Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Scribner (2007), Edition: Media Tie-In, 214 pages
Description
Fiction. Literature. HTML: Meg Wolitzer brings her characteristic wit and intelligence to a provocative story about the evolution of a marriage, the nature of partnership, the question of a male or female sensibility, and the place for an ambitious woman in a man's world. The moment Joan Castleman decides to leave her husband, they are thirty-five thousand feet above the ocean on a flight to Helsinki. Joan's husband Joseph is one of America's preeminent novelists, about to receive a prestigious international award, and Joan, who has spent forty years subjugating her own literary talents to fan the flames of his career, has finally decided to stop. From this gripping opening, Meg Wolitzer flashes back to Smith College and Greenwich Village in the 1950s and follows the course of the marriage that has brought the couple to this breaking point�one that results in a shocking revelation. With her skillful storytelling and pitch-perfect observations, Wolitzer has crafted a wise and candid look at the choices all men and women make�in marriage, work, and life..… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member mhgatti
Meg Wolitzer’s short story work was one of the reasons that I picked up her latest novel, The Wife. I’m glad I did. The Wife is a full-length novel written in the concise style of a short story. The novel deals with the sacrifices made by the wife of a famous (and womanizing) author. Although
Wolitzer has written a book about authors and publishing over the decades without requiring a B.A. in Literature to appreciate the story. Even lighter literary novels like Lost in a Good Book suffer from obscure (at least to me) references. Rather than placing her characters in the middle of historic authors, Wolitzer creates an entirely fictional circle of writer friends for the author and his wife.
The Wife is a very believable, funny, and well written novel with a great surprise revelation at the end. I finished this book thinking about the characters lives after the story had ended, just like I do after reading a good short story.
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the novel takes place over the fifty years of their marriage, the book moved quickly and smoothly. It never felt bogged down and I never found myself checking how much more I had to go. That’s saying something when you’re on your fifty-first book of the year.Wolitzer has written a book about authors and publishing over the decades without requiring a B.A. in Literature to appreciate the story. Even lighter literary novels like Lost in a Good Book suffer from obscure (at least to me) references. Rather than placing her characters in the middle of historic authors, Wolitzer creates an entirely fictional circle of writer friends for the author and his wife.
The Wife is a very believable, funny, and well written novel with a great surprise revelation at the end. I finished this book thinking about the characters lives after the story had ended, just like I do after reading a good short story.
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LibraryThing member pdebolt
The Wife is a sad chronicle of a woman's life from her early college years to the end of her marriage. Her insecurities and doubts allowed her to feed the enormous appetite of a narcissistic, self-absorbed man. She chose to subjugate her talents, her self respect and her instincts as a mother to a
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man whose selfish egotism knew no bounds. He was despicable and she enabled him. The ending is a fitting tribute to their fifty-year marriage. Show Less
LibraryThing member Clara53
From page one, I thought she was a solid writer: the book was full of clever metaphors, and although a few of them were very off-putting (she really didn't need that to attract attention to her work, not at all, I thought...), I decided to glide over them, because the plot was excellent and so
"I am now 64 years old and mostly as invisible to men as a swirl of dust mites", the protagonist/narrator says at the start. And she proceeds to tell this unusual tale, which of course, does have ubiquitous components of the period (like men "owning the world" in the 1950s - not just in the writers' milieu, but mostly everywhere), but her particular case, in the midst of it, shifts and changes and culminates in an incredible denouement. If you didn't see the movie beforehand, she really keeps it up until the very end to disclose the shocking truth. But even then she faces a dilemma...
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vividly and poignantly presented. The movie "The Wife" (2017), starring Glenn Close, was also very good, but as in most cases, the book told more."I am now 64 years old and mostly as invisible to men as a swirl of dust mites", the protagonist/narrator says at the start. And she proceeds to tell this unusual tale, which of course, does have ubiquitous components of the period (like men "owning the world" in the 1950s - not just in the writers' milieu, but mostly everywhere), but her particular case, in the midst of it, shifts and changes and culminates in an incredible denouement. If you didn't see the movie beforehand, she really keeps it up until the very end to disclose the shocking truth. But even then she faces a dilemma...
