Marriage: A Duet - Hardcover

Fleming, Anne Taylor

3.62

112 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786868740 ISBN 13: 9780786868742

Publisher: Hyperion, 2003

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Two exquisitely written novellas, each connected by one theme: infidelity.

These deeply moving novellas offer a unique perspective on infidelity, bringing into sharp focus the complications and consequences created by spouses who -- despite their genuine bond of love -- are unfaithful to one another.

In the first novella, A Married Woman, Caroline, a middle-aged woman, keeps a careful vigil over her husband William's death bed. While frightened by the idea of losing her soulmate and lifelong companion, Caroline confronts another startling reality: she feels a kind of rebirth through his passing. The later years of her marriage were tainted -- he had fallen in love with a younger woman but renounced his passions for the sake of the family.

In the second novella, A Married Man, David -- husband, father, and businessman -- finds his sense of well-being and achievement damaged by his wife Marcia's betrayal: a one-night affair, which she regrets but does not conceal from him. When Marcia and David cannot reclaim the daily routine of a happy marriage, they seek help together from a popular television therapist.

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About the Author:

Anne Taylor Fleming is a nationally recognized journalist and CNN NewsNight with Aaron Brown contributor. She is a regular on-camera essayist for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and the author of Motherhood Deferred: A Woman's Journey.Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Newsweek, The New Yorker, Town&Country, and More.She has been a radio commentator for NBC.She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, journalist Karl Fleming.

From Library Journal:

This first work of fiction by Fleming, a journalist and contributor to CNN's NewsNight with Aaron Brown, comprises two novellas that examine the ideas of marriage and infidelity and how spouses can genuinely love each other yet decide to test the boundaries. In the first, "A Married Woman," we meet middle-aged Caroline, a mother of two grown children who is watching her husband, William, slowly die. The narrative is divided between the present and Caroline's recollections of William's having an affair with a friend of their college-aged daughter Katie. Though Caroline loves her husband a great deal and his impending death rattles the whole family, his indiscretion has tainted the household. In the second novella, "A Married Man," Fleming turns the tables. We meet a younger family, the Sandersons-David, a successful investment advisor; his beautiful wife, Marcia; and their two young sons, Trevor and Kyle. Marcia has decided to have a brief fling with a dinner guest and though regretful does not hide her indiscretion. The couple seeks help from a counselor, but David can't seem to cope with having had his idyllic marriage spoiled. Both stories are set in Los Angeles and provide a snapshot of marriages that on the surface appear wonderful. Well-drawn characters and tight narratives allow the reader to observe life beneath the facade and decide what constitutes forgiveness, family, and fidelity. Recommended for public libraries.
Robin Nesbitt, Columbus Metropolitan Lib., OH
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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