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41 of 43 found the following review helpful:
Good Idea, Bad Ending Feb 23, 2008
By MJS
"Constant Reader"
I wanted to like this book more than I actually did. I like Sue Miller's writing and the topic (why does a political wife stay with a philandering husband?) is interesting. The title character, Delia Naughton, is interesting if opaque. So what's the problem?
It's the other heroine of the book, Meri. She starts off seeming ungrounded and unanchored. Midway through the book she turns creepy. By the end of the book she's so self-absorbed she takes part in one of the biggest trainwreck moments I've read in a long, long time. Yet in the epilogue she's happy as a clam, justifying her actions as "an act of love."
I kept hoping that Meri's husband would start cheating on her and we'd have Delia and Meri providing a generational mirror of how women react to infidelity. That would have been a cliche but Miller might have made it interesting. It also would have forced Meri to deal with her marriage in terms of something other than sex and passive-agressive withdrawal.
Weirdly, the most self-aware person in the book seems to be the Senator himself. He admits that he's not capable of staying faithful to his wife even when he wants to be. Delia convinces herself she's faced this about her husband but, tragically, she has not.
87 of 99 found the following review helpful:
 "You can get used to anything. It's one of the most necessary things life teaches us." Jan 08, 2008
By Luan Gaines
"luansos"
The newly-married woman. The senator's wife. A generation of differences. In 1993, when Meri Fowler and her husband, Nathan, move into the other half of a stately home owned by Delia Naughton, wife of former senator Tom Naughton, a Washington mover and shaker and beltway roué who now visits his wife only sporadically, Meri is fascinated by the older Delia. Without examining her reasons, Meri hopes for an intimacy that seems always out of reach, especially as Delia travels frequently to visit her grown children and to a secluded Paris apartment. It is Nathan who is curious about the senator, hoping in vain for a meeting, which fails to occur but for a brief time one holiday. Life settles into routine until Meri learns she is pregnant, her world suddenly shifting from an engaging job at a local radio station to the tunnel-vision of new motherhood, all-consuming days of feeding, changing, feeding, sleeplessness a further strain on a once carefree marriage.
But Delia is the centerpiece of Miller's engaging novel, a self-contained woman who has learned at last to make peace with an untrustworthy husband and the shattering of a dream, his peccadilloes finally driving a wedge into their marriage. Delia survives, healing with time and circumstance, the façade of gentility intact. And Delia's natural generosity toward Meri is not significant, at least to the senator's wife, caught up in her own emotions as the ground shifts once more in her relationship with Tom, a long-hoped for contretemps shimmering on the horizon. It is Miller's juxtaposition of the lives of these two women that drives the story, Delia's long journey through a marriage that has challenged her on every level, Meri the unwitting, if randomly destructive catalyst: "It was as if she dropped out of time, out of its press and obligation, out of its failings. Her failings."
The nature of marriage and motherhood, the needs of women at various stages of their lives, the roles of spouses and abrupt, devastating betrayals are themes Miller knows well, describes persuasively. The Naughton's painful marriage is a revelation, an explanation of the generational drift in then and now, women who committed themselves to marriage and children, their husband's careers dominating their lives. In the self-absorbed world of her youth and new motherhood, Meri is shockingly unaware of the consequences of her actions; but even youth is a chimera- Meri is thirty-six, not some naïve young married with a new baby. Meri hasn't earned her curiosity, her intrusiveness and Delia has spent a lifetime protecting her privacy. How can Meri begin to comprehend the dignity of such as Delia, the hard-won rewards of devotion? Marriages are impossible to predict, let alone happy endings. Miller's precise manipulation of human frailty, the small, important counterpoints and misunderstandings that beleaguer her characters are compelling. Luan Gaines/ 2008
20 of 22 found the following review helpful:
"Life Doesn't Change in its Fundamentals" Feb 04, 2008
By Michelaneous
"www.michelecozzens.com"
I've read enough work by Sue Miller to say with complete confidence that she's a brilliant writer, and a master at character development. The Senator's Wife is a gray tale of two couples, neighbors sharing an east coast duplex in an upscale neighborhood. In the story, Miller brings in the focus so tightly, that it feels a little voyeuristic prying into the everyday thoughts, feelings and actions of these characters. Said characters are ordinary, but at the same time fascinating because of their mundane circumstances. Given this, one may wonder how the author manages to keep the reader interested for 306 pages. Again, I attribute it to the brilliant writing.