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LibraryThing member rfewell
Wow, if you were an English major and had to read John Irving, John Updike, et al you will love this perspective from the author's wife. She is such a believable character in a time period caught between women's lib, and her responsibilities as the wife of a larger than life man.
LibraryThing member pbigelowslc
I liked nothing about it. The story was predictable: the supposed “twist of an ending” was visible from the beginning. The first-person narrator was a weak, unconvincing, sad sack of an individual who had almost nothing of interest to say, married to a vain, cheating, soft-bellied failure of a
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husband. The book was filled with cutesy phrases and a lot of overreaching for that “bon mot,” which became irritating to me. I felt the author was trying too hard to be clever. There was nothing satisfying, or worth the time, in this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member GaylDasherSmith
One of the truest views of marriage in America in the latter twentieth century I've seen in a long time.
LibraryThing member bfolds
I found this a very moving and thought provoking study of a marriage. Finely wrought characters brought to life in a beautifully crafted sense of time and place. I'd highly recommend this to many women friends, though I'm not sure how men would respond to some of the author's blunt (and broad)
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assessments of the male psyche. I'd be interested in thoughts from others about this. Show Less
LibraryThing member RobinDawson
I enjoyed this very much – it’s short and light, yet witty and sharp. Wolitzer has a sharp eye for contemporary life and relationships. In particular she explores the issues facing an urban educated wife in midlife in the post feminism decades. The wife of the story, Joan Castleman, has given
The Wife reminded me of some Anne Tyler novels – they cover similar issues but from quite a different perspective.
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up far too much to assist and support her husband’s career and finally screams ‘enough’! The Wife reminded me of some Anne Tyler novels – they cover similar issues but from quite a different perspective.
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LibraryThing member techeditor
THE WIFE, for the most part, is a diatribe on the unfairness of it all, of being married to a selfish man and of the uselessness of a woman’s trying to make it in a man’s world.
Joan and Joe meet when she is a student at Smith College and he is her professor. They have an affair, and Joe leaves
Joe has never wanted anything more than to be a writer. But, so far, he has published only a short story in a small periodical. After he marries Joan, though, his career picks up. (It was at this point that I predicted the “surprise.”) Joe becomes a successful and highly praised author. As a matter of fact, when THE WIFE opens, he and Joan are flying to Finland so he can receive a prestigious international award.
It is during this trip that Joan remembers their marriage in a series of flashbacks, and she reflects on the unfairness of it all. Yet she never seemed to want fairness until now, when she has finally had it with Joe getting all the praise.
When the “surprise” is revealed in one of Joan’s flashbacks, I wasn’t surprised.
Joan and Joe meet when she is a student at Smith College and he is her professor. They have an affair, and Joe leaves
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his wife and infant daughter for Joan. No surprise, he continues to have affairs throughout their marriage, although he never leaves her. Joe has never wanted anything more than to be a writer. But, so far, he has published only a short story in a small periodical. After he marries Joan, though, his career picks up. (It was at this point that I predicted the “surprise.”) Joe becomes a successful and highly praised author. As a matter of fact, when THE WIFE opens, he and Joan are flying to Finland so he can receive a prestigious international award.
It is during this trip that Joan remembers their marriage in a series of flashbacks, and she reflects on the unfairness of it all. Yet she never seemed to want fairness until now, when she has finally had it with Joe getting all the praise.
When the “surprise” is revealed in one of Joan’s flashbacks, I wasn’t surprised.
