Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jun 2012
320 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
"Phenomenal" (Garrison Keillor) storyteller Ann Bauer brings to life the tale of one faithless widow. Carmen wishes Jobe, the husband she never loved, dead - only to fall in love with him after he is gone. As she helps her three children grieve, she discovers, after a tryst with her most recent lover, that her own life may be in danger. Her emotions reeling, Carmen reflects on the fateful days of her youth that made her the person she has become: privileged suburban wife, unfaithful widow, mother of a child with Down syndrome, fierce friend.
The Forever Marriage is at its heart a mystery, and the mystery is what, exactly, the nature of Carmen and Jobe's marriage might have been. Page-turning and irreverent, The Forever Marriage is a compelling examination of a relationship and of a woman facing up to her imperfect past. It merits comparison to the best work of Anne Tyler, Elizabeth Berg, and Alice Sebold.
"Starred Review. With lovely prose and fine pacing, [Bauer] offers a sensitive portrait of a flawed woman coming to terms with a lifetime of regrets." - Publishers Weekly
"Love or hate Carmen, readers won't soon forget the hot-blooded woman, and fans of Elizabeth Berg will want to meet her." - Library Journal
"Bauer crafts an insightful story that is uncomfortable and bleak, but well-written. It's a journey well worth taking." - Kirkus Reviews
"Written in a contemporary style that evokes the work of Anne Tyler, this is not only a well-nuanced story of youthful mistakes and adult consequences but also an unflinching look at one woman's fight against breast cancer." - Booklist
"Told with delicacy and humor." - Garrison Keillor
"A triumph of good writing." - The Washington Post
"Bauer expertly maps the ferocity and anguish of a parent's love... Exceptional storytelling." - Entertainment Weekly
This information about The Forever Marriage was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Ann Bauer is the author of A Wild Ride up the Cupboards and co-author of a culinary memoir, Damn Good Food. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Elle, Redbook, and The Sun. From 2006 to 2010, she was a regular contributor to Salon. She lives in Minneapolis. Visit her online at www.theforevermarriage.com.
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