Beth F
Sandy
bermudaonion (Kathy)
Stephanie
Trisha
The Story of a Marriage by Andrew Sean Greer
Pearlie Cook is a housewife in San Francisco post-World War II. She lives in a small house with her husband Holland and young son who has polio. Pearlie knew Holland when they were both growing up in the South, was his girlfriend back home before he went into the war. When she arrived in San Francisco, she met him again entirely by accident, and it was not long before he told her that he needed her to marry him.
I was a bit apprehensive when Pearlie married Holland, because it really didn’t seem that she knew him at all, which given the rest of the book is probably exactly what I should have been feeling. Holland doesn’t talk much about his time in the war, so Pearlie really is not expecting it when Buzz comes to their front door, claiming to be a friend of Holland’s from when he was in the army. Even less expected than Buzz’s presence, however, is what he will tell Pearlie and the sacrifice he will ask of her.
Initially I wasn’t quite sure how I would feel about this book. There is a sort of dreamy, far-off quality about the story, particularly in the beginning and I was sure I wouldn’t be able to identify with any of the characters because of it. However, Greer’s beautiful, lyrical writing soon drew me into the story. It made sense for the novel to have such a dreamy quality, because much of what happened seemed surreal to Pearlie.
This is a wonderfully done work of literary fiction. If you stick primarily with contemporary fiction and don’t venture much into literary fiction this may not quite work for you, but if you enjoy literary fiction I highly suggest you give this a read.
Buy this book from:
Powell’s.
A local, independent bookstore via Indiebound.
Amazon.
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An excellent review – I wasn’t familiar with this title before, but I definitely want to read it now. Thanks!
Lisa’s last blog post..The Joy of Re-Reading
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I hadn’t heard of this book before, but you review has me intrigued.
charley’s last blog post..The Station Agent & Atonement
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This sounds like a good book club possibility, particularly for my group that keeps revisiting WWII.
Thanks for pointing me to it.
Laura’s last blog post..June preview: More to read!
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While I’ve wanted to read this book for a long time, what I mostly wanted to comment on was the distinction between “contemporary fiction” and “literary fiction”. I think I use the terms interchangeably for anything that doesn’t fit into another genre…. “general” fiction, if you will. How are you drawing the line between the two?
Fyrefly’s last blog post..Alan Bradley – The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
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devourerofbooks Reply:
June 2nd, 2009 at 4:16 pm
I guess I think of “contemporary fiction” more like “general” fiction and less like “literary fiction.”
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I’ve seen this book on a few blogs and it draws me in every time. I think it’s time I read it. Great review!
Lisa’s last blog post..The Last Child by John Hart
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This one really kept me guessing. I thought that Greer got a bit too impressed with himself occasionally but overall I liked it a lot. My guest review is on http://www.bookwormwithaview.blogspot.com.
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