The Ninth Wife

A sad fact about today's society is that a majority of all people who marry at least once will also get divorced. One or two divorces is considered normal. Three or four is slightly amusing. Anything over that, and you head into the Hollywood marriage rate, which is only acceptable if you are fabulously wealthy or notorious. So, what is a girl to do when she finds out that her boyfriend has been married eight times? While the answer is seemingly simple, Amy Stolls' The Ninth Wife explores the complications behind this question and the vagaries of love.

The story switches back and forth between Rory and Bess. From Rory, the reader gets a first-hand understanding of why he chose to marry eight different women while getting a hint at how show more Bess just might be different. Bess' point of view mirrors the reader's own, as she struggles to fathom how someone could ever get married that often and still want to attempt another marriage and reconciling the feeling of disbelief with her growing feelings of love and commitment to someone who obviously is not commitment-phobic. This duality, while often adding a comedic bent to the story, presents a very clear picture of the different types of love that exist, how each one is legitimate and fills a need in people. While a delightfully light-hearted story on its own, the reasons for all eight wives are all serious and reasonable, which themselves insert a more studious tone to the novel. This seriousness in no way detracts from the novel but rather instills a measure of realism to the proceedings.

In Bess, Ms. Stolls has created a character with whom many a reader will be able to identify. Suffering from self-esteem issues, loneliness, societal expectations, and an aging family, her experiences will be all too familiar for readers of a certain age. Yet, readers of any age can relate to her feelings of inadequacy and desire for a meaningful relationship. The fact that Bess is so adorably likable is a testament to Ms. Stolls' ability to create a character that is sympathetic, not too depressing, and engaging. Conversely, Rory is just plain charming. Between the two, the tension and laughs, romantic and otherwise, flow freely.

For those who like this sort of thing, there is a lesson to be learned about relationships; however, those readers who just prefer to sink into a great novel without bothering with any life lessons, The Ninth Wife definitely fits the bill. Ms. Stolls has created a cast of characters that is as humorous, fun, and realistic as one would want while adding an element of poignancy and sensitivity to the overall story. Life is not all fun and games, and Ms. Stolls maintains a balance between the whimsical and the realistic. The Ninth Wife is simply a delightful story about the power of relationships and love.

Thank you to NetGalley for my e-galley! show less

When Bess finally finds that special someone who wants to share his life with her, Rory has just one small surprise- he has been married 8 times before! As she tried to work through her feelings about his past and theor future, she embarks on a cross country road trip from DC to take her grandparents to their new home in AZ, stopping along the way to meet as many of Rory's former wives as she can find.

From the description and flap copy, I expected a standard chick-lit book, full of humor and froth. What I got instead was a well-crafted family drama that explores love in all its different incarnations. The backstories here are poignant and complicated, giving the book a depth that I did not expect. Bess and Rory are great characters, as show more are Bess' friends and grandparents (who sounds quirky in the flap copy but are actually quite tragic in their way). I found it hard to put this excellent novel down and highly recommend it. show less

"Pick a partner and get a tombstone," is the opening sentence of this delightful quest novel. Bess (age 35, never married) meets Rory (age 45, married eight times), they fall in love, and Rory proposes. In alternating chapters, we learn about Bess's family (bickering grandparents) and friends, and Rory's previous marriages. All the characters are well-drawn, most of them are sympathtic, yet real. The second half of the novel recounts Bess's journey across country to sort out her feelings for Rory, to meet some of his ex-wives, to deliver her grandparents to a life-care community in Arizona, and to make some startling discoveries about her own heritage. Handling Sin by Michael Malone is my all-time favorite read. The Ninth Wife has much show more in common with Malone's book.

I smiled, laughed, wept (a little), and found much to ponder. An example: "...the basic personal ad of the human race--troubled, needy person seeks love and salvation."

Because there's more to this tale than "what happens," I did not find the almost 500 pages at all tedious or wordy. I love Amy Stolls's writing style as much as the story itself. Highly recommended. show less

This book is so much more than its intriguing (and unsettling) premise. Would anyone want to marry a man who had previously been married 8 times? By the end of this lengthy novel, I was deeply immersed in the lives of Bess and Rory, and the merging of the past with the present. Amy Stollls writes very well, and manages to imbue her very likeable characters with understandable emotions. There is a surprising poignancy and depth to this novel that develops as the plot unfolds. I will definitely read future novels by this gifted writer.

