All Comments on 'Caroline Alone Ch. 04'

It's hard to like a story when the characters are so unsympathetic and scarcely believable.

Jack is one LW's viler creations - spiteful, petty and self-pitying, engineering financial hardship so that his wife can't easily see her lover, regardless of the negative impact on his children. His abrubt change towards the end from an angry, vindictive arsehole to a reasonable 'let's be friends' buddy doesn't seem credible.

Caroline is a much less obnoxious character - selfish and delusional but neither vindictive or petty - but, despite her penchant for self-deception, I still find it hard to accept that any woman in her right mind would want to get back with someone as cruel and unforgiving as Jack.

And Hazel, the vegan feminist, falling for a man who epitomises everthing she hates left me shaking my head in disbelief.

The children hardly missing mum and thinking the sun shines out of dad's rectum simply underline that this is an usually well written tale for the edifivation of the BTB brigade and has little or no connection with real life.

Good ending, Hazel seemed pretty nuts in the last chapter but seemed to get her head on straight (hopefully), Damien showed his true colors completely, and Caroline finally understood what she did was wrong. Too little too late for her but its nice she did understand. I have mixed feelings about how things ended up, I'm glad there was no reconciliation (not against them but think Caroline even after her realization was pretty unbalanced sounding) but I wonder if Hazel is much better. Still good story, 5 stars.

This really is very good, though I don’t envy Jack with his feminist vegan wife. But the tale of Caroline’s moral education is very nicely done.

Despite all the psychobabble in the intros, there was nothing new here. Despite all of her "introspection", Caroline is just as delusional in her "need" to have another lover that "won't take anything away from Jack" as the bitches in dozens/hundreds of LitRot stories. She was more delusional than many in that she still didn't think she was in the wrong until her ship is sinking. Most of those stories are much shorter (thank GAWD).

I understand authors not putting much graphic sex in a story. This story made it clear C & D were having sex every time they got together. Caroline's long winded introspections indicated she "made it up to Jack on weekends". When, goddammit? There was no indication Caroline and Jack had sex anytime in the story.

I was surprised Caroline didn't spout new age feminist BS; then expected Hazel might do so to defend her choices. I agree with previous critics of Hazel. Her snit about Jack throwing Damien in the fountain made me think she would prefer one of the frequent wimp cucks in other stories.

Loved it. Solid 5*+ story

Thanks

Brilliant — my favourite story!

I gave it 4 stares for the whole story. Would have been 5 but he left one bad woman for another bad woman. I'm sorry but no man should date let alone marry a feminist. Especially a vegan feminist. Feminist hate men, pure and simple. Vegans are delusional because they are against eating animals because they are a living things but then so are plants, vegetables and fruits. The truth will be the truth wether you believe it or not. Haha

Anyway, it was a good story and I enjoyed it even though I have my own opinions.😎

Excellent writing. Tale had substance and was well organised. Would have liked to see more of a confrontation during chapter 3 / pg 2, when Caroline was trying to push the two men, solo woman relationship and was under the delusion that she was making it work. Also, the character Jack needed to exhibit more of the pain and turmoil he was experiencing. That's the gut punch that gives such tales such staying power. 5 stars. P.S. Thank you for keeping it conventional, man - woman sex. Please keep writing.

Best story I've read here in several years. I read these "loving wives" stories as a voyeur. Married 46 years to an angel, I guess at this time of my life I get a thrill reading the situations I never found myself in. Lucky me, of course. Keep 'em coming.

God, I love the smell of despair from cheating spouses. Caroline almost caught up with another predator it seems; who the hell flirted with a mother who was waiting for their daughter out from school?

Well done.

A well written story that falls down for me because I found it impossible to like or empathize with any of the characters. Caroline is shallow, selfish and self-delusional and her self-imposed penance towards the end didn't quite ring true. Jack comes across as a vindictive, self-righteous hypocrite who is more than happy to see his children suffer if it punishes his wife, and, typical of this genre, all his actions (no matter how cruel or petty) are justified by the author because his wife had an affair.

