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abubble124's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
krobart's review against another edition
3.0
See my review here:
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2019/10/07/review-1402-literary-wives-happenstance/
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2019/10/07/review-1402-literary-wives-happenstance/
eveningreader's review against another edition
3.0
From my perspective, the first half, the wife's story, is five stars; the second half, the husband's story, is two stars. I read an interview where Shields said she didn't feel comfortable writing from a man's point of view, because men and women are so vastly different from one another. She eventually did write from a man's point of view to wonderful effect in Larry's Party, but in this early attempt, she does seem to flounder a bit. As always, the writing is wonderful, and there are moments in both sections that absolutely shine. What I love about Shields is her willingness to try different structural things and explore minutiae without apology.
msjoanna's review against another edition
4.0
These two stories are the lives of ordinary people doing their ordinary things. The husband, Jack, is a historian, a father of two teenagers, and a son to aging parents. His half of the book is his inner dialogue during a week where his wife is away (one of the only times she's been away in their 20 years of marriage). The wife, Brenda, is a stay-at-home spouse, quilter gaining recognition, mother of two teenagers, and only daughter of a now-deceased single mother. I loved reading the perspectives on a basically happy marriage and happy family that reflected the boredom and annoyance that comes with family life without anything earth-shattering or foundation shaking. Yes, people can get annoyed with each other, yet still overall be happy with their family and their chosen path. Carol Shields makes these characters believable.
There's something hopelessly (and perhaps wonderfully) naive and innocent about these characters. Is there anyone today who at 19 would meet a future spouse and not know the details of the mechanics of sex? Is there anyone now who would find a book on marital relationships and read it excitedly with her fiance?
The different memories of past stories and the way those retellings are told over and over so that they become the fabric of a shared history is examined repeatedly in this book. Shields captures this often unremarked upon phenomenon with elegance and honesty.
Lovely book.
There's something hopelessly (and perhaps wonderfully) naive and innocent about these characters. Is there anyone today who at 19 would meet a future spouse and not know the details of the mechanics of sex? Is there anyone now who would find a book on marital relationships and read it excitedly with her fiance?
The different memories of past stories and the way those retellings are told over and over so that they become the fabric of a shared history is examined repeatedly in this book. Shields captures this often unremarked upon phenomenon with elegance and honesty.
Lovely book.
nocto's review against another edition
4.0
Catching up with a big backlog of read books, hence very short writeups.
This is two separate stories The Wife's Tale and The Husband's Tale set during the same period of time. It wasn't anything like I thought it was going to be. They are really quite loosely joined pieces and weren't originally published as a set.
exurbanis's review against another edition
5.0
rounded up from 4.5 stars
“Happenstance, The Husband’s Story was first published in Canada by McGraw-Hill Ryerson in 1980. Happenstance, The Wife’s Story was first published as A Fairly Conventional Woman in Canada by Macmillan of Canada 1982. This volume first published in Great Britain by Fourth Estate Limited 1991.
Published back to front, but the need for publishing info constructs the book so that most will start with the wife’s story. I read in order of publication (ie husband first). I'm glad I did.
In 1978 Jack and Brenda Bowman, have been married for 20 years and have 2 kids (Rob 14 and Laurie 12), and live in a suburb of Chicago built in the 1920s. Brenda, a quilter, has gone to Philly for 5 days to attend a craft conference, leaving Jack with the kids. This time apart is unusual for them.
While Brenda is away, Jack deals with his “best friend” Bernie’s marriage break-up, a giant snow-storm, and the news that an old girlfriend is publishing a book on the very area that he is writing his (stalled) one: Indian trading practices. (In the end, Harriet is writing about India, Jack about the Great Lakes indigenous peoples.)
Brenda deals with running into an old friend who is attending another conference in the same hotel and flirts with the possibility of being unfaithful.
I loved the concept of this completed novel. Shields' books aren't high-octane plots but her writing is gorgeous and she had an amazing insight into human nature.
“Happenstance, The Husband’s Story was first published in Canada by McGraw-Hill Ryerson in 1980. Happenstance, The Wife’s Story was first published as A Fairly Conventional Woman in Canada by Macmillan of Canada 1982. This volume first published in Great Britain by Fourth Estate Limited 1991.
Published back to front, but the need for publishing info constructs the book so that most will start with the wife’s story. I read in order of publication (ie husband first). I'm glad I did.
In 1978 Jack and Brenda Bowman, have been married for 20 years and have 2 kids (Rob 14 and Laurie 12), and live in a suburb of Chicago built in the 1920s. Brenda, a quilter, has gone to Philly for 5 days to attend a craft conference, leaving Jack with the kids. This time apart is unusual for them.
While Brenda is away, Jack deals with his “best friend” Bernie’s marriage break-up, a giant snow-storm, and the news that an old girlfriend is publishing a book on the very area that he is writing his (stalled) one: Indian trading practices. (In the end, Harriet is writing about India, Jack about the Great Lakes indigenous peoples.)
Brenda deals with running into an old friend who is attending another conference in the same hotel and flirts with the possibility of being unfaithful.
I loved the concept of this completed novel. Shields' books aren't high-octane plots but her writing is gorgeous and she had an amazing insight into human nature.
readcaffeinated's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
debnanceatreaderbuzz's review
5.0
My favorite read of 2002. It's the story of the daily happenings in a marriage told both from the husband and the wife's points of view.
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