Husband and Wife by Leah Stewart

Goodreads synopsis:

In her youth, Sarah Price had dreams of becoming a poet. But the meticulously responsible 35-year-old traded her MFA for a steady job that allows her husband, Nathan, to devote himself to his fiction. And there are two small children who need their mother’s attention as well. But Sarah is happy and she believes Nathan is too, until she discovers that his new novel, Infidelity, is based in fact. Suddenly Sarah’s world is turned upside down. How well does she really know Nathan? And more importantly, how well does she know herself?

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My thoughts:

This is one of those books that makes me wish I belonged to a book club. Early on I wasn’t certain that I’d like it – I found it a bit depressing. But the writing kept me going. It was like listening to my best friend tell the awful thing that happened recently in her marriage. I couldn’t put the book down. I felt badly for her. I wanted to smack her selfish, idiot husband.

The story moves forward and backward as Sarah tries to figure out how she/they got to where they are now. When did she cease being Sarah the poet? How had marriage, children, a job changed her? That seems like a no-brainer but Leah Stewart takes us on Sarah’s journey of discovery and we find that it’s not that simple. I think any woman, especially one who is also a wife and mother, will identify in some way with Sarah. And, quite possibly, any man will identify with Nathan. I’d love to read Nathan’s version of the story. Husband and Wife is a good novel. I recommend it.

Review copy from Goodreads First Reads and HarperCollins