January 28, 2012Well. That was definitely not the ending of a fun little romp. Definitely not the chick-lit I was hoping for. Never the less it was a good book. The way she tells the story from the different points of views of all involved may make things seem a little disjointed, unlike if we were seeing things through the eye of one narrator, but I think it does a good job of showing just how complicated a situation like this might actually be.I liked the characters. The way they were fleshed out. From the parties involved - the wife, the mistress, the man - to the "bystanders" - sons, daughters-in-law, grandkids - who are less directly involved but still caught smack in the middle. It's really a family drama about discovering who you are and what ties are essential and important. While she obviously is biased towards certain characters, she never makes anyone really unsympathetic. Even the character most to "blame", you can't help feeling for.The ending is. . . bittersweet and kind of ambiguous. I turned the last pages barely able to believe that that was IT. That she was leaving us there. It's kind of an unsatisfactory ending from the narrative point of view. But from the thematic, well, I think maybe the thematic point she was trying to get us too was best delivered by Guy in the end: Doors close in your life, doors open. They don't always do it when you want them to. But they keep doing it.Stuff happens. It is messy. That's what happened to the characters in the story. In the end, the ending isn't pat or neat, but you get the feeling that they'll muddle through somehow. So am okay with closing the door on them there.
Having recently discovered Joanna Trollope's work, she has quickly become a new favorite of mine. She tends to examine real life, realistic situations and how they come about as well as the reactions of the people involved.This particular work looking into the reactions and consequences of a married 60 year old male judge leaving his wife of 40 years for a district attorny, a woman half his age. The two had been having an affair for some time, and finally Guy had gotten up the courage to leave his wife for his mistress.You see the reactions of the ALL the people involved, wife, children, grandchildren - even the mother of the mistress - to the change in the family dynamic. I really enjoyed this part, going through all the relations and the variety of the reactions. There is shock and anger of course, but also there seems to be a sense of wonder permeating the family dynamics, for how often does one fall in love twice in their life, and the second time so late?Bit of a let down ending in this one. Guy leaves his wife for his mistress and ends up leaving his mistress as well. The personal journey is fascinating, and the reasoning for leaving both women perfectly understandable, but it still leaves you with the feeling of "what was the point?"Still a good book and worth the read however. Especially for those who are Jodi Picoult fans. Joanna Trollope's books aren't as dramatic as Picoult, but both examine all angles of real life situations.
What do You think about Marrying The Mistress (2001)?
I read this book after reading about it on a recommended book list,and as I have never read any Joanna Trollope before,I thought I would give it a go.The story deals with the fallout experienced by various members of a family after the father announces he is leaving his wife for his mistress of 7 years. Whilst the author is very good at detailing domestic life and is rich in her descriptions,I found the style to be too slow paced. The title of the novel was also somewhat misleading,as really the book was more about family life in general than the triangle created by a mistress.
—Derrian
Joanna Trollope's books always sucker me in but I can't really think of one that I've really liked. This was the same. The positives first: she writes a mean domestic scene, dinner prep, weeding the garden, fetching a glass of water at midnight all are perfect scenes of modern domestic life without any trace of nostalgia for the good old days. She is far, far better at this than her peers. She keenly observes real people and her best characters in this book are three teenagers and their parents.The negatives: surprisingly the worst characters are the women closest to Trollope's own age. The wife who was cheated on for 7 years gets no sympathy from Trollope and she really creates a character designed to force the reader not to sympathize either. Same thing goes for the mother of the mistress. (Spoiler Alert)The worst bit: She pulls her punch in that the title is only a tease and the marriage never takes place. I can't see people who have been that insensitive of others for 7 years suddenly developing so much sensitivity that they'd break up. Trollope's ending succeeds in rehabilitating everyone but the deceived wife. Sorry, that's not fair or real.
—Mary
This was a much more serious book. It made me think about what would happen to a family after adultery is made known. It was set in England in the current times. The grandfather decides it is time to make his 7-year relationship with a young mistress known, and leave his wife of 30 years. The author had a great style- she would switch between all of the characters- showing their point of view, and what was going on in their life/head. It was interesting to see everyone's point of view from the grandparents, all the way down to the grandchildren. The mother was annoying- a manipulator, but still playing the role of the victim. Interesting book.
—Ginny Smith
