Sigh........this books was disappointing. The main characters were unlikeable and their decisions confounding. I ended up skimming parts of it. Even the surprise ending could not make this a reccommended read. ( )

I just finished The Senator's Wife by Sue Miller, my first by her, and while at first I was a bit bored by it, I found myself really involved with the characters halfway through - to the point where they were making me angry. While I wouldn't mark this book as one of my favorites, I will say that if an author can make me feel any emotion towards a character they did a good job.

The relationship between Delia (the Senator's Wife) and Meri (the neighbor) was an awkward one in my opinion. While I never understood Delia and her reasons for staying in her marriage, I disliked Meri so intensely that I wanted to strangle her. Getting towards the end of the book I was nervous that the ending was going to be a lackluster, but I was actually really happy with the way that Miller wrapped up everything. ( )

This was the first time I've read a Sue Miller, and I liked it! It examined infidelity in two very different maggiages in an intelligent way - reminded me of Ann Tyler. I will be reading more of Sue Miller! ( )

I picked up this book expecting a light read, but I found a bit more. Miller tells the stories of Meri, a mid-30's wife of a professor, and Delia, the wife of a former senator in her 70's. They live in the two sides an old New England house and come to be friends. Their voices alternate as Miller provides a window into slightly more than a year of their lives - a year when both Meri and Delia deal with changes that introduce new roles into their lives. Through flashbacks, we come to understand the events that have brought them to this point in their lives and that have influenced the decisions that they make.

I liked this book most in the middle. The characters are not perfect (few likable characters are, in my opinion), and it took me a little time to warm up to them. But within a few chapters, I found myself intrigued by Meri and Delia. Having recently been a new mother, I felt that Miller's descriptions of Meri's transition into this role were spot on. She also creates interesting parallels between the challenges of new roles that we face in the middle of our lives and those we face as we grow older.

There were two things that made me like this book less than I might have otherwise. First, I felt as though Miller gave away her secrets too quickly. We learn much about Meri and Delia in the first few chapters, and then Miller uses flashbacks and other plot devices to reveal these secrets again. I felt that the flashbacks would have been more effective if there had been some suspense left. I also had trouble believing some of the choices that Meri made - especially one completely misguided (in my opinion) choice near the end of the book. I was listening to this on audio in the car, and actually found myself yelling at the iPod (No. . no. . you can't do that. .. you won't do that . . . you did THAT!?!?!). Maybe I'm naive, but I just didn't see Meri's choices as plausible. And so my relatively positive view of the book was diminished greatly by the end.

I like all Sue Miller's books and this is no exception. I thought it was a great picture of "this kind" of marriage which doesn't seem to be all that out of the ordinary these days. I really could understand and sympathize with Delia, how she lived her life and remained in love with her charming but totally self-centered, narcissistic husband who was not unlike many of the men found in politics and elsewhere. I found Meri an annoying, self-centered, sneaky and sullen character with a lot of problems -- she was undoubtedly supposed to be this way, but I wish she had been held a bit more responsible in some way. ( )

I was deeply stirred by the way in which the two women characters in this novel were portrayed. Miller's descriptions of their lives are at once beautiful yet so real. I loved the fact that the two townhouses seem to be characters in and of themselves. That said, I was rather disappointed in the ending. It seemed a bit too provocative, and overdone. ( )

Serious, complex, well written ( )

The Senator's Wife has a good deal of tension, in that the reader wants to know more about the mysterious relationship between the suave senator who charms the public and young women in Washington, and the devoted wife who keeps the home fires burning in rural New England. The spying neighbours are our entree into the mystery. Why did the wife 9old for the most part of the action) defend and put up with repeated infidelities? Bill Clinton is cited, as is Charlotte Bronte's Edward Rochester, another roue brought low by fate, only to be partially reinstated in the end. My chief gripe with this novel is the use of the phrase 'made a face,' an enactment narrative term used to excess; every major character at some time 'makes a face,' but we are never told what kind of face. This is lazy and unacceptable shorthand. Compare if you will Nicholas Drayton in A Guide to the Birds of East Africa, where he describes the referee of the contest (See my review of the Guide) who, catching the eye of another club member, 'turned down the corners of his mouth and raised his eyebrows in worried apprehension.' Now that's 'making a face' for you. ( )

The Senator's Wife is really about two wives who live next door to each other in a duplex for about a year - a year that turns out to be pivotal for them both. It's a story about marriage and motherhood at different stages, and it reinforces the truism that no one really knows what goes on in a relationship except the people in it.

