This is a really great book but is totally let down by the cover. The publishers seem to have tried to make it look like a chick lit book when it's not. Which means that half the readers who would enjoy it will ignore it on the shelves. It's a serious read and beautifully written.
I suppose that a novel describing the complexities and nuances on the institution of modern marriage is nothing new, but the dark humor, smart insight and shocking plot twist from the wife’s perspective in Meg Wolitzer’s, The Wife is something you haven’t read before.
The story is told by the wife of a famous novelist, Joe Castleman. Joan chronicles their long marriage with both humorous and poignant reflections on its intricacies and the delicate balance between their expected roles, after this declaration in the opening paragraph of the novel: “The moment I decided to leave him, the moment I thought, enough, we were thirty-five thousand feet above the ocean, hurtling forward but giving the illusion of stillness and tranquility”. (p.9)
You get to know the couple through Joan’s reflections and memories over the course of their marriage. Joe was her creative writing professor at Smith College in 1956, and the two found themselves attracted to one another, despite the teacher-student connection and the fact that Joe was already married, his wife having just given birth to a baby daughter. Joan admits that she was flattered by the attention he paid to not only her, but to her writing, often praising her efforts and encouraging her to consider a career in the field. And that made him almost irresistible to a girl who would often admit: “I’ve always had a fear of being small and ordinary. How can I have just one life? I used to ask my mother incredulously when I was twelve and sat at the dining room table in our apartment in New York after school, eating a cruller”. (p. 41)
But it was Joe’s career that became the extraordinary one. While Joan tended to the home, their 3 children, and Joe’s needs and ego, his novels became increasingly popular and distinguished, and he soon became one of the most celebrated authors of their generation.
Even though she describes the typical marital problems and trials such as difficulties with the children, arguments and even infidelity, it is not quite clear until the end what becomes the breaking point for Joan. They argue, and Joe pleads, “Every marriage is just two people striking a bargain - he went on in a softer tone- I traded, you traded. So maybe it wasn’t even”. She counters with, “No, it wasn’t, I said. It was the worst deal in the world, and I grabbed it”. (p. 207)
You could argue that the choices that the Castlemans make are simply a product of the times in which they lived. Joan describes the writer’s scene in New York during the 60s very well, so that their behavior is very natural to the reader. You could argue that they are both flawed characters. You could even argue that since the story is told from Joan’s point of view, that we are only hearing one side. But the point is, the controversial plot and ending will have you arguing something, because it is too delicious not to.
You may not agree with Joan Castleman’s definition of what the wife is or should be, but after reading this very well-written and piercing novel, you’ll never quite look at that role the same way again.
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