Sunday, July 10, 2011

Husband and Wife by Leah Stewart

Sarah Price is thirty-five years old. She doesn't feel as though she's getting older, but there are some noticeable changes: a hangover after two beers, the stray gray hair, and, most of all, she's called “Mom” by two small children. Always responsible, Sarah traded her MFA for a steady job, which allows her husband, Nathan, to write fiction. But Sarah is happy and she believes Nathan is too, until a truth is revealed: Nathan's upcoming novel, Infidelity, is based in fact.
Suddenly Sarah's world is turned upside down. Adding to her confusion, Nathan abdicates responsibility for the fate of their relationship and of his novel's publication—a financial lifesaver they have been depending upon—leaving both in Sarah's hands. Reeling from his betrayal, she is plagued by dark questions. How well does she really know Nathan? And, more important, how well does she know herself? 

For answers, Sarah looks back to her artistic twenty-something self to try to understand what happened to her dreams. When did it all seem to change? Pushed from her complacent plateau, Sarah begins to act—for the first time not so responsibly—on all the things she has let go of for so long: her blank computer screen; her best friend, Helen; the volumes of Proust on her bookshelf. And then there is that e-mail in her inbox: a note from Rajiv, a beautiful man from her past who once tempted her to stray. The struggle to find which version of herself is the essential one—artist, wife, or mother—takes Sarah hundreds of miles away from her marriage on a surprising journey.

Wise, funny, and sharply drawn, Leah Stewart's Husband and Wife probes our deepest relationships, the promises we make and break, and the consequences they hold for our lives, revealing that it's never too late to step back and start over. ~~synopsis from Goodreads 

I loved this book! It sure didn't take me very long to devour it, if that is any indication. 

Right from the beginning, when Nathan confesses to his infidelity and Sarah just wants to get to their friend's wedding, I was wondering how their relationship was going to get through this crisis. The whole story revolves around their searching for what is right for them as individuals and what is right, or wrong, about their relationship. Can it ever get back to what is was and ..... is that what they want? 

There were parts of the book that had me frustrated at some of the decisions that were made but then there were parts that made me laugh. I especially got a chuckle over the scene in McDonald's when the baby has a blow-out. Been there, done that! 

The book is about a very serious topic, infidelity in a marriage and how to go on from there, but it was written in such a way that I really cared about both Nathan and Sarah. I found myself wanting them to be happy with whatever decisions they made.

Author website

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