The Wife : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Wise and weary: must-read for writers
Review: This is an excellent novel, well-paced, sharply observed, witty, bitter, sad-- and also forgiving.

It's true as other readers have noted that the subject is not 100% original. But in my view it's the best execution of a story about a literary wife-- and isn't it the execution that matters? This book is a joy to read; the prose is elegant and economic. Yes it is a portrait of the changing times, but there is a central "story question"-- what is the final thing prompting Joan to divorce her famous husband, Joe Castleman, after a lifetime of marriage? Is it just bitterness that she never pursued her own talent, anger over his cheating and taking her for granted, self-actualization?

There is a twist in the book-- I didn't see it coming at all, but when it did, like the movie Sixth Sense, everything else fell into place. This is a must-read for anyone with literary aspirations or for anyone in a long-term relationship. I only knew Wolitzer as a comic writer before, and there are some comic scenes, but in this book she equals Gail Godwin and Philip Roth (who had to have been part of the inspiration for charismatic, crude Joe). This is as palatable as any beach novel but is so much more substantial!

Rating:
Summary: wonderful and engrossing!!!!
Review: This was a terrific book that I couldn't put down. It taugt me a lot about women and men and marriage and betrayal. Really fun and sooo smart.

Rating:
Summary: A disappointment
Review: Usually I enjoy Wolitzer's books but this one annoyed me, particularly since the "twist" at the end wasn't surprising. I'm not giving anything away by noting that Joan Castleman, the narrator of this story, decides to leave her husband - this detail is revealed in the first chapter of the book, very early on. From there, she goes back and forth between describing the past (how she met her husband, his literary career, etc) and the present. It is the ending that seems so unbelievable to me and a throwback to earlier types of fiction, where women sacrifice themselves for love. A tale of two deeply dysfunctional people, in a marriage that lasted far too long, not particularly enlightening or engaging to read about.

Rating:
Summary: Transcending the feminist genre
Review: what a pleasure to read this book. Every sentence crackles. The characters live and the situation is made palpable. You can actually taste his rather nasty ambition and you can feel his wife's capitualation to it. I am going to now look for this authors other works with great eagarness.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: What a refreshing & beautiful work this is. I haven't come by this type of novel in awhile. It is well written, it is intelligent, it is an excellent story, and a whoa! to the ending. I am so happy to have found and read such a great work from Meg Wolitzer.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: What a refreshing & beautiful work this is. I haven't come by this type of novel in awhile. It is well written, it is intelligent, it is an excellent story, and a whoa! to the ending. I am so happy to have found and read such a great work from Meg Wolitzer.

Rating:
Summary: Consider the era this woman grew up in
Review: When I finished this book, I decided I didn't like it because the main character stayed married for too long and I didn't like the character for not having the gumption to leave earlier though she wasn't happy. I feel that way about my parents who are in their mid-60's and feel "stuck", but then I remembered that the author clearly points out that this couple was met in the late 1950's when the choices for women were far fewer than today which lends some credence to the length of their marriage. The author has a very interesting story to tell, bt her language is not very challenging. The surprsie at the end of the book is NO surprise at all. I like a book with a little more suspense, and a little crisper language.

Rating:
Summary: Clever with a "K".
Review: While I finished this book in 3 days - and looked forward to reading it every night - I ultimately found it to be mediocre in writing and plot. I found the writing a little too cutesie and clever - like the writer was smug and proud as she wrote. Some of her 'crafty' descriptions didn't even make sense. The beginning of the relationship between the two was exciting and intriguing, but as they became man and wife and plodded through life, it became mundane. Mrs. Castleman's musings on being a WIFE felt sophomoric, and then the big twist at the end felt like the plot twist a remedial writer would construe. This book wasn't terrible, I just had higher hopes for it.