We are always acting on the side of caution because we trust nobody, not even ourselves and rightly so. At times, don’t you wish you could throw all caution to the wind and just follow your heart ? But when you do that and something goes wrong, the optimist in you will begin to lose its resolve. Surely when come to love, you might just want to take a chance if you meet someone whom you think he or she is the one for you .
In The American Boyfriend by Ivy Ngeow, Phoebe has met her long-distance boyfriend, Carter via LinkedIn. According to LinkedIn, Carter hails from North Carolina and attended North Carolina State University in Raleigh. He is her age. They are in mid-forties.
Phoebe is a working single mother with a dead-end job as a senior graphic designer in Southwark, London. Carter is not just a guy she is dating, he has met her mother and he also gets on well with her toddler daughter, Jojo.
When Carter invites her to Florida, she gets on the plane with Jojo as she wants to escape the English winter. She has only been to New York and Grand Canyon and she is so looking forward to her first holiday with Carter and since the cottage is free, it is not going to be expensive. She is surprised that Carter owns a vacation property in Florida. When the plane lands , she receives a text from Carter telling her that he will only arrive the next day. She is told to collect keys to the cottage from Sun & Fun on 74580 Overseas Highway. The cottage is called Allamanda Grove. Phoebe is disappointed.
Ellie, her best friend from university, asks her if she really knows Carter. It dawns on her that she might have thrown all caution to the wind. How easily Ellie’s seed of doubt begins to unnerve her. Has she been too impulsive to have jumped on a plane with her toddler when her boyfriend from New York invites her to meet in Florida?
On her taxi ride to the cottage, the driver fills her in with some information about Key West, the place she is going to spend her vacation. ‘Key West is right in the intersection of the Atlantic and Caribbean‘. The cab driver, Ted explains that the last time anyone stays at the cottage was three years ago.
When she arrives at the property, she sees that it is ‘a long, low , white 1960s bungalow with slim roofed verandas on this metal poles‘ surrounded with ‘large palms, ferns Honolulu creepers and red vines dangling like ruby necklaces for the eaves.’ She is instantly drawn to the sixties vibes and feels comfortable. By the time she settles into bed, it is past midnight and she is exhausted. When she wakes up the next day,to her dismay, she has been robbed!! Along with her Storksak handbag, her London flat keys, Jojo’s bottle and their passports have all been taken. Phoebe has to act fast. She needs their replacement passports and she has to inform her UK bank to cancel the cards. She reports to the police and also calls the travel insurers who will send her some money. She also needs to change the flimsy locks around the house.
Just then, a tall tanned neighbour who has short dark hair like LIza Minelli drops by to hand her some breakfast for which she is thankful. While waiting for the police, a young and tall Hispanic man is sent by the agency to do some yard work and clean the pool.
The first morning has certainly begun on a frantic note. While waiting for the cops and insurance guy to arrive, she walks around the garden with Jojo. She is awed by the lush tropical garden around the cottage, which overlooks the lagoon. ‘Ocean view on one side, lagoon view on another, wide open and yet landscaped with two courtyards, one paved, with teak sun loungers and a matching set of garden table and chairs, and the other covered in lawn. A lap pool lay in the tiled courtyard.’ Enchanting. If this place has been vacant for years, she considers herself lucky to have been invited to stay. It is not Carter’s fault if she has been robbed. She remembers there was a storm but she cannot remember if she has locked the place before going to bed. Travelling does make one feel a little disoriented, what’s more Phoebe has a toddler whom she has to attend to.
Though the trip has started on a disastrous note, she finds support amongst the friendly locals. But the plot thickens when a British Expat whose house she has been for a party is shot dead at the restaurant where she dines in with Carter the very same evening. In light of Carter’s much delayed but timely arrival, she becomes suspicious of him. Will he finally tell her his story?
Ivy Ngeow has calved a story that touches on cultural nuances and social differences. Ngeow‘s prose is lively and peppered with suspense. You get a vivid sense of the place and the characters. The story is a page turner. You will be in for a roller coaster ride with the protagonist who must gather both her wits and energy to keep her and Jojo alive.
Here are a couple of excerpts that describe the protagonist’s values.
‘If she owned this house, she would be renting it out for additional income. She cringed at the amount the house was losing in rent.
Money was tight for Phoebe but only because she was a working single mum, an achievement in its own right. Her mother and her grandmother all had worked. Culturally, it would be inconceivable for the women in Phoebe’s family to be homemakers. The very word ‘Chinese’ was a euphemism for work. Being a single mother was not easy and her own mother became the co-parent.‘
‘She did not want to build castles in the air when she could not build a shed in her own ground-floor flat’s concrete side return. Eggs in one basket , counting chickens, castles in the air? All the consequences of daydreams.’
The American Boyfriend by Ivy Ngeow is a captivating read. It is full of twists and turns, and you have to pay attention as the narratives switch between what goes on in Phoebe’s head and point of views between different characters . I read it during my trip to Europe. It is an engaging read that one will savour when taking a flight or travelling on a train.
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