Crucial Conversations

by May Sarton

133 Members ½ (2.45)

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"May Sarton's provocative novel is about a wife who has outgrown her husband, and after twenty-seven years of marriage decides that she has had enough. . . . [Poppy] is altogether believable." --The Atlantic To their close friend Philip, Poppy and Reed Whitelaw's marriage appears stable and happy. Their ritual Sunday tennis matches and dinners are a highlight of his week, and the Whitelaws' repartee is an object of wonder and admiration. But beneath the surface, the marriage has slowly been show more unraveling for years. An artist, Poppy feels the weight of time, calculating that she has twenty good years left for her work and little remaining tolerance for her diminishing marriage. And so, as newscasts about Vietnam and Watergate issue nightly warnings about the dangers of deceit and delusion, Poppy has decided to leave.   The separation guts Philip, who finds that his investment in the affairs of his friends outweighs his investment in his own. The relationship between the three friends had often been riven by jealousy, and the cataclysm of the Whitelaws' separation does little to lessen anxieties roiling beneath the surface. As those in the Whitelaws' orbit struggle to adjust to their new reality, a world of buried feelings rise inevitably to the fore. show less

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Author Information

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102+ Works 8,651 Members
May Sarton (1912-1995) is the author of more than fifty volumes of poetry collections, novels, and memoirs

Classifications

Genres
Fiction and Literature, General Fiction
DDC/MDS
813.5Literature & rhetoricAmerican literature in EnglishAmerican fiction in English1900-1999
LCC
PZ3 .S249Language and LiteratureFiction and juvenile belles lettresFiction and juvenile belles lettresFiction in English
BISAC

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Members
133
Popularity
245,550
Rating
½ (2.45)
Languages
English
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
7
ASINs
4