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LibraryThing member oldblack
What a great book.! Hilariously funny at times, deadly serious at others, with an underlying theme which must be personally important to the author (recognition of female writers). An excellent depiction of a relationship and its history, and as a bonus it has a fascinating plot which keeps yyou
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reading for its own sake. Show Less
LibraryThing member Cariola
Well, this one was just not my cup of tea. Let me start by saying that I really liked the writing: Wolitzer has a way with words that is fresh and funny. But I thought the plot was predictable and the main characters clichés--as well as highly unlikeable. I don't have to love a character to enjoy
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a book, but there has to be some redeeming quality, something I can identify with, at least something intriguing. Joan and Joseph didn't have it. Womanizing novelist-professor who is insecure at heart: been there, done that. Woman who, having lured said novelist (her professor) away from his wife and daughter, finds that he is a philanderer: well, how stale can you get? So Joan puts up with this for forty years, partly because of the kids, partly because of what people would think if she left, partly because of her own insecurities. Ho hum. Yes, as others have said, this is sadly a typical portrait of many marriages that began in the 1950s/1960s, when women were expected to subsume their own identities into their husbands' and to be content as caretakers and housekeepers. But that's not enough to rank it as a good book, in my opinion, especially considering the paucity of plot. Show Less
LibraryThing member Lacy.Simons
i'm really, really loving this book...especially the smart things she has to say about the boys' club in contemporary american literature. very funny, very wry, but not at the expense of actual emotion.
LibraryThing member daniellnic
“The moment I decided to leave him, the moment I thought enough, we were thirty-five thousand feet above the ocean hurtling forward but giving the illusion of stillness and tranquility.”
Joan Castleman is on an airplane accompanying her husband, writer Joseph Castleman, to Helsinki, Finland
I can not even put into words how much I loved this book. The characters were complex and well-drawn, the story was interesting and well-plotted, and the pacing was amazing. And there is a secret, and though that secret (I think) is easily guessed, the unfolding of that secret is a beautiful thing indeed, and is the crux of the novel; how Wolitzer carefully folds, twists and gradually enlarges what we already suspect but are reluctant to say for certain. It was so stunningly well done.
Joan Castleman is so thoughtfully observant and funny in a wry way that I laughed out loud at her commentary, and I felt such an empathy with her ash she looked back on her life and struggled to find and step into herself not that she is well into her middle age and has raised three grown children. Joan’s reflections on herself and on her husband, who is one of those men “who had no idea of how to take care of himself or anyone else, and derived much of his style from The Dylan Thomas Handbook of Personal Hygiene and Etiquette.”, are so funny, and doubly so because they are accurate reflections on life and the types of people we have either heard of or met ourselves.
I loved this book as a character study of a wife finally looking to take back the power that she has been afraid to possess, as a character study marriage and how it grew and changes from the ‘60’s to the present day, as an inside , and because it was a thought provoking and humorous read. I highly recommend it.
Joan Castleman is on an airplane accompanying her husband, writer Joseph Castleman, to Helsinki, Finland
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where he is being honored with the Helsinki Prize in Literature, one step down from the Nobel Prize for Literature, which he knows that he will not get. Over the next four days, Joan revisits their courtship and the details of her marriage while waiting for the moment when she will end it all with her husband.I can not even put into words how much I loved this book. The characters were complex and well-drawn, the story was interesting and well-plotted, and the pacing was amazing. And there is a secret, and though that secret (I think) is easily guessed, the unfolding of that secret is a beautiful thing indeed, and is the crux of the novel; how Wolitzer carefully folds, twists and gradually enlarges what we already suspect but are reluctant to say for certain. It was so stunningly well done.
Joan Castleman is so thoughtfully observant and funny in a wry way that I laughed out loud at her commentary, and I felt such an empathy with her ash she looked back on her life and struggled to find and step into herself not that she is well into her middle age and has raised three grown children. Joan’s reflections on herself and on her husband, who is one of those men “who had no idea of how to take care of himself or anyone else, and derived much of his style from The Dylan Thomas Handbook of Personal Hygiene and Etiquette.”, are so funny, and doubly so because they are accurate reflections on life and the types of people we have either heard of or met ourselves.
I loved this book as a character study of a wife finally looking to take back the power that she has been afraid to possess, as a character study marriage and how it grew and changes from the ‘60’s to the present day, as an inside , and because it was a thought provoking and humorous read. I highly recommend it.
