A Loving Wife

by Violet Weingarten

The qualities of sympathy and affection - and quiet acerbity - that made readers respond with joy to the appearance, in 1968, of 'Mrs Beneker', are joined with a new depth of feeling in this moving portrayal of Molly Gilbert, the loving wife of Violet Weingarten's new novel.

Molly (the wife) disconcerted because her husband keeps telling her to do just what she wants to do; Molly (the mother) embarrassed about putting her college son in the same bedroom with his girl; Molly (the social worker) coping coolly with boards of directors and warmly with her charges; Molly (the monogamous) alarmed at finding herself attracted by a man who is not her husband; Molly (the mistress) hesitating outside hotel rooms - and abandoning herself once inside them; Molly (the 'liberated') filled with remorse and shame; Molly (the desperate) cutting loose from unbearable complications, flying alone to Rome to sort out her life.

Here, portrayed with a wonderfully civilized grace, is the nice woman nearing middle age, the wife who has felt herself happily married and who is suddenly seized with discontent. Her story is familiar = but the woman is so freshly seen that in 'A Loving Wife' the pleasures of recognition are seasoned with the pleasures of surprise.

Genres: Fiction

251 pages

First published January 1, 1969