Archive for the ‘sue miller’ Tag
Review: The Senator’s Wife
Comments (5)
Title: The Senator’s Wife
Author: Sue Miller
Published: January 8, 2008
Page Count: 320
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Women’s Fiction
My Rating: 4/5
Once again Sue Miller takes us deep into the private lives of women with this mesmerizing portrait of two marriages exposed in all their shame and imperfection, and in their obdurate, unyielding love. The author of the iconic The Good Motherand the best-selling While I Was Gone brings her marvelous gifts to a powerful story of two unconventional women who unexpectedly change each other’s lives.
Meri is newly married, pregnant, and standing on the cusp of her life as a wife and mother, recognizing with some terror the gap between reality and expectation. Delia Naughton—wife of the two-term liberal senator Tom Naughton—is Meri’s new neighbor in the adjacent New England town house. Delia’s husband’s chronic infidelity has been an open secret in Washington circles, but despite the complexity of their relationship, the bond between them remains strong. What keeps people together, even in the midst of profound betrayal? How can a journey imperiled by, and sometimes indistinguishable from, compromise and disappointment culminate in healing and grace? Delia and Meri find themselves leading strangely parallel lives, both reckoning with the contours and mysteries of marriage, one refined and abraded by years of complicated intimacy, the other barely begun.
Here are all the things for which Sue Miller has always been beloved—the complexity of experience precisely rendered, the richness of character and emotion, the superb economy of style—fused with an utterly engrossing story that has a great deal to say to women, and men, of all ages.
This book was my second experience with Sue Miller, and I have to say that I really enjoy her. There is something so raw and real about her writing that I find myself loving. When I first popped this one into my CD player (I “read” the book in audio version) I have to admit that I wasn’t sure I’d want to listen to nine discs of Meri’s and Delia’s lives, as it took me awhile to actually start to care about these women. But once I was there, I was totally hooked. I was invested in them and couldn’t get enough listening to what was happening to them.
The Senator’s Wifeis, without a doubt, a character-driven novel, so thank goodness Miller wrote everyone in the book so amazingly well. Delia and Meri were especially well-written but the supporting characters (mostly their husbands, Tom and Nathan) were also characters that I that I felt I really knew by the end of the book. I didn’t say I liked them all, because there were times when I disliked each and every one of them, but they were written with such honesty that I felt empathy for each character even when they were at their worst. I loved how all four of them had such distinct, unique personalities and Miller really made sure to stay true to those personalities throughout the novel.
The plot of this particular book definitely was secondary to the characters, yet it was still intriguing and interesting. There were a few elements to the story which I did not see coming and therefore I enjoyed the surprise. However, it’s difficult to talk about the plot without spoiling it, so I’ll just leave it at that. The only downside to this book, for me, was the ending. I simply hated the way Miller ended the novel – there’s no other way to put it. I HATED it with a passion. And I don’t want to elaborate because I also hate spoilers in reviews. 
That being said, I do think that Miller is a fantastic writer and if you like character-driven novels, The Senator’s Wife is an excellent choice.
More reviews -
RSS - Posts
