Monogamy

I loved this book for its humanity and the language she used to pithily emphasize characters and situations. There was not an excess word employed. She compassionately realized every character and gave them wisdom, angst, and a tragic sense of loss. I found it utterly absorbing and have reread it several times.

This book is a page-turner. Annie, the main character in this novel has just found out her husband has been having an affair. The book circles back to their marriage and how completely different they are. 

Somehow the relationship works as they totally balanced each other. I love how Sue Miller creates pictures of characters so we get to know them at a granular level. I ended up loving all of them despite their imperfections. Annie makes a life for herself as a widow having been transformed by the man she loved. Opposite personalities can enrich each other as… show more.

Sue Miller’s latest novel is partly an exploration of a long marriage, as its title suggests, but it’s also about a woman who finds a very different understanding of herself after her husband dies too soon. Annie and Graham have made a good life in Cambridge, MA, Graham as the owner of a bookstore and Annie as an artist; they’ve been married for thirty years and have a grown daughter, and Graham has a son by his first marriage. After Graham dies suddenly, Annie goes from deep mourning to learning a terrible secret about Graham, and finally to a new… show more.