Meri meets Delia Naughton on the shared front porch of a duplex; she and her husband Nathan are about to buy one side of it, and Delia has been living on the other side for over thirty years. Meri, who tends to be drawn toward maternal figures, is fascinated by Delia, while Nathan is fascinated by Delia's husband, retired senator Tom Naughton, who never seems to be around. Delia has an open, yet reserved, way about her that makes Meri very curious, and when Delia goes to Paris for a couple of months, Meri's house-sitting gives her a chance to...well, snoop. What she learns makes her feel strange about her neighbors, especially when Tom Naughton eventually turns up at Delia's. Meri feels strange about a lot of things that year. A Midwest native, she has relocated to the East Coast for her husband's new faculty position, become a homeowner, found a new job, and unexpectedly gotten pregnant.

READ MORE: http://www.3rsblog.com/2009/05/monday... ( )

At its heart, this is a book about womanhood and the things women experience but rarely talk about. It is about marriage and intimacy and the complexity of interwining one’s life with another person, and it is about trials and forgiveness and the fact that there is no one right way to make a relationship work. Most of all, this is a book about truth. Sue Miller tells it like it is, and she takes you right there, right into the moment and into the hearts and minds of her characters.

And man, is she good at it. I mean, really, really good. Sue Miller, where have you been all my life?

Women young and old, married and single, and of all walks of life will relate to and be drawn into this phenomenal novel. The Senator’s Wife is a discussion starter, a call to dialogue between women, and proof of just what can happen when we are willing to explore the truth about our emotions and our experiences in all of their messiness and complexity. Miller knows that relationships are not clean and simple, and in allowing her characters the freedom to grapple with important and difficult questions about their lives, she encourages us to do the same.

If you’re looking for a good book club selection or an unputdownable, unforgettable read, put The Senator’s Wife at the top of your list. I’ll be sharing it with anyone who will listen.

Read my full review at The Book Lady's Blog. ( )

I heard a good review of this on Fresh Air, so I was intrigued, but I thought it ended up being kind of banal. Maybe I should have listened when the woman at the super snobby bookstore here that literally only has ten books in it was like "we won't get that, MAYBE in paperback." Whatever, it's still a dumb bookstore--order some books for god's sake. ( )

I loved this and want to reread it. I missed the book club discussion but I some hated it. ( )

Another great study of relationships from Sue Miller.
The poignant difference between newlyweds and lifetime partners.
Transporting. ( )

The audiobook kept my attention. Like others, I didn't really like Meri, but I don't think we were meant to. She seems to "get away" with so much - snooping, drinking while pregnant, being a hussy with an old man who just had a stroke - I wanted so badly for Nathan to know what kind of woman she really was, but he never found out. I think the fact that the author made me think about her, means it was a well-written novel. ( )

Meri is newly married, pregnant, and standing on the cusp of her life as a wife and mother, recognizing with some terror the gap between reality and expectation. Delia Naughton - wife of the two-term liberal senator Tom Naughton - is Meri's new neighbor in the adjacent New England town house. The book's OK - I didn't really like Meri much - the ending was a bit of a surprise and that helped a bit. ( )

This was one of the worst books I have ever read. I was so disappointed because I have enjoyed all of Sue Miller's books. The Senator's Wife's characters were unlikable, had no redeeming social qualities what-so-ever. The ending was horrible. I don't know what Sue Miller was thinking when she wrote this. ( )

I prefer to care about the main characters in the books I read...tends to make them more enjoyable. The young wife and mother in this book was pathetically shallow and self centered. She seemed extremely self absorbed, deceitful and nearly without any redeeming qualities. And somehow she gets a happily ever after ending after muddling in her neighbor's relationship. I found the book hugely disappointing and it will probably keep me from picking up another Sue Miller title. ( )

