Happy Marriage, The - Hardcover

Tahar Ben Jelloun; Andre Naffis-Sahely

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1612194656 ISBN 13: 9781612194653

Publisher: Melville House Publishing, 2016

Synopsis

The story of one couple - first from the husband's point of view, then from the wife's. The husband, a painter in Casablanca, has been paralyzed by a stroke at the very height of his career and becomes convinced that his marriage is the reason for his decline. Walled up within his illness and desperate to break free of a deeply destructive relationship, he finds escape in writing a secret book about his hellish marriage. When his wife finds it, she responds point by point with her own version of the facts, offering her own striking and incisive reinterpretation of their story.

About this title

Review:

"The more affairs amass, the more the painter's ego and sense of entitlement begin to grate and, in a clever twist, a new narrative interrupts." --The Guardian

"Always a resourceful and versatile storyteller...lively, surreal, flavourful and human." --Boyd Tonkin in The Independent

"Skilful...[Ben Jelloun} makes subtle observations on the clash between patriarchy and feminism." --Daily Mail

"A telling examination of the slippery, self-servicing ways in which we form, and tell, our own truths." --The TLS

"Ben Jelloun's punchy, emotionally-charged novel is a unique portrait of a husband and wife's dead-end desperation and the lengths both are prepared to go to in order to break free." --The National

"Tahar Ben Jelloun is the sort of writer who gets mentioned every year as a possible contender for the Nobel, though he's probably too good to ever get it." --The Literary Hub

"A thoughtful and politically-aware writer, Ben Jelloum's skilfully assembled novel - translated fluidly by André Naffis-Sahely - provokes questions about equality within marriage and the clash between patriarchy and feminism." --The Guardian's Shelf Awareness

"As well as pinning down the strains and lonelinesses of the (un)shared life, Jelloun forces reflection on the nature of narration, judgment and belief. This is an accomplished, provocative and very enjoyable novel." --The Guardian

"Both the husband's story and the wife's point-by-point rebuttal are presented as commentary on the patriarchy, feminism, and modern marriage." --Book Riot

About the Author:

Tahar Ben Jelloun is an award-winning and internationally bestselling Moroccan novelist, essayist, critic, and poet. Regularly shortlisted for the Nobel Prize, he is also a frequent contributor to Le Monde, La Repubblica, El Pais, Panorama, The New Yorker and The Paris Review. André Naffis-Sahely is a poet, critic, and translator from French and Italian into English.

About this edition

• Publisher: Melville House Publishing
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1612194656
• ISBN 13: 9781612194653
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320