Damian and Hazel are little more than caricatures thrown in to mirror the wisdom of the protagonists' choices and offer appropriate punishment or reward.

I gave it 4 because of the quality of the writing but the smug, simplistic morality of the story left an unpleasant taste in my mouth.

LA

very long story but worth it. Realistic portrayals of the cheating wife and especially her husband. One of the better stories on Lit.

A very long story, that dealt with the “ grass isn’t always greener” . I buy everything, except why is it, that so many of these stories, the wife tries to get the husband to “ accept” she is going to have a lover, and nothing is going to change between them? I figure that the natural reaction to a wife caught cheating, would be to either leave to be with the other guy, or to break it off, and try to work on her marriage. This idea of continuing the affair, and professing her love to the husband as well, is not something that would happen, in the real world. I gave it 5 stars because you really kept my interest. But I don’t believe, it would go down this way.

Great writing, captivating story. Although it was hard to believe Caroline could be so dense, especially because the quality of writing during her interior monologues lent the impression that she was smarter than she actually was.

Intelligently written story. Grass is not always greener on the other side kind of story. The wife Caroline, was her own worst enemy. This chick lost her mind (and everything else) over an illusion she created in her own mind. Sucks to be her.

This author is a fine writer.

great Storie ,, I love it the way you stretched out the part of her cheating that was the best part

I think the Author did a good job .. But truthfully I cannot see a guy waiting that long to get a Divorce .. If your wife loves another turn the page and start a new life .

What a wonderful story! Keep writing.Don't mind the comments from the likes of erofotfan who are trying to show off as intellectuals.

Great read I loved it. I have to admit for a 76 year old man I cried many times. I just wish you could write more. I live your work. If you have a full novel I would love to read it.

This story was exactly 4 parts too long

Self delusion can cause such sorrow for the deluded and heartache and misery for all in their wake. Great story TC Ireland.

To erofotfan.

He is a cad because he destroyed two careers. Hello they destroyed a marriage with two children , with no remorse. Are you a man or husband hater. What the husband did is mild compared to what they did.

Good story, and yes she got what she deserved, and more.

5/5

The only negative i had was that hazel had a TON of red flags and back should have avoided her. They have nothing on common and she was contentious about everything. - just no common ground even with food.

Caroline was so self deluded.

The characters were very well done and an interesting story overall

You were right. It should have been a novel or novella. As presented it was unbalanced in its story and characters.

Hazel's personality was given short shrift as compared to Jack and Caroline. Damien got more ink. Caroline came off as the sympathetic character in it all, being a self-deluded, clueless romantic. As portrayed, her prospects look no better for the future. Jack started out as a sympathetic character but wound up pretty much as Damien saw him. He was a burglar and thief after all. While the author used words to try to make him seem rational, he winds up as cruel and with no more principled fidelity than Caroline. His self-delusion was that just because his wife broke he vows it negated _his_ freely given vow. He was a cad in that he destroyed the careers of two people, leaving his wife with no resources. All the while finding a soft landing for himself. His whole morality was "they" brought (his cruelty) upon themselves.

The "love" between Jack and Hazel comes off as a contract between two adversaries.

The craftmanship came through abundantly. The story was difficult to take much from it.

ive read a bunch of stories that had females that acted like the exwife which leaves me thinking if there are actual women who are like that. it annoyed me in the beginning with her ideology.

Loved it

Through the years I think this is the fourth time I’ve read this story & I can honestly say,It doesn’t get old! The reality portrayed is so tangible you can almost feel it, however I’m not so sure I could show the same restraint as your characters.

Thanks again for a terrific read (one of the best in LW) looking forward to your next posting

Great story.

