The Senator's Wife
by Sue Miller
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Book Reviews of The Senator's Wife
Book Review: Marriages, politics, betrayals, disappointments
Summary: 3 Stars
I cared enough about "While I Was Gone" to read this book, which began well enough with a lucid portrait of a young couple buying a house together in an upscale part of a university town. The contrasts between Meri and Nathan are insightfully drawn and Meri's inner emotional life is given a childhood context that caught my interest. Early on Delia, the senator's wife, meets Meri. Every gesture and nuanced speech of Delia's make her seem to be an engaging character, plausible and elegant, subtle and somewhat mysterious. Meri is immediately taken with her. Delia clearly lives alone, yet frequently references her famous husband. He comes on one of his "ceremonial visits" around the holidays and the narrative works its way up to Christmas, when famous Tom Naughton finally makes his charming entrance. Prior to that, however, we learn all about the Naughton's marriage, and private lives are wantonly made public, which seems to be a theme of this ultimately disappointing work.
Although I did feel as if I were peeking into the private worlds and marriages of these two women, I received only their perspectives. What made their husbands tick and what were these men feeling? Were they just enslaved to sex and work? Miller can't seem to create a male character here, although she labors at it.
The presentation of a stroke victim is quite real and frightening. One wonders what makes us human: memories? speech? patterns of behavior? When these are all swept away in a brief second, the ground is leveled and we are nothing but a burden. These scenes are quite effective and unsettling.
Yet, the ending to this work seems rushed and ultimately ridiculous. It leaves the reader numbed and cold and somewhat disgusted. It will be a while before I try Sue Miller again, although she certainly knows how to create characters and in a number of places, the writing is very good. 2.5 stars.
Book Review: "Life Doesn't Change in its Fundamentals"
Summary: 4 Stars
I've read enough work by Sue Miller to say with complete confidence that she's a brilliant writer, and a master at character development. The Senator's Wife is a gray tale of two couples, neighbors sharing an east coast duplex in an upscale neighborhood. In the story, Miller brings in the focus so tightly, that it feels a little voyeuristic prying into the everyday thoughts, feelings and actions of these characters. Said characters are ordinary, but at the same time fascinating because of their mundane circumstances. Given this, one may wonder how the author manages to keep the reader interested for 306 pages. Again, I attribute it to the brilliant writing.
Alternating chapters from the perspectives of Delia, a grandmother who is the "Senator's Wife," and Meri, a woman in her mid-30s who is fascinated by the quiet glamour of Delia, move the story from 1993 to present day. Meri and her husband Nathan, a college professor, move to the split house. The decision to purchase their portion of the dwelling is based on his fascination with Delia's husband, a notorious senator, now retired. The senator is mysterious and although he is rarely seen, he is very much a part of the story. Delia's excerpts explain their complicated relationship in detail. But the thrust of the story centers on Meri's fascination with Delia, hence the title, and how the relationship between the women leads to the climax.
The Senator's Wife is a fundamental look at life. It's a look at young marriage and an aged marriage lived side-by-side. It's a look at long process of raising children from birth to middle age, and at finding one's place as a caregiver. It's not action-packed or even very exciting, but for fans of Sue Miller and for those readers who appreciate strong character development, I do recommend reading this novel.
Michele Cozzens is the author of It's Not Your Mother's Bridge Club.
Book Review: Betrayal and resiliency
Summary: 4 Stars
This book is an exploration of the complexities of marriage, especially in the face of troublesome developments, that follows the lives of Meri Fowler, thirty-something radio-program writer married to Nathan, a political science professor, and Delia Naughton, seventy-something wife of ex, two-term senator Tom. Their lives become intertwined when the Fowlers purchase in a small New England college town one-half of a divided older mansion, on the other side of which Delia now lives pretty much alone.
The essential problem for Delia is that the charm and attractiveness that enabled her husband to be elected to the Senate also facilitated numerous assignations with other women, some of them becoming long-term. Delia, a remarkably resilient woman, adjusted to her husband's faithlessness by creating an independent life, while, at the same, retaining a connection to Tom - a man she could not stop loving - on her own terms.
Meri, on the other hand, new to marriage, saw in Delia an intriguing strength that she hoped to understand and gain from. With her husband devoting much time to teaching and research, Meri was a lonely girl. She often spent time in Delia's half of the house when on house-sitting duties trying to absorb some of the essence of Delia. In the midst of Meri's unsettledness, her pregnancy and the birth of her first child were almost overwhelming. Meri's ultra insensitivity to Delia's newfound life at the end can only be understood in terms of her failure to grasp all that Delia stood for and could have taught her. Apparently, some, if not most, of what we learn concerning human relations must be learned the hard way.
Plot developments are minimal; marriage and character are the author's foremost concerns. But the book moves along briskly as it draws the reader into the mindsets of Meri and Delia.
Book Review: The Senator's Wife
Summary: 2 Stars
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.
Book Review: Just Keep Reading
Summary: 5 Stars
When I was through about one quarter of the book, I thought this was another flat, shallow tale of two women who are coping with two virile men. The older woman, Delia, is the Senator's wife, and mother of three children, who has lived through her husband's heart wrenching affairs. The younger woman is Meri, a college-educated woman from an unloving background who marries a handsome, aggressive professor.
As the plot expands, Sue Miller becomes the writer I have always admired. She fleshes out these two women and places them in situations motivating them to step forward and make life-changing decisions. The women, despite their ages, blend well into the plot and the settings. There are scenes in the book that are the most vivid descriptions I have ever read. Meri's labor and delivery of her son, Asa, will affect any woman with the shock of the pain, the length of the labor and the minute by minute severity of contractions. I could feel her humiliation and exquisite pain she endured. I have read childbirth descriptions but not like this.
Delia is the dignified, perfect wife who has devoted her life to making her husband happy. She is sacrificial to the very end. She is at times a remarkable woman and at other times, a woman with little pride. As usual, Sue Miller's women are clear and whether we like them or not, we surely understand them, even Delia's daughter Nancy who is as inflexible as her mother is flexible.
Without giving away the shocking ending, be assured that you will learn what happens to these women and how they play out the rest of their lives. I'm glad I read every page.