Matrimony
Book Review

Matrimony BOOK SYNOPSIS

A story, saga really, that spans the love between two people and all that surrounds them from college through middle age.

Julian and Mia meet as freshmen at Graymont College and from the beginning they just "fit." Their relationship takes them through graduation, the death of a parent, major career decisions, infidelity and separation, health scares, and childbirth shadowed always by Julian's quest to become a novelist.

Equally as important as their own story is that of Carter Heinz, the best friend Julian made in college right before he met Mia, and how his presence and insecurities affect the three of them even years and years later.

What results is a story about love, passion, turmoil, friendship, death, and what it means to truly be "married" to another human being.

QUEENIE D SAYS

This book spoke to me on so many personal levels and at times I connected almost too much with some of the story line. Julian's desperate, but well-hidden, desire to become a published novelist is a feeling I share acutely. I feel as if I've spent my whole life wanting to write, trying to write, and knowing that a great story is inside my head - and not being able to make it come out the way I want to! Julian's story gives me hope that, even if it takes 15 years, there is a light at the end of the tunnel if you truly have the heart of a writer.

One of the best parts about Matrimony is that the reader isn't left wondering what happened to the characters. Every time you finish a section about their lives and are wondering where they go from here - Henkin goes right ahead and answers those questions for you. The slow, steady evolution of Julian and Mia's marriage is so realistic that you feel as if you are growing and changing right along with them. You can't possibly ever take sides or be angry at one and not the other because each character is written so perfectly that they are just "real people."

The struggle I can see for some readers is that it is a slower moving story. There is no dramatic climax or surprise ending. Readers who like action may find this book challenging. But at the same time, any reader can appreciate the effort it takes to make a marriage and a friendship last. Julian, Carter, and Mia are people with idiosyncrasies just like the rest of us and that makes them wholly lovable and pitiable at the same time.

What I think Henkin has done here is written a masterpiece of humanity. There is at least one thing somewhere within the pages of this book that every reader can relate to on a personal level. So while it may not be a lightning fast narrative, it's true and real and speaks to the heart. This fact makes Matrimony a total accomplishment for the writer and a total pleasure for the reader.

Matrimony DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Is Carter a likeable character? Why or why not?
2. Are Julian and Mia in love at the end of the novel or do they just love each other? What is the difference between the two?
3. Did Julian work hard enough at writing his novel or did he give up too easily when the going got tough? What does this say about writing being inspiration versus perspiration?

Return from Matrimony to Home