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Book Summary and Reviews of Monogamy by Sue Miller

Monogamy by Sue Miller

Monogamy

by Sue Miller

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  • Readers' Rating (2):
  • Published:
  • Sep 2020, 352 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

A brilliantly insightful novel, engrossing and haunting, about marriage, love, family, happiness and sorrow, from New York Times bestselling author Sue Miller.

Graham and Annie have been married for nearly thirty years. A golden couple, their seemingly effortless devotion has long been the envy of their circle of friends and acquaintances.

Graham is a bookseller, a big, gregarious man with large appetites—curious, eager to please, a lover of life, and the convivial host of frequent, lively parties at his and Annie's comfortable house in Cambridge. Annie, more reserved and introspective, is a photographer. She is about to have her first gallery show after a six-year lull and is worried that the best years of her career may be behind her. They have two adult children; Lucas, Graham's son with his first wife, Frieda, works in New York. Annie and Graham's daughter, Sarah, lives in San Francisco. Though Frieda is an integral part of this far-flung, loving family, Annie feels confident in the knowledge that she is Graham's last and greatest love.

When Graham suddenly dies—this man whose enormous presence has seemed to dominate their lives together—Annie is lost. What is the point of going on, she wonders, without him?

Then, while she is still mourning him intensely, she discovers that Graham had been unfaithful to her; and she spirals into darkness, wondering if she ever truly knew the man who loved her.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"[A] robust, character-driven examination of the inner workings of a lengthy marriage...The novel is grounded by vibrant prose, vividly portrayed secondary characters, and the resiliency of everlasting love. Miller's fans will devour this spectacular, powerful return." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Miller takes on and renews familiar themes of trust and betrayal between husbands and wives, parents and children, and does so with her signature crystalline focus and boundless empathy. The grieving process is hard enough to endure without having to question everything one ever knew about the deceased, an emotional minefield Miller traverses with grace and authenticity that are both haunting and vital." - Booklist (starred review)

"The emotional beauty of Monogamy arises from the impact of her characters' interactions on one another, and how their memories of those interactions and of other events shape, shift and reshape." - BookPage (starred review)

"Miller's skill at depicting the intricacies of marriage, parenting, and domestic life, the atmosphere of the independent bookstore, and the pleasures of flowers, wine, and food...makes this book charming and inviting in a way that is somewhat at odds with its sorrowful impetus. A thoughtful and realistic portrait of those golden people who seem to have such enviable lives." - Kirkus Reviews

"A haunting meditation on love, marriage, fidelity, betrayal, and loss...Miller's work is magnificent and moving. Consider it for your next book club." - AARP

This information about Monogamy was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Sue Miller Author Biography

Photo: Debi Milligan

Both critically acclaimed and loved by readers, Sue Miller is recognized internationally for her elegant and sharply realistic accounts of the contemporary family. Her books have been widely translated and published in 22 countries around the world. The Good Mother (1986), the first of her ten novels, was an immediate bestseller (more than six months at the top of the New York Times charts). Subsequent novels include three Book-of- the-Month main selections: Family Pictures (nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award), While I Was Gone (an Oprah's Book Club selection), and The Senator's Wife. Her latest novel is The Arsonist. Her nonfiction book, The Story of My Father, was heralded by BookPage as a "beautiful, spare memoir about her relationship with her father during his illness ...

... Full Biography
Author Interview

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