There is nothing new about most of Cindy Bonner’s AN UNFINISHED MARRIAGE, an account of a disintegrating 15-year marriage. Housewife Sarah and her financier husband Adam bicker relentlessly, sometimes viciously. Sarah’s best friend Carolyn feels caught in the middle, sexy carpenter Troy is hired to work on their old Victorian house, and the couple’s two sons (8 and 14) bear the brunt of the damage being done. It’s an often-told story.
Yet the novel is compelling, teasing the persistent question: What happens next?
Bonner’s writing is plainspoken, crisp, and heartbreaking without an ounce of sentimentality or cliche. At one point, Sarah observes, “It’s as if our marriage has a terminal disease, one that goes into remission for a day or maybe a few hours, then returns with more virulence.” Of love, another character unaccustomed to the experience observes, “Odd how life can change so quick, how a person can go from satisfied with so little, to hungry for so much more.”
The novel is narrated through the perspectives of (mostly) Sarah, Troy, and Adam. Each is compelling and empathetic, although Adam is difficult to like and clingy, man-hungry Carolyn is largely shallow and self-delusional. Indeed, one of the novel’s rare disappointments is the absence of Carolyn’s point of view, which might have mitigated some of her worst qualities.
What all the characters share, from the battling couple to the various friendships to the age-appropriate manifestations of hurt from the two boys, is relatability. We know these people. We are these people. This is the quality, beautifully rendered, that carries the story from start to finish.
The arguments are cringeworthy but right on target. They don’t drag down the story, which is enlivened by clever, fresh scenes of seduction that are sensual despite their plain settings: unloading a dishwasher, putting together a bicycle on Christmas Eve, etc.
There’s also plenty of humor. After Adam tells his mother that he had no idea that Sarah “felt suffocated,” she tells him, “It seems you’d notice if your wife couldn’t breathe.” In a rare moment of self-awareness, Adam thinks, “I ponder that for a moment. I don’t think Mom means to sound like Edith Bunker, it just comes naturally to her.”
AN UNFINISHED MARRIAGE is also filled with rich details about the house itself, a vestige that had been slated for demolition until Sarah decided to make it a project. Readers interested in architecture, interior design, or antiques will eat up these details, but even those with no interest in such topics will enjoy learning about them.
Two shocking scenes occur late in the novel. They are credible—but Sarah’s response to them, uncharacteristically, is less so. Much is written about social expectations of women and the tendencies of many to blame themselves for their partners’ inappropriate behavior, so Sarah’s passivity early on is believable. But it’s disappointing that she doesn’t grow more. Her continued passivity disappoints.
Still, the novel’s captivating story, rich details, and well-rendered tension make it an irresistible read.
Cindy Bonner’s AN UNFINISHED MARRIAGE tells an absorbing story that is hard to put down.
~Anne Welsbacher for IndieReader