The characters are well drawn, also the way they progress. All in all it is a sad story but with a more or a less happy ending. Whatever some anonymouses and other BTW may think. Of course Caroline made a huge mistake, was lost, but who does not in a lifetime. Then she grew as well.

Enjoyed the style of your writing and approach.

Very British. Cool, considered. Even the fight was controlled. Jane Austen does a cheating wife story.

Common sense to enter her neural pathways impossible almost but alls well that ends well.

she got what she deserved no sympathy behaved like an airhead more please

I was the one that fund the first installment too wordy and long, but I found the rest of the story had a better pace for me. Nicely done.

Wonderful story

Enjoyed your story.

Nice job. Jack displayed strength and dignity throughout, prioritized his children, yet went after what he wanted. Caroline remained in denial far too long, convinced that she’d done nothing wrong.

would say Jack ran away. I disagree. Life goes on so he let the lies that she believe destroy her lie. Bravo!

I agree with all of the recent favorable comments. Further, regardless of viewpoint, Caroline’s or Jack’s, one cannot help being touched by their circumstances. Although much of the time Caroline seems to be a path to destruction, with only the most tenuous grip on reality.

...best story on the literotica site. Realism abounds in the plot and in the characterization. Five stars! Easily!

I rarely comment but this story compels me to compliment you for the depth, emotion and impact of your writing. So many stories on this site are predictable and formulaic in reducing relationships to cartoonish versions of reality. You have a gift in drawing in a reader to connect with the characters (even when not likeable) in all their imperfection and complexity. Hope you will continue to share your unique talent.

a helluva story by a talented writer.

After all Caroline's been through and suffered while becoming self aware, seems she now has a shot at becoming a decent wife. Hazel on the other hand is a deranged college professor women's studies whacko who shouldn't be trusted with anyone's children. MC has fucked up twice now. I've got a buddy like this. Can't pick women for shit. His daddy is the same way.

It just wasn’t enough. When Caroline finally got her comeuppance it made me almost feel a little twinge of sympathy for her. Key word being “almost”. It’s just hard for me to believe that a grown woman could do something so destructive to her family and still be so clueless about the damage she caused. Reading this story was like watching a faithful old pet die: Painful as hell and you’re just glad glad when it’s over.

actually feel sorry for conceited people when they lose, just the same way when some superhero kills an old villain. Except that Caroline is no villain; she is a good girl who doesn't know she can be good; just selfish and it got the better of her; she thought her husband is helpless she is too good to be thrown away. The last two pages of this story I think are the best I've ever read on this site. Uncomplicated tears of self-pity; what a gem? Every little thing that happens when children are involved post divorce hurts major time, especially when the wife realizes her follies.

The last sentence reminds me of a line from HHGTTG where the young woman sat in a cafe finally understood christs message and knew how to spread so that people would understand and take on board.

As she rushed out of the cafe, the Vogons destroyed Earth.

Despite the happiness of Jack, Hazel and the kids at the end, there was no upbeat to this story, it sits under a heavy air of melancholy. Maybe it just feels too much like the shit they call real life...

Well written, but overall very sad story of a woman you had everything and even after she lost it all took an age to actually realise she was in the wrong the whole time. And even seeing she had been a cheating bitch and shat all over her family, I was left with the feeling that I hope she found happiness.

Thank you

The story ass a whole sucked

Loved the series and I liked how Jack wasn't going to do the RAAC thing. However, in the beginning I wonder why he waited so long to confront her and why the divorce was so long coming? Then Hazel.... Man how do you even get close enough to fall involve with a man hater? Feminist is one thing but she was over the top.

Love can be a bad drug for some people and make them do things they would never have thought in a million years they would do.

It just blew me away that she completely ignored in her mode what the institution of marriage means not to mention what he vowels to her marriage meant.

What surprised me is that there was no mention of professional marriage counseling what so ever. I mean it was apparent she thought it was completely acceptable to maintain her marriage and be a wife and mother while having a lover on the side. I mean that alone is just twisted how she just thought he husband should be 9k with it.

