The Good Husband

I have loved every book I have read by Gail Godwin. She has such great insight into people and is perceptive, all while writing with a compassionate heart. She has an amazing ability to create characters that you can care about, dream along with, and feel for. The 4 main characters truly grow and are made stronger by their sufferings. I loved Francis and his simple joys in life. I loved his true devotion to Magda. He is truly a good husband. Come along on the journey with these characters. This book made me love and appreciate my life more...my family, my marriage and my own good husband.

In the inspired words of Gail Godwin: "There were only a few stories worth telling, which was why they needed to be told over and over again, until everyone recognized them as his own experience." The Good Husband started as one of those "few" stories that we hear over and over again; you know the type, the sort that starts out with the protagonist lying tragically wan and frail in a sack of yellow skin, while his/her mind continues to dispel buckets of insights into the lives of his/her friends and family. The plot seemed so clichéd that at first I was confusing the storyline with another book I was reading at the time, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler, which also stars a dying woman relegating knowledge to her family. However, what rockets Godwin's work to the top of the pile is her ability to not only describe characters but people. All of Godwin's characters are individuals you feel you've met somewhere. Magda Danvers is the brilliant and awe-inspiring professor of English who layers her words with more meanings than a Tom Stoppard play. There's Hugo Henry: a disillusioned writer with a Napoleon complex who would rather work on a new novel than on his marriage. Magda's husband is Francis Lake, a devoted husband whose devotion seems to be teetering on obsession. Alice Henry is Hugo's disenchanted wife who has had to deal with the loss of her brother and best friend, her parents, and now her newborn son - and all within her meager thirty-five years of life. Then there's Gresham P. Harris - the ingratiating president of Aurelia College who is obsessed with his "PBDs" (potential big donors) - and his wife Leora - who Magda refers to as the Pastel Patter; Leora dresses like an Easter egg and always just "happens" to sit next to Francis at every school function, there to offer him a friendly squeeze on the arm and pat on the back. These characters are the idiosyncratic and flawed individuals we have all come to recognize as ourselves. And not only does Godwin saturate The Good Husband with believable and easily relatable characters, but she depicts them accurately in the trials and tribulations of human experience. Alice and Hugo have a failing marriage; Hugo has to come to terms with his son's homosexuality - and with the fact that twenty-nine year old Cal's relationship with a fifty-seven year old man is better and more loving than his own marriage; Francis has to accept the inevitability of his beloved wife's death; Alice needs to learn how to experience life after the death of her family. These are feelings of loss and acceptance and uncertainty that we have all felt in one way or another. Godwin beautifully portrays the common bond and interconnectedness between human beings as a whole, and shows both the tragedy and beauty in their relationships. Yes, these may be concepts that we have dealt with before; relationships, death, loss, blah, blah, blah, but Godwin writes about them with startling accuracy. Just

The Good Husband is an engaging story of life, death, and love. It centers on Magda Danvers, an effervescent, quick-witted English professor, and her preparation for her ultimate "Final Exam," as she endures the end stages of ovarian cancer. Less than intrigued by the title and jacket summary, the library-loaned, hardback version of The Good Husband sat collecting dust on my bureau for three weeks, and had to be renewed at least twice before I even opened it. By the time I had to return it, though, I was fined three dollars for "sand damage"; when I finally cracked it open, it instantly became my beach read, and I could hardly put it down. Despite her declining physical condition, Magda remains fiery until the very end, supported by her devoted and self-effacing husband, Francis Lake. As she reflects on the independence of her youth, her scholastic endeavors, and how she came to unintentionally lure her spouse away from his seminary, Magda facilitates change and self-discovery in all of her companions. These include not only her husband, but also colleague and disconsolate writer-in-residence Hugo Henry, and his despondent wife, Alice. The intertwining of these four individuals makes for an impassioned story of the different connotations of love and the sanctity of relationships. Godwin skillfully enhances the captivating storyline using a plethora of different literary techniques to engage the reader. Allusions to Dante, Tiresias, and other allegorical characters and authors are plentiful. Several different characters, both major and minor, narrate, offering different perspectives. Hugo Henry's criticisms of his own writing style are used in Godwin's own presentation, creating a comedic contradiction. Francis' interest in misericords (carvings on choir stalls in Gothic churches) and their associated themes parallel story lines within the novel. The use of non-narrative segments, such as "interdepartmental memos," letters, and so on, bridge gaps succinctly and keep the story moving. Situated within the professional community of the fictional Aurelia College, students and professors will especially appreciate the ability to relate to academic politics and figures such as President Gresham Harris, who is eager to please alumni and gain PBDs ("potential big donors"), and Ray Johnson, a smug English Department chair. "Mates are not always matches, and matches are not always mates," affirms Magda Danvers. With this in mind, Godwin explores the qualities, and even scenarios, that attract us to our lovers, crushes, spouses, whatever, and the circumstances under which we fall in and out of love. The jacket description says that the main characters will "learn that the most ideal relationship - even a perfect marriage - doesn't come without a price..." I'm still not sure what this is supposed to infer, for it seems an inaccurate interpretation of Godwin's message. This just goes to show that the old cliché holds weight: you shouldn't ju

"The Good Husband" is the first work I have read by Gail Godwin and will not be the last. I found the book enlightening as well as pertinent. Godwin has a way of taking ordinary events and bringing a fresh, new perspective to them. For me, the novel seemed to be entertaining and at the same time, educational; designed to make a person think. I really appreciated being able to see death from Magda's perspective. I had never thought of death as a final examination. It was a revelation for me as I have had many people in my life die recently. Although some of them may not have viewed death from her perspective, it gave me a new outlook on the process. It also gave me a new perspective on life. I found the part about Francis' misericords very educational and captivating at the same time. I think that while I am in Europe, I will be visiting some cathedrals just to see for myself if they exist. Godwin must have put quite a bit of time and effort into researching the subject for it to be so detailed. I really appreciated being able to "educate" myself while at the same time "entertain" myself. While I enjoyed the entire novel, I think that the speech Hugo Henry gave on writing a novel was my favorite part. It was very clever of Godwin to weave Hugo's views, as an author, on writing a novel into her own novel. I realized how true it was when Hugo said, "If you get the beginning of your story right, it already contains the seed of its own ending. And if the ending's right, it succeeds in making the beginning inevitable"(410). I also loved how Hugo related a novel to a relationship. It seemed the perfect way for him to tell his wife, Alice, that he realized it was over for them. Godwin put the whole novel together so well that I felt like I could empathize with her characters. While I knew what would inevitably happen, I found myself just turning the pages. I cried and got angry with the characters and was sad when the novel ended. As someone once said, though I cannot remember whom, reading a book is like making new friends and when it is done, you leave. If you want to visit them again you have to reread the book. I am sure that I will be revisiting Magda, Francis, Hugo and Alice again. Meanwhile, I think I will check out some of Gail Godwin's other books and make some more new friends.

This book is wise, witty and endearing. Ms. Godwin has great emotional insight. The characters are varied and real: the larger-than-life Magda, awaiting her death from ovarian cancer; her devoted, altruistic mate, the former seminarian, Francis; Alice, searching for her life's meaning after the death of her baby; and Alice's husband, the self-absorbed novelist, Hugo. "The Good Husband" touched a chord within me.