Husband and Wife: A Novel
Written by Leah Stewart
Narrated by Gabrielle de Cuir
3.5/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
From the highly acclaimed author of The Myth of You and Me comes a new novel about a young mother who finds her identity rocked to the core when her writer-husband reveals his next novel about infidelity isn't entirely fiction. Fans of Meg Wolitzer, Ayelet Waldman, and Marisa de los Santos, as well as memoirs like Happens Every Day and Perfection, will love Leah Stewart's Husband and Wife.
Leah Stewart
Leah Stewart is the author of the novels The Myth of You and Me and Body of a Girl. A recipient of an NEA Literature Fellowship, she lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband and their two young children. She teaches creative writing at the University of Cincinnati.
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Reviews for Husband and Wife
73 ratings10 reviews
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I found the story slow and boring and the choice of narrator only emphasized the problems with the book.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is a story about an ordinary family - a couple who starts out with high idealistic hopes, and then gets stuck in the drudgery of daily life taking care of two young children.The husband is an author. The wife was a poet, but she got a regular job in order to support the family. The man wrote a book called "Infidelity" and he confesses to his wife that he has been unfaithful. Most of the book is about her shock and her reaction to this news.This book ta ...more This is a story about an ordinary family - a couple who starts out with high idealistic hopes, and then gets stuck in the drudgery of daily life taking care of two young children.The husband is an author. The wife was a poet, but she got a regular job in order to support the family. The man wrote a book called "Infidelity" and he confesses to his wife that he has been unfaithful. Most of the book is about her shock and her reaction to this news.This book talks about real love, not the "happily ever after" love, but the daily moments when sometimes you irritate each other, and other times a glance can bring back your positive feelings.I got this book from the library, and I really liked it. It is one I was willing to stay up late to read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sarah Price is a thirty-five year old wife and mother of two small children. She doesn't feel as though she's getting older, but there are some noticeable changes: a hangover after two beers, the stray gray hair, and, most of all, she's called "Mom" by two small children. Always responsible, Sarah traded her MFA Degree for a steady job, which allows her husband Nathan to write fiction. But Sarah is happy and she believes Nathan is too, until a shattering truth is revealed: Nathan's upcoming novel, Infidelity, is based in fact.Suddenly Sarah's world is totally turned upside down. Adding to her confusion, Nathan abdicates responsibility for the fate of their relationship and of his novel's publication - a financial lifesaver they have been depending upon - leaving both in Sarah's hands. Reeling from Nathan's betrayal, Sarah is constantly plagued by dark questions. How well does she really know Nathan? And, more importantly, how well does she really know herself? For answers, Sarah looks back to her artistic twenty-something self to try to understand what happened to her dreams. When did it all seem to change? Pushed from her complacent plateau, Sarah begins to act - for the first time not so responsibly - on all the things she has let go of for so long: her blank computer screen; her best friend, Helen; the unread volumes of Proust on her bookshelf. And then there is that email in her inbox: a note from Rajiv, a beautiful man from her past who once tempted her to stray. The struggle to discover which version of herself is the essential one - artist, wife, or mother - takes Sarah hundreds of miles away from her marriage on a surprising journey of self-discovery.I really enjoyed this book. It was beautifully written and the characters completely drew me in. I just had to find out what happened to them. Husband and Wife is the first book by Leah Stewart that I have read, although I will certainly be looking out for more books by this author. I give Husband and Wife by Leah Stewart an A!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I loved this book on so many levels the characters, the voice, the humor, the pathos.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I liked it but.... It was very very slow, and Sarah was a bit of a whiner.... However, that's easy to say when you're peering into a life and not actually living it.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sarah Price learns within the first few pages of Leah Stewart's "Husband and Wife" that her novelist husband has cheated on her, and in his cheating, Nathan has found inspiration for his newest novel which is about to be published. The rest of the novel deals with her reaction and the couple's attempts to deal with their new reality. Stewart's book is both smart and accessible with a main character who seems so real, reading the novel is like reading a letter from a friend. With many scholarly and artistic references, an excellent plot, and a smooth writing style, Leah Stewart's book will appeal to fans of "literary" books as well as "Chick Lit." I think she does an excellent job portraying a woman under extreme stress who still has to deal with real life and her role as a mother while trying to sort herself out. She certainly has a new fan in me, and I look forward to reading her other books.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I liked this book, but I am not sure why. The book did not grab me at first but the more I read the more I wanted to know the outcome. I felt for both the wife and the husband in this book. I was upset for Sarah and really wanted her to have a happy ending, but in the end I felt like she still was feeling like she was settling for the life she was used to. I felt for the husband, Nathan, because he came off as so pathetic and I knew he was sorry for his "infidelity" but I almost understood why he did it.