Alan Ebert

"Marriages" has been collecting dust on my library shelf for quite a few years. Like many hardcover hoarders, my shelves are overloaded with old neglected books that caught my eye at a yard sale or flea market with every intention of reading... someday.

Unfortunately, it is like an old party dress discovered one day stuffed in the back of your closet. Perhaps at one point in your life it might have worked, but today a close inspection reveals an outgrown, dated, gaudy, ill-fitting, cheaply designed rag.

"Marriages" is a “chick-lit” novel. One year in the life of three old friends. They haven’t seen each other in years, but decide to celebrate their 40th birthdays together. The entire plot is just not believable and has a fairy tale ending. One example - Ebert would have you believe that a woman who has spent the last 15 years as a housewife, isolated from the public with a social phobia that prevents her from leaving the house unaccompanied by another adult, suddenly begins taking a train from New Jersey to Manhattan three times a week (alone) to visit a therapist. And within the one year time span of the book, she makes a miraculous recovery, gets a teaching certificate, and takes a job.

In addition, the characters are ridiculously superficial. They all have the same habit of injecting sarcastic humor into every conversation. This is especially annoying considering such behavior just does not suit their basic personalities. Dialogue is only good if it reflects the character of the speaker. In this case it destroyed the credibility of the entire cast of characters.

The one good thing about reading Marriages is now it can go in the trash bin and make room for a more deserving book.… (mer)