Fidelity dissects our dark sides - temptation and desire, the ugliness of hurt and betrayal. It explores our bad habit of not realizing how much we are hurting someone until its too late. The characters are not criminals. They are people just like us, imperfect, susceptible to weakness, and at times selfish.

While reading this book, I happened to catch a documentary about cheating spouses. In it they focused on a man who inexplicably chose to cheat on his wife, a woman to whom he was happily married for almost 20 years. What struck me so about him was his absolute devastation at the pain he caused her. Well, what did he think would happen? It left me wondering, do we unconsciously cut off our compassion for the person we are hurting during our acts of betrayal, as if the two cannot exist simultaneously in our mind?

A fitting description can be found on the book's jacket - one editor called it "quietly devastating". Often times in life, we don't see it coming - betrayal happens around 2:30 on Tuesday afternoon just when you were about to leave for the dentist.  The discovery of your teenage daughter's shocking sexuality. The deep betrayal of a friend, or the discovery of an affair.

And often such heartache is isolating - how many people are you going to tell that your teenage daughter has an explicitly active sex life? How many people do you want knowing your husband cheated on you? Many of the characters in this book suffer in silence, because right along with betrayal often comes it's best friends, shame and silence.

Personally, I found the first story to be the most compelling.  A man who wishes to maintain a good relationship with his ex-wife visits her one time each year during an annual business trip. Except, he fails to mention he has been getting on with his life, while she, apparently, has been putting hers on hold. This story clearly illustrates how much power a person can relinquish over their life. Power in the hands of a person you have absolutely no control over.

At a time in my life when I was deeply hurt by someone, I was offered advice that haunts me to this day. "The only person you can truly count on is yourself." That is a sad, but frighteningly true statement. I contemplate it sometimes, and doing so recently, I spent a few minutes staring at the cover of this book, wondering:  will he catch her, or not?