Marriage: A Duet: Two Novellas

Anne Taylor Fleming is best known to me as an essayist on the News Hour, usually commenting on the world from the perspective of LA, which I don't usually appreciate all that much.Surprising here, especially considering the subject of infidelity, she manages to lose most of the LA pretentiousness in both of these two short novels, despite the fact that both stories are set in LA. Her characters really care about their marriages, their children, what has happened in their lives up to the time of the infidelity and after. Not that all is well--the wronged parties agonize in ways that are highly recognizable (at least to me) over their partner's respective indiscretions.Perhaps these novels work because she has imagined or observed the reactions of these wronged spouses rather than actually lived them herself and can, therefore, maintain an appropriate detachment (and humor). At any rate, the characters come off as real and engaging and people you would want to meet yourself, unlike many LA characters I've met in the pages of contemporary fiction.Well done and recommended!

I normally don't choose "novellas" to read but the title of this book caught my eye. I was pleasantly surprised by the content of the book and the two "short" stories it contained. The stories are written in a concise, sometimes shocking, intense manner. "A Married Woman" is about a woman married for many years who is recalling the details of her husbands infidelity as she sits by his deathbed. "A Married Man" is the story of a man who is trying to find forgiveness for his wife's infidelity. It is a heartwrenching story of a father and husband who loves his wife very much but is not able to get beyond her one night affair with an acquaintance.I think the reader of this book will thoroughly enjoy it. It is a quick read but contains such food for thought.

Anne Taylor Fleming tells two different stories dealing with relationship between husband and wife. The first novella, "A Married Woman," features Caroline. She's a devoted wife and mother sitting by her husband's hospital bed day after day where he lays in a coma. She is forced to remember how wonderful their marriage started out and how in love they were. But she's also forced to take good, hard look at what their relationship developed into and must deal with the emotional turmoil that his infidelities with a younger woman left her with. Caroline must face the reality of the ups and downs of the life spent together and with the reality of spending the rest of her life without him. The second novella, "A Married Man," showcases the life of David a loving husband, father and successful businessman who is dealing with the betrayal of his wife, Marcia. His life is turned upside down emotionally due to his wife's one night romp through the sheets with another man. Marcia doesn't try to hide it from him and claims it was just a one time thing she never meant to do. Now she wants to try and mend their battered relationship by going to counseling. Much of the story takes place in a marriage counselor's office where David's mind wanders throughout the sessions to better times. Times when they were happy and loving towards each other. He begins to doubt they will ever be able to get that back and doesn't know if he'll ever be able to forgive and forget. He must decide if what they had is worth a second try.

The author of these captivating novellas moves skillfully from the grief stricken interior lives of the betrayed to the slick, sometimes comical social worlds they inhabit. The prose, at times, is snapshot specific. Fleming's ear for dialogue is not always perfect but all the rest is poetry. To be sure, the Southern California characters have a certain type of glamour, but their pain is deep and real. No, this isn't Anna Karenina, but it's just as painful, a lot shorter, and, at times, a lot funnier.

I bought a copy of this novel for myself, based on my familiarity with the author's essays on public tv and the Oprah review. I expected it to be good, but it is stunningly good. It is beautifully written and the characters have depth--she writes about the aftermath of infidelity and pain with truth and compassion. I'm recommending it for my book group as our next selection.