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Marriage: A Duet [Hardcover]

Anne Taylor Fleming (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)


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Book Description

January 8, 2003
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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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fleming (Motherhood Deferred), a commentator for CNN and The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, examines the marital angst that follows infidelity in the two novellas that make up her fiction debut. The conceit is simple: in the first story, "A Married Woman," she outlines the dilemma of the beautiful, reserved Caroline Betts, who knows instantly that her husband, William, is about to have a serious affair with April, the 20-something daughter of a friend of theirs. Caroline, who knows her husband well and is a hawk-eyed observer of his moods and expressions, slowly comes unhinged, realizing that the depth of his love for April may sink her marriage. In "A Married Man," Fleming takes a more lighthearted look at philandering, as protagonist David Sanderson cracks rueful jokes and comically acts out when he learns of wife Marcia's quick, casual interlude with a dinner-party guest. The funniest passages take place during the couple's therapy sessions with a Dr. Phil-style psychologist (coiner of such maxims as "you're as sick as your secrets") who has used his own infidelity to build a high-profile career. Fleming is a thoughtful, intelligent writer whose arch humor and dead-on dialogue suggest great potential for subsequent novels. The biggest problem with these novellas is the familiarity of the material; there are some clich‚s in both the plotting and characterization. Still, Fleming clearly has a knack for making the ups and downs of marital life deliciously entertaining.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 190 pages
  • Publisher: Theia (January 8, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0786868740
  • ISBN-13: 978-0786868742
  • Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6.5 x 0.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 11 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,644,075 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews
5 star:
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4 star:
 (4)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
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1 star:
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Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars a stunning novel--even better than the reviews, January 2, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Marriage: A Duet (Hardcover)
I bought a copy of this novel for myself, based on my familiarity with the author's essays on public tv and the Oprah review. I expected it to be good, but it is stunningly good. It is beautifully written and the characters have depth--she writes about the aftermath of infidelity and pain with truth and compassion. I'm recommending it for my book group as our next selection.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Marriage and infidelity., February 15, 2003
By 
The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers (RAWSISTAZ.com and BlackBookReviews.net) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Marriage: A Duet (Hardcover)
Marriage, A Duet is two novellas linked by a common thread, grief over adultery. The stories examine infidelity and the ultimate consequences it has on a marriage. One is told from the perspective of a woman and the other from a man. A Married Woman...After 40 years of marriage it has come down to Caroline Betts keeping a careful vigil over her husband's deathbed. And at each occurence of the rising and setting of the sun she relives moments of their marriage. Caroline loves her husband and has some wonderful memories, but what she remembers most is when her husband of then 25 years, fell in love and consummated that love with a younger woman. Caroline is not a talker, so she deals with the betrayal primarily in her own head and we are only privy to her calm icy thoughts about the affair, her husband's voice is not shared with readers. This story is packed with domestic details and hard truths as Ms. Fleming gives readers a combination of sorrow and residual anger along with flashes of relief and optimism. A Married Man...In the second novella David and Marcia Sanderson are trying to put their relationship back together after her liaison with one of David's clients. His anger forces him into a perverse near-madness state because he externalizes his grief over his wife's betrayal, he'd always felt his marriage and his wife were just one baby step short of perfection. A distraught David wonders why the truth is so valuable, if it would have been better if she had just not told him, or if she'd lied to him instead. The writer introduces self-help groups and the use of pharmacology to help their marriage, but when none of this removes his bitterness, David resolves "no more groups, no more pills, and no more shrinks". He will try to put things together himself, but is his love real enough to forgive, and will there be a happy ending to this marriage? First time novelist Anne Taylor Fleming, a nationally recognized journalist, has written stories that are illuminating and almost unbearably human. They are packed with marital issues that put our senses on alert about the least understood of all human endeavors: staying happily married. These stories make for excellent studies. Reviewed by aNN Brown
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars the marriage-go-round, June 23, 2003
By 
Rebecca Brown "rebeccasreads" (Clallam Bay, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Marriage: A Duet (Hardcover)
Two views of what damage infidelity within marriages can do.

For readers who relish the complexities of two people making a life together, the dialogues ring true & the situations are both delicately funny & seriously telling.

Anyone who has been espoused will know of what this author writes, & will find some interesting information to take back to their marriage.

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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
"IS IT DAD?" Kate said. Read the first page
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Mary Lou, David Sanderson, New Beginnings, San Francisco, Caroline Betts, Boo Hoo Lou, William Betts
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