Honest, real. While I haven't personally experienced the adultery part of this novel, I do connect with the marriage part. The author does a great job of nailing down the life of a marriage and how passion can fade from the early, heady days of a relationship and what happens when it does. I love how Richard comes to view the other pieces of the marriage as just as important as what he has lost. And how he can work to get it back.

I don't think I've laughed so much while reading a novel since Where'd You Go, Bernadette. Main character Richard is a philandering turd, but is written with great humanity and humor that I couldn't wait to see how he'd correct the romantic mess of his relationships with his wife, daughter, and mistress.

I enjoyed this novel. I know some people criticized the novel because the main character was flawed and wanted redemption. But I enjoyed the story line. Relationships are not perfect, so I didn't find this scenario to be completely impossible.

A super enjoyable novel dealing with marriage and how staying together can be a process. The characters felt fully realized and the story authentic.

This book was fine. My issue with it was I felt it was predictable, and some of the plot points that were meant to be surprises were easy to see coming based on a combination of "well there's 10 pages left in this book, only one ending could really happen in 10 pages" and the narrator wondering a lot but juuust missing the right answer.

The daughter had basically no characterization. She might as well have been a life size doll. Then again, the spouses didn't have a ton of characterization either. I wanted more from a book that sets out to closely examine a relationship.

Simple, honest, and intensely personal

I looked at my husband more closely and with even more fondness while reading, appreciating all over again the things I could accidentally take for granted. The author's handling of all subject matter was skilled and deeply genuine.

The main character has no redeeming qualities which made it a difficult book to get through. I gave up after the first hundred pages.

Read 85 pages, but I can’t read any more!