Three characters dominate this story, and they are exquisitely developed through the course of a couple of years by the brilliant writing of Eugenides. Each is flawed or challenged, some more so than others, and each spends the novel’s time overcoming those challenges or learning to live with those flaws. That said, I kept waiting and hoping at some point any of these characters might become truly likable. It never happened.
There are many literary references throughout this book that would probably add another dimension if you researched them all further. But the basic story line of “the marriage plot” is one that has been told many times over. This was a new opportunity to breathe some life into it, writing about it from a more contemporary perspective. However, Madeleine never really springs to life. The men still seem to be living far more interested lives, and she’s reacting to them more than creating her own. Perhaps the point of the story might have come off better written by a woman?
The narration was excellent, and the narrator created with skill a believable woman in Madeleine and the critical differences between Leonard and Mitchell.
I chose this book because I’ve read Middlesex and was impressed with what Eugenides could do with such a unique and challenging topic as hermaphroditism. In this book, he’s tackled a more universal problem, taken fewer words to accomplish his goal, and made a good attempt to turn out an excellent novel. I simply wish that by the end I had cared more about what happened to the characters.