The Story of a Marriage

I was so tempted to put this book down unfinished.  It started strong, but in the middle it got meandering and confusing.  I was never quite sure what was happening or what the characters intended to happen next, but boy was I glad I stuck with it.  The last 30 or so pages packed quite the emotional wallop, and I was very glad about how things turned out.  And the middle made more sense once I got to the end.  What we know and don't know but guess about others -- acquaintances, those we're intimate with and even ourselves is at the heart of this novel.  

I would quibble about the lack of actual communication between the main parties.  It seemed overly contrived.  The setting and the backstory makes it somewhat plausible, and as the main character often notes those were different times.  Still, these characters seemed to persist in non-communication in a way that's hard to imagine in the days of Dr. Phil.  All in all, a bit of a difficult book to read, but the end justified the journey.