Monogamy by Sue Miller

 The description of this book turned out to be more engrossing than the actual book for some reason. Monogamy tells the story of Annie and Graham. He is a big, booming, life-loving bookstore owner in Cambridge, MA. She is a photographer who thinks her career would have gone better if they had moved to New York, an idea that Graham nixed. Graham was previously married to Frieda, who couldn't take his womanizing ways but still loves him--and who is now friends with Annie. Annie was previously married to Alan (who is out of the picture). When Graham suddenly dies, Annie is devastated--until she finds out at the wake that he had been having an affair with their friend Rosemary. Then she is angry and adrift. (And she never does find out about the other time he cheated on her, earlier in their marriage.)

It's a good character study but nothing much happens in Monogamy. Graham spends a lot of time feeling guilty about cheating on his wife--which he shares with both Frieda and his friend John, but not his current wife (who feels doubly betrayed when she finds out they knew and didn't say anything to her). Annie spends a lot of time floundering, especially after Graham dies--when she both misses him and wants to punch him.

Frieda and Graham had a son named Lucas, who is closer to Annie than to his own mother--which is ironic because Graham and Annie had a daughter named Sarah, who hasn't even shared the news with her mother that she has a steady boyfriend.There's also a confused elderly neighbor who keeps popping up in Annie's house and yard, though I'm not quite sure what her purpose was. 

If you like a good character study, this is the book for you. I guess I'm a more plot-driven reader. I kept waiting for Annie to do something--restart her career, sell her house and start over, do some volunteer work to get out of the house. Something.