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Husband and Wife was awesome, in my opinion. Not a rush out and buy me now awesome (though I do recommend you read this!), but awesome all the same. Leah Stewart was fantastic in creating this very true-to-life novel, about infidelity and finding oneself. Her writing style brings out the truth in a lot of today's societies, yet she keeps it just fictional enough that her readers are hooked for life. Sarah Price, married to a fiction writer, is all dolled up and ready to attend her best friend's wedding. Then, out of nowhere, her hubby writer drops THE bombshell. Oh yea. Imagine, all ready to go to a wedding and your hubby tells you, "honey, by the way, the FICTION novel I wrote about infidelity? Well, I wrote it based on the worst possible betrayal: I cheated on YOU." Wow. That was so not cool. So, what does Sarah do? Well, I would tell you that, but if I did, it would take away from the story and spoil the plot line for you. I will tell you that I loved the characters that Ms. Stewart created. From Sarah, to Nathan, to baby Binx. Each character was life like, and could have been a person I had met on the street. They instantly became a part of my heart as I sat there reading this crazy, often complex and serious story. I'm single, though I haven't always been. I'm divorced. For much of the same reasons in the story. My ex, well, yea, he branched out from the marriage so to speak. And, well, I am a better person than to have to submit myself and my children into that situation. So, though I am no longer married, I could relate quite often to the thoughts and the feelings of Sarah. Some of the things that she did though, I can't ever imagine doing that. But, between the characters, the plot and the author's writing skills, I definitely recommend this with a 5 star praise. But, be forewarned....it's complex, it's dramatic and often times, it's highly emotionally serious. While it IS a fast read, it's certainly NOT a light read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Marriage is complicated. Extramarital affairs just add to the complication. And the past, well that can be a complication all on its own. In Leah Stewart's novel, Husband and Wife, we find ourselves introduced to Sarah and Nathan, a married couple with two children. She brings home the bacon, while he stays home to fry it - well, he also writes books and takes care of their kids. In fact, his latest book is set to be a best seller, which should be good news. Except that this book is about infidelity (that's the title of the book) and according to Nathan its based on his own extramarital affair. He tells his wife this fact on the night of their best friends' wedding, where they are set to give a toast all about marital bliss. Stunned at this revelation, all Sarah can think of is that they have a wedding to attend. From this point on we are witness to the topsy-turvy whirl of emotions that Sarah undergoes as she struggles to understand what happened to Nathan, their marriage and her sense of self. This is a novel that explores what happens when you find out that your spouse has cheated on you. How do you react to such news? Who do you blame? Why did this happen? What are your options - separation, divorce, stay married? All of these questions run through Sarah's head as she decides to pretend it never happened, then decides to throw her husband out of the house, and finally decides to take a road trip with her kids. We are privy to all of Sarah's thoughts and actions, whether they be bad or good. We read about Sarah feeling guilty for leaving her children alone so that she can take long drives in the middle of the night. We read about Sarah kissing her husband's best friend. We read about Sarah learning that her husband's mistress will be in town the exact same weekend he suggested that she should take the kids and get away for a few days. We learn about Sarah's life as a grad student in Austin, Texas where she smoked pot and planned on becoming a poet. We learn about the fact that Nathan resents the changes Sarah has made - such as, maintaining a nine to five job instead of writing poetry, no longer reading books or discussing art house films and instead choosing Spider Man 2 as her favorite movie. We also learn about Rajiv and the fact that he has always been a little in love with Sarah and continues to keep in contact with her.In fact, being that this book is from Sarah's perspective, we learn quite a few things about Sarah's life and are able to gain a better understanding as to why this betrayal has allowed her to take a closer look at the choices she made throughout her life. Recognizing how much of herself she has sacrificed in order to provide for her family has not only affected her marital life, but also her sense of self (her identity). Once passionate about poetry, Sarah realizes that she has not written a poem in years and begins to question why exactly that is. What has prevented her from creating poems? Why has she allowed herself to stop indulging in a passion that was once a huge part of her life? Why did she choose to let Nathan continue to pursue his love of writing, whilst she gave up hers?By the end of the book, you may or may not agree with some of the choices that Sarah has made along the way, but you do understand how she got to where she is. You find yourself wondering what will happen next for this couple and their kids - will they ever be happy again? Will they allow their past mistakes to remain in the past? Will Sarah write poetry again?I don't want to reveal everything that happens in the book, because I don't want to spoil the story for you. Suffice it to say that the ending was what I expected. Overall, this is definitely a book I would recommend to anyone who enjoys reading contemporary fiction, specifically women's fiction. Its a book about betrayal and the ways in which one struggles to deal with its aftermath. The writing is solid and emotive and allows you to easily connect with Sarah. The story is filled with details from the past and present that hold your attention throughout. And the characters, whether they be peripheral or center stage, are engaging and memorable. This is a book that has left me wondering so many things about marriage and the concept of identity and self.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Imagine that you're preparing to attend a friend's wedding, the babysitter is downstairs keeping the children engaged, your husband is looking for a shoe and he decides to tell you that he had an affair a year ago while you were pregnant. So begins Husband and Wife by Leah Stewart. Sarah Price is forced to accept that her marriage is far from perfect. She also realizes that Nathan's newest book INFIDELITY has far-reaching implications now that he's admitted to his own infidelity. She has given up on her own creativity as a poet to work and support their family so Nathan could continue to write. Sarah thought she was happy but soon realizes that she has just become accepting of life changes rather than being truly happy. In an effort to regain her sense of self, she plays hooky from work, packs up the kids and travels from North Carolina to Texas by car. She stays with friends in Texas and starts a "relationship" with a college friend that seems to appreciate her for who she really is.In many ways Sarah has to learn to accept that she is providing more restraints on her life than anyone else. She can't blame Nathan or circumstances on where she is with regards to being a poet. She decided that she couldn't write poetry anymore and that she had nothing more to offer creatively. When she realizes that marriage and life is about compromise as well as growth, she realizes that creativity is ultimately in the mind of the beholder. If she wants to write poetry she can, if she doesn't then she won't. Along with this realization comes the knowledge that you can't ever go back in time. Although I condemn Nathan's extramarital activities, I found that I could only sympathize with Sarah so far. Her reaction of "you had an affair so I should be able to have one too" is very childish. I found Husband and Wife to be a decent read, offering a somewhat credible and realistic story even with the juvenile attitudes and behavior.