Alternating chapters from the perspectives of Delia, a grandmother who is the "Senator's Wife," and Meri, a woman in her mid-30s who is fascinated by the quiet glamour of Delia, move the story from 1993 to present day. Meri and her husband Nathan, a college professor, move to the split house. The decision to purchase their portion of the dwelling is based on his fascination with Delia's husband, a notorious senator, now retired. The senator is mysterious and although he is rarely seen, he is very much a part of the story. Delia's excerpts explain their complicated relationship in detail. But the thrust of the story centers on Meri's fascination with Delia, hence the title, and how the relationship between the women leads to the climax.
The Senator's Wife is a fundamental look at life. It's a look at young marriage and an aged marriage lived side-by-side. It's a look at long process of raising children from birth to middle age, and at finding one's place as a caregiver. It's not action-packed or even very exciting, but for fans of Sue Miller and for those readers who appreciate strong character development, I do recommend reading this novel.
Michele Cozzens is the author of It's Not Your Mother's Bridge Club.
19 of 22 found the following review helpful:
 A compelling story of compulsion Mar 16, 2008
By Kate Maloy
I can't help thinking this book is not about whether we like, admire, or forgive its flawed characters but whether we can muster compassion for their compulsions and denial. This, to me, makes it far richer and more intriguing than some morality play. I was never (like the Washington Post reviewer) disgusted by anyone in this book--appalled, perhaps, and certainly upset, but always fascinated. These are profoundly complex people. Given that, we can't expect to know or understand them fully, any more than we can get all the way to the bottom of the real people in our real lives, including ourselves. If we don't try, though, we're in for trouble.
Sue Miller alludes to her characters' complexities scene by scene, memory by memory, but she doesn't tell us all that much because--I believe--she wants us to puzzle them out as best we can. She gives us clues as to their unlikeable qualities and seemingly mad actions, because these have the power to engage a reader more effectively than any easy map of their psyches could do. We're left to wonder: Why would Delia stick with Tom for one second after his worst betrayal? My best guess is that she can no more stop herself than Tom can stop chasing women. The question is whether her compulsion is based in love, need, or some barely knowable, subterranean mix of sexual desire and pyschological motive. Maybe she wants to "fix" Tom by showing him how much better she is, and their connection is, than his shallower triumphs can possibly be. Maybe she wants to show him that he can't bring her down to his level through jealousy. Maybe she just wants to remind him, every now and then, of what he might have lost completely if not for her generosity.
We might find it easier to "solve" the mystery of Delia if we knew more about Tom--more about why she can't entirely let go of him--but he remains beyond our reach. I'm quite sure this was intentional on Miller's part. We don't need to know why Delia is so attached to Tom, only that the attachment is more powerful than she is herself. Miller wisely allows us see deeply into just two characters--Delia and Meri, the two who so radically alter each other's lives through their natures, their denial, and their secrets.
Meri, the close neighbor (very close, separated only by a wall through which Delia can hear the sounds of sex and fighting and celebrating and crying) is just as complicated as Delia, though the answers in her case seem a little easier to parse. She's young. Her contradictory parts have had less time to deepen, to act upon each other, to shape her and to show her how intextricably connected she is to every life she touches.
Meri is miserable with her pregnancy because she's terrified of what it will show her and how it will change her. She herself wasn't loved as a child, so perhaps she won't be able to love her own baby. The one thing she has ever been entirely confident about is her beautiful, sexy body (her appearance, in other words, not her reality) and now that's gone, as is her husband, pursuing his career. Meri is lonely. She is drawn to Delia largely because Delia is the opposite, in every way, from her own mother. Meri's snooping through Delia's personal life is terrible; it makes us cringe. It endangers everything she hopes for in her new friendship. It is also understandable, even inevitable, given her fears, her past, and her lonely, uncertain present. Meri, too, is compelled. She agonizes over her betrayal of Delia, but she is helpless to stop. Just like Delia, just like Tom.
