Customer Reviews

Still Life with Husband

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I think anyone married for a long time can relate to this book. I loved it. I HATE to read but if I could find more writers like her, I would be such a book worm. I laughed out loud, I got anxious, I could really feel what she was going through. It is worth the read,
I was on VACATION, and spent a lot of time reading this b/c I just couldn't put it down.

STILL LIFE WITH HUSBAND, the debut novel by Milwaukeean Lauren Fox, introduces readers to Emily Ross, 30-year-old freelance writer, assistant editor of a male reproduction journal (her boss, amusingly, is named Dick), and discontented wife. Her husband is Kevin, a sweet, boring technical writer who is desperate to move to the suburbs and have a baby. Emily's not sure she's ready for such a big step -- and when she meets handsome writer David Keller, she starts to think she may never be ready for that kind of life with Kevin. Inevitably, and predictably, Emily and David embark on an illicit affair.

STILL LIFE WITH HUSBAND is a novel about one woman's choices, and the lasting effects those choices have on the people who love her. Emily Ross is, as one of the previous reviewers mentioned, one of the most engaging chick lit heroines since Bridget Jones. The whole novel is written from her first-person perspective, and the voice Fox gives to her is ironic, self-reflective, and incredibly witty. You will respond to Emily in some way -- either positively or negatively, but you WILL respond to her. Look at the other reviews here if you don't believe me! Yes, Emily is selfish and adulterous; but she's also a good, generous friend and smart enough to know that she very well could be screwing up her life. That's precisely what makes her such a believable character -- the balance of darkness and light in her psyche. None of us are purely good or bad, and Emily reflects that utterly human quality brilliantly. A 30-year-old woman whose dream is to write love poems for fish (and yes, there are a couple of poems in the text for your pure reading enjoyment)? I mean, how could you not love her, at least a little bit, despite her disloyalty to her husband?

Emily is backed up by an endearing cast of characters, most notably her best friend Meg and her boss, Dick. A couple of the characters late in the novel seem a little cartoonish, but Fox manages to make even those seem believable. The relationships portrayed in the novel really ring true -- they are sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes euphoric, but always reflecting real life. A couple of the events in the book left me unhappy and wishing for a different result for the characters, but I think that's just a sign of a really talented writer.

What I liked most about the book was its overall light-heartedness and unexpected sense of hope. I can't believe how hard I laughed in many parts of this book! The ending was somewhat frustrating, but it also made perfect, inevitable sense. I hope Lauren Fox has done enough with STILL LIFE WITH HUSBAND to distinguish herself from the multitudes of chick lit writers out there -- she's definitely got something special and wonderfully different to offer.

I found this book to be absolutely pleasurable and delicious from start to finish. I hated having to put it down when life intervened, and would find myself intensely looking forward to getting back to it. To me, that's the mark of an excellent book.

The writing in STILL LIFE is funny and sharp; it has an edge of realism that is fresh and helps to create a complex, believable world. This life-like sensibility is also why I found Emily to be such a believable and likeable character. I get so tired of pure and good main characters whose only fault is quirkiness, because that's not the reality of the human heart. The human heart is both light and dark, both generous and selfish, etc. That's what this book so richly captures. Some people react negatively to that sort of thing, but I find it refreshing and mature and interesting. I was on the edge of my seat as the events here played out. Very fun.

There's a lot of great humor here, too, and hilarious everyday observations that ring so true. And the end made total sense. A Hollywood ending would've felt false; this one felt surprising yet inevitable and 100% genuine.

It is such a breath of fresh air to find a book that is so engaging and funny and real all at the same time--kind of a cross between Lorrie Moore and Jane Austen. I can't wait for FOX's next book!

By their nature affairs are designed to be dissatisfying. They scratch an itch that can't fully be scratched. That's why they're a tricky proposition in fiction too. How do you write a satisfying ending in an affair novel? Which relationship do you break up and at what cost? Most affair novels opt for an easy way out - no one gets caught or someone gets caught but then she's pregnant by her husband so all is forgiven. Lauren Fox's Still Life with Husband doesn't take the easy way out. Fox uncovers a fresh ending and a new twist to the affair story, one that is uniquely rewarding for the reader, especially because of the fine writing in which it's wrapped.

In Lauren Fox's "Still Life with Husband," Emily, a married freelance writer was not satisfied with how her relationship with her husband, Kevin was going. Even though Kevin was stable, predictable, and defintiely reliable, Emily felt that she was not connected to Kevin as she should be and one day, she met David, another writer at a coffee shop. They had a great rapport and from there began Emily's affair with David. A majority of the book focused on Emily's struggle and how she had to juggle her guilt of cheating with another man and at the same time, finding fulfillment and satisfaction with him.

This was a very well-written book as the writing was clear, concise, and very conversational. This was written strictly from Emily's perspective and he author was able to really illustrate Emily's conflicted feelings towards her own infidelity. In addition, I like that the author touched on another sticky issue in a marriage - for instance, Emily's best friend, Meg who had been trying to conceive and her struggles with it. I think this was a better than average novel in this genre. The way the book ended gives me the impression that the author could possibly write a sequel. Highly recommended!

Lauren Fox's novel kept me turning pages until I finished "Still Life with Husband" in a couple of sittings. Hopefully this initial work of hers has set the tone for another novel soon.

As a newly married 31 year old, I could sympathize with her struggles to not follow the typical path of the surburbian wife and mother. Her style of writing is catchy and entertaining and she did a great job of making me feel I was taking the journey right along side of Emily.

Fox deftly captures the realness of an affair--messy, flawed, conflicted, and exhilarating. Emily, the narrator, is stuck in her humdrum life and falls hard for a charming stranger. Her spiral into deceit--sneaking around, keeping the truth from her friends and family--make for an intriguing read.

I decided to log on just to give this book a good review, and I'm surprised to find anything but that on here. Ms Fox is a terribly talented writer, and while she surely will go on to do even greater things, I was highly impressed with her easy skill and clever, surprising uses of the English language. I wanted to earmark many pages just so I could return and reread her impactful, strange and novel descriptions of everyday life.

Still Life with Husband is the story of Emily, a homely "good girl" who's used to her best friend getting all the attention. But when handsome David approaches her in a coffee shop, ignoring her best friend...she's gone. And she happens not to be wearing her wedding ring.

The roller coaster of a plot kept me glued to the book and I finished it in a day. Despite the changes in the narrator's life, I felt the novel
ended positively, and there was a wry humor throughout that leavened the story's events.

Thirty-year-old freelance writer Emily Ross has the 'nine'-year itch. She's married to reliable, dependable, nice-guy Kevin who wants to take their marriage to the 'next level.' The next level includes moving to a Milwaukee suburb and having babies. The problem: Emily isn't ready to move or procreate. And she may never be ready for that life.

At the local coffee shop, Emily meets David Keller, a young, sexy reporter for an alternative newspaper. The two connect physically and emotionally and begin the urban mating ritual. The twist on the stereotypical adulterous relationship is that Emily is the married part of the duo and neglects, initially, to inform David of her marital status.

Emily's search for happiness and completing herself is fraught with the dire consequences of a 'good girl' who, without much thought, follows her heart and ignores her head.

Lauren Fox deftly weaves Emily's dilemma about her life and marriage with her relationship with best friend Meg. Still Life with Husband is entertaining, well written, funny, quirky and yet sad. I found myself rooting for Emily and then feeling that she gets what she deserves.

While the novel drew me in and kept me reading, I found myself concerned that an awful lot of novels recently treat adultery in a casual manner--And that is disturbing.

Armchair Interviews says: A good read--with that in mind.