Boys in the Trees is a Memoir by Carly Simon that focuses on her early years and marriage to James Taylor, a fellow singer-songwriter, who became famous as she did in the 1970's. The Chapter of the book that deals with Carly's encounter with James' Mistress, whom she calls "Evey," is Twenty Two, titled The Showdown. Background: Carly Simon and James Taylor have been married for several years and have two children and she has almost become a single mother to them, as he keeps touring, while she breast feeds a sickly son past the age of 2 1/2, which she was advised to do to help him thrive, and deals with his mystery fevers. By 1980 the marriage which has long been challenged by his absence, womanizing, and drug use, and Carly think's it's her preoccupation with mothering her sickly son that may also turn him off her.
In the summer of 1979, James Taylor had a "dalliance with one of his back up singers and claimed (1629-1630 of the e-book) "It's not about you." Carly then had her first extramarital liaison too. Then Taylor admitted he was seeing other women including "Evey" a dancer who was living in his 4th floor walk up on West Seventieth Street, New York City. Carly realized Evey, unlike other women that passed through his life, "wasn't going anywhere." (1635) She still wanted to be married to James and wondered if "exclusivity" in marriage really existed. She also found that an old girlfriend from the 1960's was sending him love letters. Again he told her this had nothing to do with her. (1637-1639)
(Of course it does!)
EXCERPT: "As for Evey, I would rather James lived with her and pined for me than the reverse." (1647-1648 e-book)
Carly then found a love note to James written by Evey. (This is what I mean about wanting to be caught.) It irked Carly that his Mistress was calling him "Jamie," his childhood moniker.
Carly and James were fighting. She even suggested he move out and never see the children again. He even promised he would not see Evey again. Then Carly told him that if he and Evey were very happy together then he should pursue her. They were baiting each other and confused. She wanted him to "swear his undying love," for her and their family.
(1663-1664, 1667-1668)
Finally Carly came up with a plan, first to get her own key made for the apartment where Evey was Kept which she had never seen.
EXCERPT: "Yes it was sneaky, but it wasn't nefarious, corrupt, or dangerous." (1668-1669)
EXCERPT: "What would happen if and when I took the plunge of interfering with Jamie's extracurricular love affair?" (1677-1678)
I'm excerpting here from an e-book reading on Overdrive.
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