First Love

In Gwendoline Riley's incisive novel, "First Love," we are introduced to Neve and Edwyn, a London-based couple whose relationship is a delicate truce constantly teetering on the edge of collapse. Despite a temporary calm, the scars of past battles run deep, echoing the tumultuous emotional landscape that defines their connection. Through Neve's piercingly honest internal monologue, the narrative delves into the decisions that led her to Edwyn, unearthing a history of other loves and profound emotional debts. She revisits the shadows cast by her bullying father and self-absorbed mother, and the lingering presence of a musician she once desperately tried to forget. Riley masterfully portrays the intricate, often hostile, dance within this marriage, where both husband and wife are complicit in their shared unhappiness. As Neve dissects her past and present with unflinching clarity, the reader is left to ponder whether, amidst the mistakes, misalliances, helplessness, and inherent hostility, this fraught and complex bond can still be understood as a form of love.