May’s first paperback preview was a bit of a mishmash but this one has a marriage/relationship theme running through it, albeit mostly unhappy, beginning with Sarah Manguso’s Liars, one of my books of last year. It’s the story of a broken marriage told from the perspective of Jane whose relationship with John grows out of a powerful physical attraction. Her successful writing career stalls in the face of childcare, homemaking and hauling John out of various scrapes, her financial dependence forcing her to trail after him as he moves from one job to another. After fourteen years of telling herself she should be grateful for her happy family, the security John has somehow delivered and the resurrection of her career, she’s faced with the truth of her marriage’s dysfunction. Manguso unfolds her fragmented narrative in stark, striking prose.
We’re in similar territory with Charlotte Mendelson’s Wife. Zoe and Penny have been together for eighteen years during which Penny has bullied and belittled her wife, cajoling her into having the children she’s come to adore, been outraged by her successful career and failed to make the tiniest of compromises. Zoe has soldiered on, locked into the rigid parenting arrangements demanded by her three co-parents, none of whom put their children’s needs first, until an epiphany opens her eyes, and she decides she’s had enough. Mendelson weaves the events of Zoe’s final day in the family home through the story of this supremely dysfunctional relationship.
Set in a small Irish town, Alan Murrin’s The Coast Road explores the state of three marriages – one broken and two under strain – through the women whose independence is thwarted by society’s expectations. We know from the start that Colette’s cottage has burnt down when the police quiz Izzy who spotted smoke in the middle of the night. From there, Murrin winds back the narrative, shifting perspectives between the three wives as he unfolds his story. By the end of the novel, a referendum on divorce is in the offing. Its result won’t be the solution for everyone but will help some. No great literary fireworks here but I enjoyed this absorbing novel which has particularly strong cast of female characters.
A love story, but far from what you might call a romance, Paddy Crewe’s True Love is about two damaged young people who fall deeply in love, opening themselves to each other in a way they’ve never done with anyone else, each seeing the other as their salvation until the first euphoric months are over and reality sinks in. Some might find the pace a little slow although it worked well for me, Crewe taking the time to develop his characters so that I came to care about what happened to them, and much of the descriptive writing is striking.
That’s it for May. A click on a title will take you to my review should you want to know more, and if you’d like to catch up with part one it’s here. New fiction is here and here.
No more from me until Saturday. H and I are off to Ghent where we were supposed to go in March 2020…
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I loved the Paddy Crewe, but found the Charlotte Mendelson supremely discomfiting – which was rather the point. But it has me shivering uncomfortably now, many months after I read it. The rest of your choices look worth investigating.
I think you’d find Liars even more discomfiting. Glad you enjoyed the Crewe.
Oh, and enjoy Ghent. We’ve promised ourselves a trip there this year too.
Thank you! I’ll be reporting back next week.
After Annie appeals the most, I’m interested in explorations of grieving.
Have a lovely time in Ghent!
It does that very well. Thank you! I’m on my way,
Definitely keen to read more Quindlin, I’ve read a couple and found them very satisfying.
I enjoy her writing, understated but intelligent.
I meant to find the Mendelson when it first came out and never did. I’ve read Manguso and Murrin of the others. Ghent is fabulous, I’m sure you’ll have a lovely time.
Thank you! Just relaxing after checking in and before going out to see what’s what. Anything you’d particularly recommend?
Some interesting choices here. I have read Murrin and thought it was a good story, displaying a good understanding of the period given that he is a young writer.
I thought he handled it very well, including some strong women characters.
Several here I have my eye on – the Sarah Manguso and Anna Quindlen particularly. The Coast Road is a novel I’ve gone back and forth about, but if it’s made it onto your list, I might well give it a go.
Both the Manguso and the Quindlen are excellent in very different ways, and I enjoyed The Coast Road, particularly Murrin’s characterisation.
I had Liars on my “saved” shelf at the library and then couldn’t remember why…it was likely your review (and Rebecca’s, if she enjoyed it too).
I’m pretty sure she did. I hope you enjoy it when you get to it.