The Senator’s Wife by Sue Miller explores the depths of two marriages at opposite ends of life. A young wife finds herself pregnant while her neighbor, the elderly senator’s wife, copes with the sudden illness of her famous husband. The younger marriage struggles because of the wife’s attitudes, consequences of her own neglected childhood, while the older wife attempts to ignore a long history of infidelity. ( )

This novel opens as a newlywed couple purchase their first home, a half of a duplex next to the prestigious Senator Naughton and his wife. As they struggle through their firsts--house, fights, children, etc; they probe into the life and marriage of the Senator and his wife Delia. The story is also told through Delia’s perspective as she grapples with a long term marriage, the after affects of infidelity and forgiveness. Both marriages are in turmoil yet salted with moments of genuine affection. The characters endure through decades contrasting and commenting on both marriages, and make a comment on love and relationships in general.

This book dispenses some amazing and humorous moments. The relationships within the story are commendably honest. The character of Delia is spunky and adorable, and her unwavering love is admirable.

But most of the book was just too hard to read. There was a lot of sex, but it was more off putting then sexy. And sex on some level is written into almost every description in the story. This one line simile may be a contender for the worst ever written, “Her wild white hair was an aureole around her face.” I almost couldn’t get past that one. The book also excuses infidelity and dishonesty with minimal consequences for the main characters.

The story also suffers from structural issues. The plot structure jumps back and forth through time awkwardly. The way Miller executes this and through excessive foreshadowing; there are absolutely no surprises in the book. Finally the book culminates in such a mildly disturbing and strange way, it leaves the reader almost exhausted. Unless you’re a big Sue Miller fan, you might want to skip this one. ( )

Newly married Meri and older Delia become neighbors sharing a duplex. As Meri struggles with her marriage, pregnancy and new baby she turns to older, experienced Delia for help and validation. When Delia is gets word of her husband's, the former senator, serious stroke she is surprised by her own willingness to become his caregiver. His infidelity had caused them to live separate lives for many years. So both of our main characters deal with the burden of caregiving and come to vastly different terms with it. Shaky Meri finds her confidence and classy Delia runs away. Kind of chick lit, but an enjoyable read. ( )

Two women, a generation apart, living on either side of a lovely old duplex in New England - the younger one is trying to figure out her role as wife, mother, and person, while the older one has come to terms (she thinks) with her own life and marriage. Fairly predictable, with no huge insights, but a smooth and pleasant read nonetheless. ( )

I was immediately drawn to the alternating stories of Delia and Meri at various points in their lives. Miller explored love, forgiveness, sacrifice and friendship through her characters. By using alternating narratives, we learn what other characters could not and what secrets are being kept and from whom. I wasn't sure if I was willing to believe that Meri would explose herself to Tom but I could see that she was extremely insecure and vulnerable at that point. By skipping ahead 16 years, we never got to see her struggle with the pain she caused to Delia and dealing with keeping her secrets. ( )

Many people wouldn't make the choice that Delia did, but she made it work in her life. Meri is more of a problem for me - immature and self-centered. She seems uninterested in her baby during her pregnancy and even after he is born. She seems unwilling to be aware of how her actions affect other people.

I've liked other books by Sue Miller better than this one. ( )

The Summary: Two kingdoms in England are intertwine in a vicious circle. Who aids who? Where is the balance of the scales? And how can the pact be broken?

The Take Away: As in her first two titles, Brennan tells an enthralling tale. I loved how she entwined history with faerie lore, without changing the history. Lune, the outcast fae and her human consort Michale are fabulous characters drawn together by circumstances and kept together through commitment and fidelity. Both promise to serve their respective queen. One breaks the promise to aid the other but only to destroy one of the greatest evils done to England.

Brennan u yses the history and structure of the fae to tell a marvelous story without changing either side. Quite remarkable. ( )

Blair Brown is the reader for this audio. She does a great job with an mediocre story. ( )