The Bigamist

The narrative follows Herbert Arnott, a reserved forty-year-old whose contented marriage to a younger wife, Pamela, is unsettled by his silence about an earlier marriage and by a recurring preoccupation. Pamela, grateful for the comforts his wealth provides, enjoys social life in a suburban Cape Town setting yet struggles with curiosity and unease as her husband withholds his past. The story interweaves domestic scenes and garden conversations with reflections on gender roles, class, colonial society, and the tension between outward happiness and concealed histories, gradually bringing the reader toward the consequences of Arnott’s secrecy for their family and social circle.