Lodato’s study of love and marriage lacks the necessary bite to make a mark

Fiction: The Necessary Marriage, By Elisa Lodato , Orion, €19.55

Elisa Lodato’s first book, 2016’s An Unremarkable Body, told a woman’s life story through her autopsy report, unveiling plenty of family skeletons along the way. Her sophomore effort, The Necessary Marriage, treads similar ground, skirting the territory between kitchen sink drama and family nightmare, without fully engaging with either.

Jane Forster is a 17-year-old student who falls in love with her English teacher, ...