So--does Miller want us to excuse these people because they can't help themselves? I don't believe that for a minute. I believe she wants us just to see them, without judging, without clouding our eyes by liking or disliking. I think she wants us to try to understand her characters, in order to see what happens when they fail to understand themselves. This is how we can learn from them. We all act against our own interests. We all hurt people we care about. Why do we do this? If we can grasp even a little about the flawed and struggling people in a novel like this one--a mindfully constructed work by a writer who is known to make purposeful, artful choices at every turn--perhaps we'll be wiser about ourselves.
From the author of Every Last Cuckoo: A Novel
12 of 13 found the following review helpful:
Very good read! Apr 27, 2008
By Marie H.
I find Sue Miller to be a gifted writer whose elegance of phrasing and story development is consistently brilliant. This book was, for me, a delight to read and very much in keeping with that standard. In reading some of the reviews, one would think that the standard for a worthy book should include the development of only highly evolved, heroic characters. I found the main characters in this book to be deeply flawed but compassionately drawn...and realistic. I found Delia to be a compelling character whose inner life was beautifully explored for the reader in these pages. Real women ARE like Delia! Some struggle and attach in ways that are not always politically correct (pardon the pun). I love the way Sue Miller writes dialogue: efficient and real. One feels as though present to an actual conversation. In this book I found that I marked at least ten pages which contained lines which deeply touched me and I found beautiful....for instance, when Delia watches her grown son, Evan, during a brief visit home: "And yet the love she felt for him was unchanged, was based on who he'd been and who he still was to her. This is how it is with your children, she thought. You hold all the versions of them there ever were simultaneously in your heart."
I loved this book. I thank Sue Miller for the visit into another woman's life via such beautiful craft and skill in writing.
See all 130 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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The
Importance Of Lighting In Interior Design
by Jessica Ackerman
Everyone knows how important
paint color, furniture choices and artwork are to
interior design. One aspect of design that is often
overlooked, however, is lighting. Lighting not only
affects the brightness of the room, but it can also
change the way a paint color looks, cast shadows in ways
that make the room seem smaller and have an impact on
the presentation of art work.
There is no light like
natural light. If you are buying, building or
remodeling, opt for as much natural light as possible.
Oversized windows and skylights are two ways to get the
most natural light. Of course, not everyone is in the
position to be able to do that, so you'll have to work
with what you have.
How much natural light do
you get in your room? If the room in question faces
north, you won't get as much natural sunlight as you
would in a southern facing room. Rooms that face south
get bright, natural light throughout the day. Rooms that
face east will only have good natural light in the
morning hours and western facing rooms will have the
most light during the afternoon.
Once you are familiar
with how much natural light is in each room, you'll be
able to make informed choices about what additional
lighting may be necessary. Keep in mind that rooms with
little or no natural light will need artificial lighting
- even during the day - in order to look their best.
Here are some types of lighting to consider.
1. Accent Lighting
Accent lighting is
perfect when you want to showcase a piece of art or a
special piece of furniture or other item. Since light
draws the eye, it will bring attention to the features
in your room that you wish to highlight.
2. Hanging Light Features
Chandeliers and smaller
hanging lamps can be beautiful as well as functional. A
trip to the local home improvement store will quickly
show you how overwhelming the choices can be. You'll
want to select lighting that blends in with your
existing dÃÂécor. For example, a crystal chandelier in a
country themed dining room probably isn't the best
option. If you don't choose carefully, your lighting may
stick out like a sore thumb and become more of an
eyesore than a lovely accent.
3. Recessed Lighting
Recessed lighting is a
good choice for a room that needs extra light throughout
the day. Because the lighting won't interfere with the
existing decor, it can work in almost any room. It
provides abundant light without taking up a lot of space
or interfering with other aspects of the room.
4. Lamps
Using lamps are a way to
add not only additional lighting, but also punches of
color. If possible, see how much light the lamp gives
off before leaving the store. Many lamps serve as
decoration more than as a light source and give off very
little light. If you love the lamp, but it doesn't give
off quite enough light, consider changing the shade
which will usually solve the problem.
When decorating your
home, remember how important lighting is, and give it
the same thought and attention you give to the other
details of decorating your home.
About the Author
Jessica Ackerman is the
featured author at Wall DÃÂécor and Home Accents. Shop today
for great deals on
metal wall sculpture ,
home
accents and more unique wall dÃÂécor products.
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