2004 Year in Review

The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler, author of Breathing Lessons, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1998, has scored again with a novel that captures the nuances of everyday life in the marriage of Michael and Pauline Anton. Beginning in December of 1941 with the bombing of Pearl Harbor through the decades to present time, this novel, page by page, draws the reader into the entanglements and consequences in a family because of a mismatched marriage

An Amateur Marriage takes place in Baltimore in the Polish Eastern Avenue neighborhood when Pauline walks into the grocery store owned by Michael’s mother. Instantly they are smitten with one another and because of the World War II fervor, they marry, hastily. However, they never should have married.

Pauline is exuberant, impractical, outgoing and ambitious; Michael is cautious, judgmental and deliberate. They are polar opposites! All young marrieds begin life together ignorant, but grow, in time, more seasoned. Pauline and Michael remain amateurs.

Their family and lives grow, but not together. Three children are born, the business is expanded, the house and neighborhood change, but Pauline and Michael remain unconnected. Their differences take their toll on their marriage. The story is told from both viewpoints and their children’s. As each voices his or her thoughts and emotions, we become deeply involved and embrace each of them. Ironically, the thoughts and emotions that are shared with the reader, the characters never share with each other. However, this is a deeply perceptive and personal novel. Anne Tyler’s characters are people we recognize and bits of their lives are all too familiar.

I greatly enjoyed this book. The writing is honest and sincere; plus, Ms. Tyler has such a feel for her characters. We feel we know them, and thus, we laugh with them, cry with them, and hurt with them. And, more importantly, we learn from them. Tom Shone of The New Yorker states, “You’re involved before you even notice you’re paying attention.” What high praise for an engaging novel!

by Anne Frame, Guest Columnist
May 26, 2004