The ultimate serial monogamist!

What would you do if you learned the man you wanted to spend the rest of your life with had been previously married eight (!) times? Thankfully, that’s a question very few of us will ever have to ask ourselves. However, it is at the heart of Amy Stolls’ adult fiction debut, The Ninth Wife.

Bess Gray is successful, attractive, independent—and still single at 35. It’s not the life she thought she’d be leading. That sounds like the opening of a chick-lit novel, and while this rumination on the nature of marriage and the permanence of relationships does have some heightened, chick-lit-like elements, there’s actually quite a bit going on in this unusual novel. It’s the story of Bess and Rory—at show more long last, a man with whom she can see a future.

For the first 16 chapters, Part I of the novel, every other chapter is narrated by Bess or Rory respectively. Bess’s narrative details their meeting and courtship, leading up to his surprise marriage proposal and dropped bombshell. Rory’s narrative is essentially a monologue. Each of the eight alternating chapters is a marriage told in his own words. The reader is hearing Rory’s colorful matrimonial history as the two lovers inexorably head towards this difficult conversation. At one point speaking of a drunken, one-night mistake, Rory says:

“I don’t know what I’m trying to say. I guess I just get angry that people can have lots of relationships that no one would blink an eye at, but because mine have formal labels they get listed against me somehow, and they get lumped together as if they’re all equal, but they’re not. I’ve been married eight times, this is true, but Fawn shouldn’t count. She just shouldn’t. It was an evening that got out of hand. No casualties…”

Part II of the novel is the aftermath. Bess is understandably confused and concerned. Needing a little space to explore her feelings, Bess embarks on a cross-country road-trip, nicely set up in Part I, to drive her elderly grandparents to their new retirement home. In addition to an opportunity to learn more about her roots and observe the good, the bad, and the ugly of a 65-year marriage, it turns into an odyssey to connect with Rory’s various exes.

I really liked the structure of this novel, and there was a great deal to enjoy in the course of the story-telling. For starters, it’s not your everyday conundrum. I don’t believe this was ever tackled on an episode of Sex and the City. Bess and Rory (“the octo-husband”) are likeable, relatable characters. The plotting was a little unconventional, frequently surprising me. It was refreshing, as I wasn’t always sure where things were going.

My biggest problem with The Ninth Wife is that in the end it was neither fish nor fowl. What I mean by that is that Stolls’ kept adding wacky elements to an interesting adult dramedy. There was Gaia, the possibly clairvoyant earth mother, and Cricket the flamboyant gay neighbor—a last minute addition to the road-trip. I didn’t dislike their storylines, really, but I didn’t feel they added anything to the novel. They detracted (or perhaps distracted) a bit. I’m all in favor of a little comic relief, but I just felt like maybe they were in a different novel altogether.

This was my introduction to Ms. Stolls’ work. Despite the criticisms above, I found The Ninth Wife a surprisingly quick (at 496 pages) and engaging novel. Not being married, it gave me plenty of food for thought. And above all, it was simply entertaining. That’s enough for a thumbs up from me. show less

Rory has had 8 previous marriages by the time he asks Bess for her hand. How did this happen? Is Bess willing to take a chance at happiness and become his 9th? In alternating chapters, their stories are told, including Bess' road trip, along which she meets up with some of those who went before.
Stolls turns a delightful phrase so often I was literally laughing aloud on several occasions. The writing is crisp and evocative as well. Bess is a very genuine character, her faults elucidated almost as much as her triumphs. The reader can't help but sympathize with her situation. Rory, I don't feel I know as well, but I think that's part of the point. How well can we ever really know a person? Revelations about the lives of Bess' grandparents show more and her friend Cricket also seem to highlight that theme.
I would very much recommend this book to any fan of the genre. show less

For the most part, I just felt this book had far too much going on. I was expecting a big story. Eight ex-wives is a big back-story. But it didn't stop there. We also got hit with a big tale of an illegitimate baby from the past and spouse abuse and seriously, all of this character building which could have been made into books in their own right. The story of The Ninth Wife, on its own, would have been enough. But this book had hundreds of pages that really weren't needed to tell that story.

I didn't think the writing was bad, I just thought the book had too much happening.