Book Review | Matrimony by Josh Henkin

Buy a copy of Matrimony from amazon.com

Rating

3 stars – an insightful look into the nature of relationships

Description

From the moment he was born, Julian Wainwright has lived a life of Waspy privilege. The son of a Yale-educated investment banker, he grew up in a huge apartment on Sutton Place, high above the East River, and attended a tony Manhattan private school. But more than anything, Julian wants to get out — out from under his parents’ influence, off to Graymont College in western Massachusetts, where he hopes to become a writer.

Why did you choose to read this book?

Many of my bookish buddies have been reviewing this book and I was lucky enough to win a copy over at Book Club Classics.

The Book Review

I found this book slow going at first – I think it’s because I read it hot on the heels of The Kite Runner and No Time for Goodbye – both of which had me transfixed. Today I made a concerted effort to give the book my undivided attention and upon finishing it my thoughts are positive.

The novel is about relationships – between boyfriend and girlfriend, husband and wife, child and parent, siblings and friends. Henkin builds his novel around realistic characters who have real life issues and this makes it easy for the reader to relate to them.

In a novel that spans twenty years and several cities Henkin covers some hard-hitting issues, including breast cancer, infidelity and divorce.

Interestingly the main character, Julian, is a struggling writer and at times I wondered just how much of this novel was autobiographical. Just as Julian’s novel was 15 years in the making Henkin spent 10 years writing Matrimony – and you can see that a lot of care and attention has gone into it.

Interview

The video below is of a short interview with Henkin where he talks about his book – be careful though as its packed full of spoilers!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt82n38jSOo

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