MADreads

The Story of a Marriage

December 14th, 2009 Amy

“We think we know the ones we love.”

It’s easy to think of the 1950s as a bland decade, sandwiched between years of war and social revolution. In The Story of a Marriage, Andrew Sean Greer takes the reader to 1953 San Francisco and shows us an era flavored with fear and doubt.

Pearlie Cook is a conscientious young wife. She makes the family home as quiet and calm as can be to protect her husband Holland, who seems to be suffering from shell-shock, from noise and trouble. She buys a doorbell that announces guests with a gentle whir and a dog that cannot bark. She snips disturbing stories out of her husband’s newspaper.  But on one quiet Saturday, the doorbell gently announces the arrival of a stranger. And Pearlie’s carefully constructed world will never be the same.

The stranger’s name is Buzz, and he comes bearing birthday gifts for Holland and Pearlie. He is polite and charming, and eventually makes Pearlie an offer. He can give her a small fortune, more than enough to provide a future for her and her son; all she has to do is let go of her husband. Pearlie loves Holland, but their son is stricken with polio, and circumstances have given her little reason to dream of the shining, improbable future offered by the stranger. Pearlie is left with an agonizing choice to make about her marriage, and questions whether she ever really knew her husband at all.

The story is told by a much older Pearlie looking back on a tumultuous time, and Greer’s writing is crisp and vibrant. The seemingly simple plot takes several turns, including a major revelation that I never saw coming. While I thought the story lagged just a bit toward the end, I found the whole engaging and surprising; I think that this would be an excellent choice for a book discussion group.

Entry Filed under: Literary Fiction