On the other hand I don't agree with his whole way of how he handled it. It was what I would call passive aggressive submission in certain ways. It did make for interesting reading to say the least because it was so out of the norm. But in the end I can see who karma came for her in 10 fold. I enjoy reading some of these stories to a point where it's more of a fantasy story and not very realistic in the real world. I mean there way be a few out there who would play out the situation like this if the wife wanted to turn her husband into a cuckold and yes there are men who would allow it for the sake of trying to hold on to whatever part of there marriage they could. Just not my cup of tea you could say. But again it was an interesting read.

A humanities professor dedicated to proving men are the problem. The cheater might have been better.

Your a wizard with words. In today's society, especially in academia that is the reality of today's single male. How you protrayed it to be somewhat optimistically is a marvel in it's self. The hero of your story is truly a super hero. Unfortunately in the back of my mind i keep hearing the words "Once more unto breach, my friends, once more."

I have decided as a character that Jack in the end is a total train crash. First wife was a selfish slut. Second wife a feminist. Sheesh did Jack get dropped on his head at birth?

Well done.

I was worried about '4 chapters,' but you managed to sustain 'it' throughout. I do admit that I loath cuckold tales, but I persevered (as did you).

Very talented. 5

Clearly, when it came to picking women, he was a complete fuck up.

Fascinating page turner though.

My ex was smart enough to know that she was toast when I found out that she'd been fucking one of her old boyfriends while I was recovering from surgery and injuries I'd received in a serious auto accident. When I found out, stood up and looked at her, she leaned so far back in the kitchen chair she was sitting in that she went ass-over-tea-kettle.

I didn't say a word.... just pointed at the door. I think she saw the Grim Reaper on my face because she couldn't get to it fast enough.

Her clothes and everything that was hers was in a pile on the porch when she came back with her brothers the next day. Her key didn't work. She didn't knock or ring the doorbell. She was crying her heart out as her brothers scooped her shit into their car and they left. She never knew that I was crying mine out, too.

Only a fool or a fucking idiot would give a poisonous snake a chance to bite him again. She knew that I was neither.

It would have to be a fluke. You can't fix terminal stupidity.

I find Caroline pretty believable .... at least in respect of trying to run a secret life in parallel with a public one. The notion of persuading a husband to accept the affair once the secret is out is a little unrealistic, but honestly some husbands (and wives for that matter) have waited for affairs to run their course, as they generally do.

I rate the story 5. Because of its fluent, grammatical, writing. Because of its complex characterization, and well-worked out plot lines. Because it is, to a fair degree, plausible. Because it is an honest exploration of a difficult situation.

Not a great literary work. But head and shoulders above most of the simplistic ill-spelled ungrammatical stuff one finds here.

Gerontius

I found Caroline hard to stomach, accept or even believe as a character.

She was so out of touch with reality. Are there people so delusional in the real world. If so I lead a charmed life never having met anyone like that.

That being said I was in for the long haul and thoroughly enjoyed the tale.

What a well-crafted story!

caroline and her lover did deserve each other.

great story.

Very interesting story. I think everyone ended up just where they should have. Caroline was a self absorbed idiot who totally deserved the loss of her family. The very British tone of story was a little difficult to follow , but still worth reading.

Chur bro awesome story

A well written and engaging story about people who it's very hard to like. Caroline is naive, selfish and self delusional and she's far and away the most likable of the bunch. Her lover is a complete egocentric dick and I've known cabbages with more emotional depth than her husband, Jack.

I'm sure people like the characters in this tale must exist but they make exceedingly dull subjects for romantic tales. I found the children's almost non-response to their parents' separation barely credible and Jack's petty revenge and bizarre psychological warfare both infantile and a callous disregard for his children's emotional well-being. Just divorce the woman if you can't forgive her.

Caroline, for all her many faults, showed at least some capacity for human warmth and compassion, unlike hubby and lover boy, and I can't avoid the conclusion that she is well rid of both of them.

