The Story of a Marriage
Andrew Sean Greer
2008
195 pages
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I bought this book at last year’s LA Times Festival of Books…sometimes it takes me awhile to get around to reading things. But at least I remembered where this one came from! I’d hate to disappoint the FTC, you know.
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“We think we know the ones we love.”
This phrase appears a few times in this book, and it is perhaps the best way to describe the story.
Pearlie Cook is San Francisco housewife in the early 1950’s. As she retraces the story of her relationship with her husband Holland, some surprises crop up. And the surprises are beautifully done. Some you can figure out, and others you can’t, and even better, they’re really not the focus of the story (I’m still not going to tell you what they are, though). Just as the title states, this is the story of a marriage, and the secrets within it. And not the secrets I just mentioned, but rather what you choose to share, and what still remains private, even when you are married. Because just like the opening line states, you may think you know the one you love, but there are still things that can surprise you, and things that need to be said. In this story, both Holland and Pearlie have secrets, but they also operate under assumptions.
This is a hard book to discuss, though, because I don’t want to give anything away. I’ll just tell you that it is a gorgeous story, both for the writing and the characters. I wasn’t expecting to be so captivated by it, particularly by lines like this:
“We kept each other’s stare a long time, for we had each done a startling thing, dodged time for an instance – which is the only definition of happiness I know.” p. 137
Okay, I’m confused as I think I read a books with this title but did not think this was the author, so now I’m off to delve into this a bit more…LOL (sounds good though)
.-= Diane´s last blog ..Friday Finds =-.
First off, I love the cover of this one. Second, this sounds really great – and it’s short! I’ve been burning myself out on long books lately, so I think I need some shorter books to mix things up.
.-= Steph´s last blog ..“Admission “ by Jean Hanff Korelitz =-.
This sounds pretty true to life, so I imagine it is thought provoking.
I think I’d just as soon not read about husbands having secrets! (it’s okay for wives, however….)
.-= rhapsodyinbooks´s last blog ..Review of “Money Hungry” (for Middle Grade Readers) by Sharon G. Flake =-.
Thank you for sharing–I have just added this to my TBR list!
.-= Julie´s last blog ..25 Things About Me =-.
The title sounds familiar, but it’s not on my TBR; I’ve just added it to wish list, though. Would you call it a novel in stories, a similar structure to Olive Kitteridge?
.-= Dawn – She is Too Fond of Books´s last blog ..Weekend Cooking: *A Tale of Two Marthas* =-.
This is new to me, and from your review it looks like something I would probably like. I’ll be adding it to my list of books to track down.
.-= Alyce´s last blog ..Saturday Snapshot =-.
This was excellent on audio… the reader did such a good job with Pearlie’s voice. The writing was gorgeous, too! I liked it MUCH better than his other novel, The Confessions of Max Tivoli, which I read a few years ago. Glad you enjoyed it, too.
.-= JoAnn´s last blog ..Persephone Purchases =-.
I bought this one last year too at the festival and still haven’t read it. At least you beat me to it.
I am so glad you liked it.
.-= Literary Feline´s last blog ..Spotlight Series Review: Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter =-.
Color me intrigued.
.-= Jenners´s last blog ..SM5S: "Dogrun" by Arthur Nersesian =-.
I bought my copy at last year’s festival too and it’s still waiting for me to pick it up. Andrew was very active on Facebook and I felt more motivated to read it when he was so active but now he’s dropped off of FB and Twitter so I sort of let it slide. Yeah, I blame him.
.-= Ti´s last blog ..The Sunday Salon: Busy, but Fun =-.
I thought Greer sometimes got a bit carried away–he knew he was writing beautifully and wanted to make sure we got a lot of it. But the story was just fantastic.
.-= Lisa´s last blog ..Folly Beach by Karen White =-.
I tried leaving a comment here yesterday, but it failed to get through. anyway, I read “The Confessions of Max Tivoli” by this author quite some time ago — I liked it, so I’d probably enjoy this one, too!
.-= Valerie´s last blog ..“Government Girl”, a Memoir by Stacy Parker Aab =-.