Marriage Bed

The Voices of Eve #3

by Constance Beresford-Howe

Meet Anne Graham, mother of three-year-old Martha and one-year-old Hugh, young, attractive, heavily pregnant -- and alone.

Things have not worked out at all the way Anne intended. Her teenage plans of marrying a rich Older Man who would put her through university when Max, the first suitable candidate to come along, married Anne's mother, Billie, instead. Then her promising academic career was cut short when her first real romance led to an unexpected pregnancy and an early marriage. Finally, and much more recently, her stable home life crumbled with her husband's announcement that he was leaving her to move into a commune with his secretary.

Now she is a housebound single mother of two and three-quarter children, whose intellectual life has shrunk to stolen moments of bedtime reading.

It's not that her life is dull. There are dishes to wash and floor to vacuum, and for variety there are trips to the vet with her neurotic, eczema-ridden dog and unexpected visits from her sweetly disapproving mother-in-law. However, it's not at all what Anne Graham had in mind when she was planning her academic future.

The solution to her problem is clear to her friends and neighbours. She must find someone to mind the children and then go back to school or get a job. Or is it?

Once again, Constance Beresford-Hower has approached a common theme from an uncommon point of view, with her own blend of perceptiveness and ironic humour. The result is a book that is gritty, entertaining, and, ultimately, optimistic -- just like its heroine.

Genres: Fiction, Canada

232 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Constance Beresford-Howe was born in Montreal. She received her M.A. from McGill University in 1946 and her Ph.D. from Brown University in 1950. She taught English literature and creative writing at McGill until 1969, then moved to Toronto, Ontario where she taught at Ryerson until her retirement in 1988. Her first novel, The Unreasoning Heart, was published while she was still a student.

Ms Beresford-Howe died in a hospice in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk England, on Jan. 20, 2016 at the age of 93.

Reviews

[Julie G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things are not easy for the sisterhood.

I can't even believe my good fortune, that I found an excellent copy of Constance Beresford-Howe's out-of-print novel, The Marriage Bed, for five dollars at ThriftBooks and spent the last week of my life time-traveling back to my favorite decade, the 1970s.

It's unbelievable to me that this author has fallen into a near-obscurity. What a cruel trick, to allow any of her work to sail off into a no man's land.

My library system here, which is quite sophisticated, offers ZILCH, NADA by this author, and I can only hope that her homeland of Canada has greater offerings.

Ms. Beresford-Howe lived in Canada, the United States and England, at different stages of her life, and she died as recently as 2016 at the age of 93.



She is best known for the three books that comprised what went on to become her “Voices of Eve” trilogy. I've now read two out of three of them, and, as far as I can tell, they are connected thematically, not chronologically.

This, the last of the three offerings, was published in 1981, and I found it an unbelievably accurate, organic story of life in the late 1970s for a young college student whose post-graduate dreams are placed on hold when she discovers she's pregnant.

It's a novel rich in some familiar themes: human rights, gender roles, abandonment.

I found myself completely comfortable within its pages, and I can liken it, stylistically, with two beloved British writers: Penelope Lively and Elizabeth Taylor.

I find it surprising that one of the aspects I enjoy the most about this author's work is that I RARELY like the characters, yet I am still completely invested in the story. (I suspect the author liked her characters just fine; they're not intentionally unlikable, just human).

I'm enjoying this new gift of mine, of having the ability to be a fascinated observer of characters who don't need to be like me, or to charm me. They only need to be well-written to capture my interest, and I'm right there where they need me to be, holding up the pages so that they may stand upright.

[❀ Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that I have read three books by CBH, I want to read them all. I have enjoyed the complex, quirky characters, the strong feminism, the changing times and the storylines. The Marriage Bed is told in a number of days, as Anne deals with the fact that her husband has left her, pregnant and with two toddlers. Anne's life has always been a challenge - her father had died, her mother was not exactly a traditional mother, she had moved around a lot in her youth and her education plans were halted by pregnancy.

Anne is a loveable character, doing her best, struggling with her mundane life as she reflects on her past and is unsure about her future. Like the other 2 books, Anne is educated and strong. She makes her own decisions and has so much potential, even as she cleans up a "turd" from beneath the dining table and folds the mounds of laundry.

This is a book to enjoy, to ponder and to reflect on. we all have the day-to- day tasks and commitments but need to find that balance between family, independence, love, frustration, work and home. this book feels real and I am not sure why this author was not more well-known.

[Rahul Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have wanted to read Beresford-Howe since I got wind of her last year. But there was scarcely any novel of hers available to buy here. I had to read this in an e-book format and it comes as no surprise why I cannot read e-books. It took me forever to read this book. I have a feeling 20 days or so. But what a beautiful book! We follow Anne who is deserted by her husband because she could not stop wanting to have kids. She was destined to be a scholar but motherhood seems to have cast a moral hold on her. Anne has two kids, a third one coming and cat named Mao with whom she waltz about the Canadian winter town. Across three days, we see Anne and watch the helplessness that untethers her. I enjoyed reading this book. Berseford-Howe writes well and wonderfully. I could see her turn into a writer I'd reach out often. Of course, the novel was also equally problematic at many levels. The race angle was terrible. The way to write and discuss peculiarities of characters who were not white was shoddy and would not be published if she were writing today. Nonetheless, I look forward to reading more of hers with the anticipation that this problem doesn't continue.

[Rachel Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I laughed out loud several times.

[Lucas]

Like Adele Wiseman, a thoughtful and empathetic writer who appears to catch a snapshot of society; who can speak to the cultural zeitgeist of a time and place, though unappreciated. The book of Eve and this novel were read in almost one sitting, she has a distinct voice that isn't trying to symbolically speak in a cryptic crossword to you, but the emotions and efforts describe are an appeal to empathy with the happenstance of human conditions. I think.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well done. Just too close to real life for me... parenting is hard.

[Kelley Jane Plane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author is a national treasure! Thoroughly enjoying her novels. As amazing and talented as Margaret Atwood.

[Alexia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trying to figure out what point the author was trying to make

[Kelly Osmond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed her writing overall but just felt something was missing. And then boom, the end was there. It's more of a 3.5-4, worth a read.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this book, but the ending was just disappointing.