LA

Very good. Your writing reminds me of Ian McEwan especially the last few pages of On Chesil Beach where the male protagonist realizes, too late, how hubris and blindness lost them everything and they wonder how they let it all slip away!

Loved it!

The whole story had a very different feel to it compared to those written by American writers. A lot of the Britishness resonated through.

That Jack would end up with Hazel was interesting and I actually ended up liking her in the end, despite her initial depiction as a feminazi. To those saying that he was setting himself up for more trouble with her, I don't agree. When she turned up with the rose, she was basically casting aside her man-hating ways, recognising that she'd fallen in love with him.

When she sleeps with Jack the first time, he says the following:

"despite her feminist zeal she's content for him to be the man of action while she lies back and takes it."

Which hints at natural submissiveness and she also responded to the 'caveman kiss' much earlier in the relationship. She was good with his kids and they immediately liked her, showing that she'd make a good mother. Hazel even says that her body knows what it wants, it's just her mind that's untrustworthy. Her getting pregnant was no accident, she was eagerly embracing a traditional maternal role.

As for the ex-wife, she was clearly delusional and monumentally self-centred. It was satisfying to see her finally realise that she was solely to blame for totally destroying her previous happy life.

I like this story, and I love the way you've told it. I'll now try the rest of your stuff. Thanks.

This was a well written story and your characters were believable. And they were consistent throughout - except Hazel.

Right after the very believable break up after the fountain fight, which WAS consistent with the Hazel character, she becomes this love-struck, homemaker anti-feminist. Jack, "the more experienced lover" manages accidently to get a university professor pregnant.

The character mix sounds all wrong however. Jack and Hazel are too set in their beliefs to last long. And of course Caroline is the irrepressible Scarlet O'Hara and Brighton is Tara.

Still it was a five star effort.

MortonGrange

Thank you for your contribution...you managed to retain my interest throughout each chapter. I especially enjoyed getting to know your characters. Please keep sending those pearls into the site

This began to look to be the mother of all BTBs. I'm pleased though that it ended on a note of hope. Where there is life there is hope.

Your story is masterfully told and impeccably written. I can often think of things I might have done differently, but not with this. A wonderful storytelling job, MortonGrange.

Maybe being odd is part of what made this story interesting. The three main characters -- Caroline, Jack and Hazel -- were odd. Damian was more normal, but a normal perverted, male pig. The University faculty were odd.

Then the plot was odd, focusing on "loser" Caroline rather than "winner" Jack. It was odd, that Caroline could hold to her idea that a lover is OK, and especially keep holding to it tenaciously.

Then, for an American, the oddity of English language and customs (as opposed to American).

Who wants to read a boring story of normal life? Odd is more intriguing (compare Jerry Springer show). It's also odd to find such writing skill on Literotica, but here it is!

Paul in Oklahoma

Avoid the Carolines and the Hazels. Both will make you miserable just in different ways.

glad he didn't take the deluded bitch back. I was just being open to life coudlnt turn him away .. only to find out he never held her in any regard but a place to put his cock. Listen to what a fool believes from the doobie brothers and just switch that man and womans places in the song and it sums up this story's gist. well done MG well done.

Other than Caroline being overly dense, this is another well written story by a skilled craftsman

I'm just glad that he didn't take Caroline back!

Seeing the societal damage that Hazel's sisters are doing society, one wonders if you still love her character or has she suddenly palled to you?

Jack is lucky she doesn't sue him for sexual harassment just to make a point. Certainly it would be as germane a point as burying her dolls or refusing to eat chocolate because of slave labor.

Very literate. Deeply understanding of complex interpersonal relationships. Well developed characters with believable flaws; few stereotypes. Offers an accurate picture of the depth of self-delusion lovers commonly manifest. Deserving of a solid five stars.