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LibraryThing member Caitdub
The opening page had me. This was my first Wolitzer, but definitely not my last. She has a similar style to Lorrie Moore, whom I admire. Wolitzer focuses in on the little things in such a poignant way. I wish I could have read this one in a class. Lots to be hashed out and discussed.
LibraryThing member christinedux
The wife of an eminent novelist, who has spent 40 years subjugating her own literary talents to fan the flames of his career, has finally decided to stop.
LibraryThing member celerydog
Only read because of book club - did not enjoy this predictable, cliched twaddle
LibraryThing member ElizabethsBooks
There’s no way around the fact that The Wife: A Novel is one of the most depressing books I’ve read. And if you’re familiar with my reading list, that’s no small feat.
I still loved it.
What makes The Wife: A Novel so impressive is that Meg Wolitzer doesn’t rely on any traditional plot
No, what makes The Wife so depressing, at least to me, is what Wolitzer is saying about writing, women and marriage. The story begins with Joan Castleman on a flight to Helsinki, where her husband, fabled novelist Joseph Castleman, is about to receive a major literary prize. Joan has decided to leave Joe, and her reasons why are fleshed out in flashbacks by telling the story of how they met, their careers and their children.
Is there a job more enjoyable than writing? Not to me. But writing, at least for the novelist, is not for anyone without thick skin and an unshakable belief in one’s ability. When Joan meets Joe, she herself has dreams of writing. However, coming of age at Smith in the late 1950s and then working at a publishing house, she is quick to learn how male-dominated the world of writing is. The boom of so-called “chick-lit,” and the huge popularity of authors of Jodi Picoult make one think it’s a different landscape 50 years later. But I’m not convinced. Jennifer Egan’s Pulitzer aside, I can think of many female writers – Wolitzer, Lionel Shriver, Jennifer Haigh, Hillary Mantel – who I would like to see get the popular recognition of Nick Hornsby or David Nicolls.
There are few characters that have resonated with me like Joan. But for those who aren’t super interested in the writing life, you should still read this book because of Wolitzer’s exploration of the Castleman’s marriage. “Everyone knows how women soldier on, how women dream up blueprints, recipes, ideas for a better world, and then sometimes lose them on the way to the crib in the middle of the night, on the way to the Stop & Shop, or the bath. They lose them on the way to greasing the path on which their husband and children will ride serenely through life. … Everyone needs a wife, even wives need wives,” Wolitzer writes. Joseph is a philanderer and terribly disrespectful to his wife, but Wolitzer doesn’t make him a caricature, just someone who wants life to work out the way he wants it.
This is a story that won't be everyone's cup of tea - it's not what I would recommend for a light summer beach read. But since The Wife: A Novel came out almost 10 years ago, it’s easy to find in paperback or perhaps in your local used bookstore. For those who have enjoyed WOlitzer in the past, or are just discovering her, it’s definitely worth an investment of your time.
I still loved it.
What makes The Wife: A Novel so impressive is that Meg Wolitzer doesn’t rely on any traditional plot
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points or twists to make her work throb with gravitas. There’s no sex scandal, no terminal illness, no legal battle and while death pays a visit, it’s almost irrelevant.No, what makes The Wife so depressing, at least to me, is what Wolitzer is saying about writing, women and marriage. The story begins with Joan Castleman on a flight to Helsinki, where her husband, fabled novelist Joseph Castleman, is about to receive a major literary prize. Joan has decided to leave Joe, and her reasons why are fleshed out in flashbacks by telling the story of how they met, their careers and their children.
Is there a job more enjoyable than writing? Not to me. But writing, at least for the novelist, is not for anyone without thick skin and an unshakable belief in one’s ability. When Joan meets Joe, she herself has dreams of writing. However, coming of age at Smith in the late 1950s and then working at a publishing house, she is quick to learn how male-dominated the world of writing is. The boom of so-called “chick-lit,” and the huge popularity of authors of Jodi Picoult make one think it’s a different landscape 50 years later. But I’m not convinced. Jennifer Egan’s Pulitzer aside, I can think of many female writers – Wolitzer, Lionel Shriver, Jennifer Haigh, Hillary Mantel – who I would like to see get the popular recognition of Nick Hornsby or David Nicolls.
