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Title: The Story of a Marriage
Author: Andrew Sean Greer
Number of Pages: 208 pages
Book Number/Goal: 20/75 for 2009
My Rating: 5/5
Review: It's the early '50s and Pearlie Cook is a young housewife and mother, married to her childhood sweetheart, but her illusion of happiness is shattered when a man claiming to be an old friend of her husband's shows up on her doorstep one day.
I loved this book SO MUCH. I don't even know what to say about it. All I can do is flail happily. Like The Taqwacores, this is a story about people of color (apparently some people thought this was a "twist" in the story, but idk, there are plenty of hints before he comes right out and says it) written by a white guy, and I think he did a good job. He also did an amazing job portraying the delicate relationships between Pearlie and Holland and Buzz. I love Pearlie and Buzz's sort-of friendship, and how Holland is a mystery to both of them. Everything felt completely believable to me. I saw a lot of "why the hell did Pearlie do what she did?" type reviews on Amazon, but I thought it was perfectly obvious and made sense. She didn't do it for the money. She did it because she loved Holland and thought that was the only way for him to be happy (and because she didn't feel she could cross a rich white man). I loved the way the secrets came out, so many layers in such a short book.
I already have another book of his on my shelf to read, and I'd really like to get my hands on his short stories, too. Definitely a new favorite author.
Author: Andrew Sean Greer
Number of Pages: 208 pages
Book Number/Goal: 20/75 for 2009
My Rating: 5/5
Review: It's the early '50s and Pearlie Cook is a young housewife and mother, married to her childhood sweetheart, but her illusion of happiness is shattered when a man claiming to be an old friend of her husband's shows up on her doorstep one day.
I loved this book SO MUCH. I don't even know what to say about it. All I can do is flail happily. Like The Taqwacores, this is a story about people of color (apparently some people thought this was a "twist" in the story, but idk, there are plenty of hints before he comes right out and says it) written by a white guy, and I think he did a good job. He also did an amazing job portraying the delicate relationships between Pearlie and Holland and Buzz. I love Pearlie and Buzz's sort-of friendship, and how Holland is a mystery to both of them. Everything felt completely believable to me. I saw a lot of "why the hell did Pearlie do what she did?" type reviews on Amazon, but I thought it was perfectly obvious and made sense. She didn't do it for the money. She did it because she loved Holland and thought that was the only way for him to be happy (and because she didn't feel she could cross a rich white man). I loved the way the secrets came out, so many layers in such a short book.
I already have another book of his on my shelf to read, and I'd really like to get my hands on his short stories, too. Definitely a new favorite author.
