Before the Train and After

The way Nolte jumps back and forth from Jeremy to Paul is engaging. Through my first read I thought she was telling two stories back and forth, through my second read I realized the affair the wife was having with her and her husbands friend. It explores an affair that follows an accident authentically. Often times after an accident leaves a person not as whole as they were prior, it affects relationships and marriages. Sometimes being less than whole isn't what a partner signed up for. The love is still there which is why the adulterer looks for traits of their beloved in another person. Similar to how the wife tells Paul that Jeremy is missing a hand, Paul then offers to cut his own off. It lacks the emotional depth that I'd associate with such a drastic scenario, but still successful being that it is a short story.