The Exes

In Darlington’s nail-biting debut, a woman faces the ghosts of her past relationships as her seemingly happy marriage fractures. Natalie believes that her recent union to brewery owner James is a significant improvement over failed romances with exes Marc, Luca, and George. But when James loans the money that Natalie had been saving for IVF to his brother, Will, she’s furious. Then James tells her that Will blackmailed him, threatening to leak evidence that Natalie murdered Marc, Luca, and George. Withholding details about Natalie’s precise involvement with each of those men’s deaths, Darlington describes therapy sessions in which Natalie discusses the deaths and wrestles with an anger problem she hopes to keep at bay. Meanwhile, flashbacks reveal the abuses Natalie suffered at the hands of each of her exes. In the present, Natalie gradually comes to suspect that James is hiding major secrets of his own. Darlington keeps the pace fleet and the twists flying as she perceptively explores the contradictory power dynamics of contemporary heterosexual romance. It’s a promising first outing. Agent: Suzanne Gluck, WME. (Feb.)