Up the Creek Book Club
Home Page |
|
Current Book List |
|
Prior Book Lists |
|
King County Library |
|
Barnes & Noble |
|
Amazon.com |
|
© 2000 Kathy Craig |
A Happy Marriage
by Rafele Yglesias
March 2010
Synopsis
"A Happy Marriage is both intimate and expansive: It is the story of Enrique Sabas and his wife, Margaret, a novel that alternates between the romantic misadventures of the first weeks of their courtship and the final months of Margaret's life as she says good-bye to her family, friends, and children — and to Enrique. Spanning thirty years, this achingly honest story is about what it means for two people to spend a lifetime together — and what makes a happy marriage. "
"Yglesias's career as a novelist began in 1970 when he wrote an autobiographical novel at sixteen, hailed by critics for its stunning and revelatory depiction of adolescence. A Happy Marriage, his first work of fiction in thirteen years, was inspired by his relationship with his wife, Margaret, who died in 2004. Bold, elegiac, and emotionally suspenseful, even though we know what happens, Yglesias's beautiful novel will break every reader's heart — while encouraging all of us with its clear-eyed evocation of the enduring value of marriage."
(Publisher)
Reviews
- "Rafael Yglesias has transformed the story of his life and that of his wife, Margaret Joskow, who died in 2004, into a profound deliberation on the nature of love, marriage and the process of dying." (The New York Times)
- "Enrique and Margaret Sabas have been married for 30 years. Now, Margaret is under hospice care in the final stages of cancer and asks Enrique to control access to her during her final days so that she can say good-bye to a select few on her own terms. Enrique does so, patiently waiting for his own turn. As he waits, he remembers their life together, from their first conversation forward. Yglesias alternates between past and present, contrasting the budding and then mature relationship to the sad reality of its end. This heartbreaking story is told from personal experience, adding to the deep and vivid depiction of events. Yglesias, the author of eight other novels (e.g., Fearless) and several screenplays, provides a moving and emotional picture of how a successful marriage comes to be-and ends. "(Joanna M. Burkhardt - Library Journal)
Book Club Rating and Comments
<
If you or your book club has read this book and would like to share your comments, please email us at upthecreekbc@yahoo.com.
Other Books by Rafael Yglesias
- 'Dr. Neruda's Cure for Evil'
- 'Fearless'