The Education of Sebastian and Caroline

The Education of Sebastian and Caroline 

Synopsis:

A friendship between the lost and lonely Caroline, and the unhappy Sebastian, leads to an illicit love that threatens them both.

Caroline Wilson is trapped in a cold and loveless marriage with an older man. When her husband finally wins a long sought-after promotion, Caroline feels she has little choice but to follow him to a new home in San Diego. There she meets Sebastian, a young man of 17. 

For an all too brief summer, their happiness blooms.

But external pressures begin to bear down, not least from the overbearing David, and Sebastian’s parents begin to suspect that their son has a secret. Even Caroline’s new friend, Donna, realizes that dark passions exist below the serene surface.

Ten years after their broken affair, Sebastian and Caroline meet again: this time in very different circumstances, against the background of the war in Afghanistan.

Now a successful journalist, Caroline meets Chief Sebastian Hunter, US Marine. Will this chance encounter rekindle the erotic madness of her passionate affair with a younger man?

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Jelai's Review

I believe that in each page of each book that we read our maturity develops, and so is our perceptions, views and opinions. Yes, it influenced us, basically our thoughts. 'Influence' in a way that it does not dominate our own beliefs and our own set of standard for ourselves. What we read doesn't necessarily define who we are. 

Sometimes you read a book for the sake of entertainment, or merely to amuse yourself. Sometimes out of boredom for the lack of doing something. There were times when we cry over simple lines because it reminds us of something achingly familiar. We laughed because the characters did the same thing we do at some stupid point in our lives. 

My point is? That the stories in the books we read are based on experiences. It tells what happened but not what we need to do. And that lead us back on what I meant by saying, "what we read doesn't define who we are." It just sometimes leave us wondering the 'what ifs' though. Hehe.

But humor me this time and save the judgment later, my friends, for I came across with this book that challenged my maturity and virtue. You see, I'm kinda old fashion when it comes to a woman's virtue that it sometimes affects my choices on what novels to read. Well, kinda... Say thirty-five percent. Ahm, ok... let's get it lowered to twenty-five, though friends' recommendation can sometimes opt-out those percentage. Hehe

I am also a freak ill-believer of 'never to judge a book not just by its cover but also by its teaser'. Especially if the book is seventy-five percent off. Who cares, baby??? 

So much for introduction, but seriously, I hope you give this book a try. No. I am actually challenging you to read it. *Smiling so cunningly*

First I wanted to admire the author for how she was able to gracefully write this novel. The content was a hot iron that strikes against my standard but I never backed down until I reached the page where I'm suppose to stop, which was, by the way, the ending. The author wrote it in a way that her readers would understand why those things were happening, why it should be done, and hell why not??? And so I understood. The reasons were common and so were the feelings. Love. But it was a kind of love you would never dare question why it existed in the first place. If feels like it hath to be there. It meant to exist no matter how untimely it was. No matter how wrong it was in a human's eyes. For sometimes the common things are the powerful ones. *Wiping tears* 

I'm a great believer of the sanctity of marriage despite the fact that the world showed me otherwise. I don't condone infidelity but never allowed myself to make any judgment for those who commit. It's here. In this novel. The infidelity. But all I saw was Sebastian, Caroline, and their love that defied time and chased so many chances. 

The painful part for me was when they were forced to be apart, where Caro needed to leave. It was so painful I literally felt the ache of Sebastian. It was an inevitable, I already saw it coming. But what I never anticipated was for the pain to be real... 

Growing-up I have this freak mental list of what type of man I want to marry. First on my list is he should be five or seven years older than me. I read it somewhere that statistically speaking men matured late, and basing my own state of mind, well, I need a man not a playmate. Until Sebastian Hunter... Thirteen years younger than Carolina Vinzi. I immediately scraped what's on the top of my mental list and wrote, "to hell with age it's just a freakin' number!" Preferences can be change, you know. Hahaha. But I guess Sebastian was really different. He was a kind of guy with so much character. Maybe that was why I got drew to him. Plus the fact that I am a great fan of soldiers, I like watching movies about them since I was in grade school, how much more then in reading? And Sebastian's a Marine who can speak in different languages. Oh, boy ain't it hot? 

I'm giving this novel four boxes of glow in the dark condoms. After reading this you'll see why.