Thisbe says to Lily, "Everyone who knew us says Leo and I were great together. There' no love like the love that’s been erased" Do you think Thisbe and Leo would have worked things out if he had come home from Iraq?

I think Thisbe was the most together and level-headed of the bunch. It is likely that she would have reconsidered the separation and talked it through with Leo. Their frequent separations - and all at Leo's desire - would have been a prime topic of the discussion. I think their son would have been a prime consideration. Eventually they would worked things out and made a success of their marriage.

No, not necessarily. It is hard to raise a child alone and it is hard to play second fiddle to someone's career as Thisbe did.

Not necessarily. Thisbe was in effect a single Mom before Leo's death. They would have been able to discuss whether to stay together if he'd come back, but the discussions might not have led to a decision to stay together, even for the sake of their son.

I think that they would have discussed it -- but I don't think that Leo would have been willing to give up his career and I don't think that Thisbe would have been able to continue living with an absent husband. My feeling is that she was already a single parent and it would not have been difficult to end the marriage

Of course that depends on who is writing the book, but I'm with susanr. They may have discussed it, but probably not have worked things out. Thisbe may not have even been willing to try to work things out. The time between Leo's death and her involvement with Wyeth suggests that she had begun moving on before Leo died.

I agree with those saying not necessarily. Most journalists get a real adrenaline rush from the job they do, especially combat journalists, and they can't give it up. So Thisbe would had to learn to accept it or move on.

I don't believe that they would have worked it out. Their life plans were too different and Thisbe had adapted to being without him.

I'm not sure. The fact that he put his career above their relationship leads me to believe that they would not have worked things out.

Theoretically, we know there were problems between the two of them, but ignorant of the exact feelings of them both, I believe it is beyond our knowledge.

Of course we'll never know, but I found it comparable to events in The Lakeshore Limited by Sue Miller( which I thought was a great book).

I don't think their marriage would have survived. Their fundamental personalities were just too different. Leo was too much like his selfish mother to be in a balanced relationship.

I am not sure they would have worked out their differences. I can't imagine having a small child to raise and being alone. Leo seemed reckless in some ways that just seemed irresponsible. Spending all of his inheritance and leaving a wife to cover a war he despised. I had trouble with that.

Does anyone else think Leo may have put himself into harms way to commit suicide by enemy so he didn't have to work out things with Thisbe? Perhaps because he knew he wasn't ABLE to work things out.

I delayed responding to this question because I thought hearing some other's thoughts on it might help me clarify my own thinking. That said, I think that one of the reason's I liked this book was that all of the issues that various members of the family were facing were not all tidied away and resolved. Books frequently do that but I don't think real life does. Most of the books I have read that really stick with me are ones that leave me wondering what happened to the characters later. In this case there are questions about the future of all the couples involved and particularly Noelle and Amran as well as David and Marilyn. For me it adds to the reality of the whole story.

As many have already indicated Leo's personality seemed to lead him to dangerous pursuits and if he had returned from Iraq he would have wanted to continue the lifestyle that Thisbe could no longer tolerate. I suspect that they may have wanted to try and resurrect their marriage but in the long run it seems they were destined to separate.

For me this issue represents the strength of this book in that it is full of hot topics and food for thought. The issue of absentee spouse and parent and those whose career comes first impacts many families even if to a less degree. I suspect that they might have tried to work things out but unless Leo had enough insight to change his priorities that eventually they would have separated permanently.

I think Thisbe would have tried for the sake of her son, but it would not have worked out. The war would have changed both of them too much. Thisbe had a lot of time to mature and think about her future and Leo had seen too much of war to settle down.

I agree with joyces. This book leaves us to work out "what happens next" on our own, based on our own experiences. Good comment.

To answer this question we, the readers, need to know how long Leo was over in the Middle East. Also, how far in the past did Thisbe request separation. Lastly, what was Thisbe’s state of mind when she asked for a seperation. Were these questions answered in the book?
If Leo absent only a short time and Thisbe's request for separation stemmed from immediate feelings of frustration and anger then possible reconciliation. On the other hand, if Leo had been gone for an extended period – enough time for Thisbe to become accustomed to being single and raising a child alone – plus Thisbe had asked to separate after contemplation then their marriage likely would be finished.
References in the book to military personnel – strongly compare Leo’s presence in the Middle East to be similar to that of active duty military. He put himself in harm’s way being in combat zones with the difference being he carried no weapon

It's hard to tell. Were there problems before he left for Iraq? What about family support at that time? Although Thisbe was interested in her career I'm not sure she would have pursued it had he not died. In real life there are marriages which work when one is away. I don't know if the NC correspondent who spends a great deal of time in the Middle East is married and what about the women who report from there. I also think of the correspondent who died early in the Iraq War due to the blood clots caused by prolonged sitting. Of course this is real life and we are talking about a novel. However, after saying all of this I think they would separate as much because of how they first got together and what came after. Leo was certainly a free spirit.