The Story of a Marriage: A Novel
by Andrew Sean Greer
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Book Summary Information
Author: Andrew Sean GreerEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-04-29
ISBN: 0374108668
Number of pages: 208
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Book Reviews of The Story of a Marriage: A Novel
Book Review: "What is the smallest atom of a wife that cannot be split apart?"
Summary: 5 Stars
"We think we know the ones we love," author Andrew Sean Greer says throughout this novel, but the characters and the reader soon discover that there are huge gaps in our knowledge even of those we love most dearly. Pearlie Ash meets her first love, Holland Cook, when they are teenagers in Kentucky during World War II. Time and distance separate them for a few years, and then, miraculously, they meet unexpectedly in San Francisco in 1949. Within days they are married. Soon after, they have a child. Settling in the Sunset district outside San Francisco, they lead a quiet life, enjoying their child and their relationship. Pearlie is particularly solicitous of Holland because he has "bad blood" and "a crooked heart."
Then, in 1953, a stranger arrives at their door, looking for Holland, whom he knew in the war. For the next six months, Charles "Buzz" Drumer, the wealthy "stranger," is a guest almost every night, but Pearlie is stunned when he suddenly offers her $100,000 to help him to accomplish something important. As she considers Drumer's offer and what the money would mean for her future, the foundation of her marriage becomes shaky.
(No spoilers.) Greer has so meticulously plotted a series of ensuing surprises that the reader is kept off balance for the entire novel. Playing on the reader's assumptions about characters and plot as the story unfolds, Greer systematically destroys all the reader's expectations, turns perceptions inside out, and keeps the dramatic tension increasing until the resolution. Pearlie becomes a character we care about, a woman who wants only the best for her family but who is not always sure how to ensure their happiness.
As Pearlie, Holland, and Buzz tell their stories, the reader becomes privy to their hopes and dreams, and their fears and sorrows, some of them related to World War II and the Korean conflict. This is also the time of the Rosenberg trial, and Pearlie sees in Ethel Rosenberg a woman whose love for her husband will not allow her to betray him, even at the cost of her own life. Air raid drills and preparations for nuclear disaster become as symbolic as the Rosenbergs' trial in the story of this marriage, and Pearlie, like the mute dog who belongs to her son, is helpless to defend herself from danger. Careful plotting is enhanced by smooth prose, with not a word out of place, and Greer's thoughtful observations about the nature of love and marriage add depth and gravity to a novel which some might otherwise call a "tour de force" because of the clever structure. Innovative and great fun to read. n Mary Whipple
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