A good plot, good character descriptions ( although you did make Caroline supremely stupid ) & overall a pretty fair story. However, I can't shake my feeling of disappointment, not quite sure why but there just seemed to be that spark missing that turns a good tale into a great one. 3 ***

Great story although I would have liked you to dwell on her realisation about what she did and her blame in the breakdown in greater detail and feedback. Well done good story 5* overall

Good from Ch.1 to Ch.4...(5*)

You're a good writer....you took me in different directions just like that (quickly and unexpectedly) in the second chapter, it grabbed my ****s and just pulled me along....and on this site, (umm lol). It's a fantastic surprise running into new authors like yourself. Please keep writing......bill

555555s

Genuine, striking an even pace and measured, believible tone throughout. This wasn't a story wallowing in angst or a riot of great vengeance and furious anger, both of which can be fun in their own context but instead a tale of a woman's selfish delulsion and her husband's coping with the destruction of his marriage and protecting his kids.

Well done, sir.

I'm not sure that Caroline ever did learn her lesson though.

I wanted to wait until I had finished the story. I have read a number of stories that started really great but ended poorly leaving me frustrated and unsatisfied. I think you have painted (or written as it were) a master piece. Certainly one of the best I have read on Literotica and in an especially difficult and raucous category. My hat is off to you. Thank you! Absolutely 5*s.

I really like the line:

"People act badly, not out of a desire to gain unfair advantage over others, but because they see life through the distorting lens of self-interest."

Explains my first wife's behavior.

Thank you for your gift.

Really well written story with many more dimensions than the typical BTB or the opposite. It took us through an emotional journey brought out beautifully by Caroline's blindness to the problem she had created and her total refusal to accept responsibity ... until the end. I read this one after trying out the other, shorter stories. Always looking for stories with more depth like Jidoka and DanielQSteele and the like. Can't wait to see your next submission, Jack

Caroline suffered imho of psychopathic tendencies,she just couldn't see the wrong in what she was doing,most of the time she felt like she was entitled to have an alternative relationship without seing the wrong in it and even blaming her husband when a date with the lover couldn't go trough

It was never revealed what mental illness afflicted Caroline.

Simple extreme selfishness and narcissism doesn't cohese with being able to successfully be a wife and mother for over a decade.

Such a good read. Loved all the drama, romance, emotional turmoil.... great stuff .... and like someone has already commented ' not a relationship counsellor in sight '.

One of my best reads for quite a while, hurry back.

5 *

So very British, not a relationship counsellor in site. My ex-wife once asked me if I thought it possible to love two people at the same time? That's the first indication I had that my marriage was on the rocks!

Very well written, a well constructed sequence of events. I enjoyed the sorry tale of selfishness.

Absolutely a well written sad story.A masterpiece

Thank You.

that I credited the wrong author with writing Boilerplate Rendering. It was of course The Unoriginalist. I can only plead premature senility and total brain fade. Sincere apologies to both authors.

it gets better every time. A cut above most stories on this site, with the possible exception of Laptopwriter`s `Boilerplate`. What a shame we haven`t seen anything from this talented author for some little time.

good story gave it five

Pure genius.I am new to this site and being thick thought 'loving wives' meant just that.However this is one extremely talented writer/author and I was quite unable to put it down until I finished it.How very sad and shows how selfish and hurtful people can be to each other.I am so relieved that I'm with a wife that is incaperble of cheating on me as I am her.I met her when I was 18 when I found out my birth mother was not the women who brought me up as she was my step mom.My real mom lived in Alabama.I had a sister and we fell in love.She told our mom she was going to marry me 5 days after I first met her.We married when I was 21 and she was 19 seems I'm blessed as most stories here are about cheating,revenge and divorce very sad.

so far above the maddening crowd, one of the best ever posted. Dont know how I didnt comment on this before, this was really good. The ebb and flow, the sense of justice served to aggrieved parties, the slow realization of the error of her ways by Caroline.

Pls write more.