There are few characters that have resonated with me like Joan. But for those who aren’t super interested in the writing life, you should still read this book because of Wolitzer’s exploration of the Castleman’s marriage. “Everyone knows how women soldier on, how women dream up blueprints, recipes, ideas for a better world, and then sometimes lose them on the way to the crib in the middle of the night, on the way to the Stop & Shop, or the bath. They lose them on the way to greasing the path on which their husband and children will ride serenely through life. … Everyone needs a wife, even wives need wives,” Wolitzer writes. Joseph is a philanderer and terribly disrespectful to his wife, but Wolitzer doesn’t make him a caricature, just someone who wants life to work out the way he wants it.
This is a story that won't be everyone's cup of tea - it's not what I would recommend for a light summer beach read. But since The Wife: A Novel came out almost 10 years ago, it’s easy to find in paperback or perhaps in your local used bookstore. For those who have enjoyed WOlitzer in the past, or are just discovering her, it’s definitely worth an investment of your time.
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LibraryThing member amandanan
Love her writing style. Figured out the twist pretty early on.
LibraryThing member KatherineGregg
The narrator, Joan Castleman, has been married to successful author Joseph Castleman for over forty years. At this point in time they are traveling to Finland where Joseph will except the prestigious Helsinki prize for writing. Joan has decided to divorce her husband and flashes back through
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episodes of their shared life. They met in the 1950s at Smith College where Joan was a student and Joseph a professor. When his wife at the time discovers that he is having an affair with a student, Joan and Joseph leave campus and head to New York. Over the years they raise three children, Joan diligently working behind the scenes to help make Joseph a success. Show Less
LibraryThing member JReynolds1959
Joseph Castleman is a well-known novelist married to Joan Castleman. Joan has been with her husband since leaving college for the love of her professor. He is a literature professor and has told her that she has a lot of talent.
They get together, which undoes Joe's marriage to his wife. They also
Joan goes through her life being Joe's right hand. She watches as he writes, wins awards, gets full of himself, etc.
You will be drawn right in with the first sentence of the book.
They get together, which undoes Joe's marriage to his wife. They also
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have a small daughter. Joan goes through her life being Joe's right hand. She watches as he writes, wins awards, gets full of himself, etc.
You will be drawn right in with the first sentence of the book.
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LibraryThing member rmarcin
Thank goodness this book was short because I found it tedious. It is about a wife, married to a novelist, who decides to divorce him after about 40 years together. He is a cheat and overbearing, and the wife has finally had enough.
I couldn’t wait for this novel to be over. I wasn’t surprised
I couldn’t wait for this novel to be over. I wasn’t surprised
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about the reveal at the end. Show Less
LibraryThing member cjordan916
left me depressed
LibraryThing member rglossne
Joe Handleman is on his way to receive the prestigious Helsinki Prize. His wife Joan is accompanying him, and planning to leave him. Joan was his student at Smith when they began their affair which resulted in the end of his marriage and her leaving school. Their long marriage is explored in this
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compulsively readable novel. What sacrifices has Joan made to have the life she thought she wanted? Who is Joe without Joan? Funny and witty and highly recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member JGoto
I always find it difficult to enjoy a book when all of the characters are so unlikeable. Joe seemed to have no redeeming qualities and Joan, who sacrificed everything for him, seemed silly to do so. If the author had shown us some endearing qualities that Joe may have had, it would have made Joan
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seem less iritating, as well. Show Less
LibraryThing member fromthecomfychair
The story of a woman who makes her writer husband a success at the expense of her own talent. Meg Wolitzer's depiction of a 1950s Smith College girl who falls for her writing professor and ends up spending the next forty years supporting him while he rises to the heights of literary acclaim. She
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tolerates his infidelity and celebrates his successes until one day, at the age of 64, she decides she's done. And then comes the plot twist. My third Wolitzer novel. Might be a good one for the book club. Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original publication date
2003