The Story of a Marriage
A Novel
گزارش تخلف
فرمت کتاب
audiobook
تاریخ انتشار
2008
نویسنده
S. Epatha Merkersonناشر
Macmillan Audioشابک
9781427204639
کتاب های مرتبط
- اطلاعات
- نقد و بررسی
- دیدگاه کاربران
نقد و بررسی
Actress Merkerson, known for her 15 years on "Law and Order," quietly presents Greer's story of Pearlie Ash, who is married to her high school sweetheart, Holland Cook. They settle down to a predictable life in San Francisco. Then a white man, Holland's previous employer and lover, Buzz Drummer, shows up, bringing chaos and self-doubt to Pearlie's world. The story builds with dramatic but controlled intensity against a backdrop of the 1950s, the Cold War, and the Rosenberg case. Merkerson keeps the story from becoming maudlin through the power of her convincing performance. She conveys the subtle strength that emerges in Pearlie's voice as the story reveals how she matures and triumphs over unexpected challenges. M.T.B. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
Starred review from January 28, 2008
As he demonstrated in the imaginative The Confessions of Max Tivoli
, Greer can spin a touching narrative based on an intriguing premise. Even a diligent reader will be surprised by the revelations twisting through this novel and will probably turn back to the beginning pages to find the oblique hints hidden in Greer's crystalline prose. In San Francisco in 1953, narrator Pearlie relates the circumstances of her marriage to Holland Cook, her childhood sweetheart. Pearlie's sacrifices for Holland begin when they are teenagers and continue when the two reunite a few years later, marry and have an adored son. The reappearance in Holland's life of his former boss and lover, Buzz Drumer, propels them into a triangular relationship of agonizing decisions. Greer expertly uses his setting as historical and cultural counterpoint to a story that hinges on racial and sexual issues and a climate of fear and repression. Though some readers may find it overly sentimental, this is a sensitive exploration of the secrets hidden even in intimate relationships, a poignant account of people helpless in the throes of passion and an affirmation of the strength of the human spirit.
Starred review from June 30, 2008
In this sad but beautiful tale of love, marriage and the limited perspective granted humans, Greer reveals how shocking events are needed to pitch people beyond their one-dimensional views of the world. Living in San Francisco in the mid-1950s, Pearlie learns that she does not know nearly as much about her husband as she once thought when an old friend of his appears at their door one day. S. Epatha Merkerson establishes a strong vocal persona in this first-person narrative and completely embodies Pearlie with a soft, lightly raspy and lilting voice that proves hypnotic. She executes other vocal characters ranging from a young child to some elderly aunts with believable inflection and subtlety. Merkerson's nuance and projection inject character elements in Pearlie that while not present in the beginning of the novel come to fruition later on, thus performing the intriguing feat of vocal foreshadowing. A Farrar, Straus & Giroux hardcover (Reviews, Jan. 28).
دیدگاه کاربران