, you just don't know to look for it.

Lauren620

I felt bad for Geoff for a couple of minutes and was able to move right on.  I always wish that we would have gotten more of Julia and Iain, but I thought the ending was really sweet.

dmlk413

I guess I totally forgot about Geoff.  I liked Iain from the start and wanted Julia to wind up with him.

aggiebug

I liked Geoff but I was really happy Julia didn't end up with him. They just were never quite right. I always wondered how Geoff took the news, but I see him being ok with it. Not just because its Susanna Kearsley and it's a book, but because of his personality. I say we ask for a sequel to find out. :-)

sweetrhythms

I liked Geoff but I sort of figured he'd quickly get over it when he saw Iain and Julia together.  He'd just know they made more sense together and get over it.  

hopecounts

My thought was Geoff knew what was going on with her memories so while he would be initially upset he would deal partially because he seems like a pretty mellow guy and partially because he had to have some idea that this could happen.

And wasn't part of his trip to give her some space to think? It's been a bit since I read it so I could be remembering wrong but I thought part of the timing of the trip was to let her sort out the memories stuff.

j*&p*

I felt bad bad for Geoff too. As much as I liked this book there was some weird stuff at the end. Why would Julia's brother never tell her that he was dating Vivien (was that her name? It's been a while)? 

Also, was anyone else grossed out that Iain was smoking right before their big romantic kiss at the very end? Ash tray mouth =/= sexy for me.