An Actual Life
A Novel
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
An “entirely wonderful” novel about an unplanned pregnancy, and an unwanted marriage, in early-1960s New Jersey—“hilarious and deeply touching” (Anne Lamott, bestselling author of Hallelujah Anyway).
Virginia and Buddy “had to get married.” Their daughter, Madeline, was conceived the first time they “did it” in Buddy’s room at college. Virginia’s school asked her to leave, and her parents put on a wedding.
And now? Well, as Virginia puts it, “now that we know each other a little better it turns out we are actually strangers.” In this second summer of Virginia and Buddy’s marriage, there is no money, no love, and no foreseeable future. Virginia, all of nineteen, is determined to either make it work or find a way out, especially after Buddy starts hanging around with an old girlfriend. But it won’t be easy, in this “masterful” tale of a less-than-perfect journey into adulthood that puts a surprising twist on what happily-ever-after can mean (Newsday).
From the New York Times–bestselling author of A Three Dog Life and What Comes Next and How to Like It, this is “a coming-of-age story with a twist . . . wryly funny . . . bittersweet, nostalgic, magical” (Georgia Times-Union).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In her first novel, Thomas, who began writing at age 50 after a career as a literary agent and editor, displays the same incisive character portrayal and bantering prose that readers enjoyed in her collection of short stories, Getting Over Tom. Here, she has taken one of those stories, about the shotgun wedding of college students Virginia and Buddy in 1960, and produced a spirited and often very funny novel about their horrendous marriage. The events, related in Virginia's voice, take place mostly in the house of Buddy's sweet, goofy Aunt Dot, in Buddy's New Jersey hometown. Virginia's life now revolves around her baby, Madeline-which is a good thing, since Buddy is sneaking around with his longtime love and ex-girlfriend, the truck-driving, heavily made-up Irene, who happens to be married to his best friend. Although she doesn't love Buddy and bravely accepts Irene's attempts at friendship, Virginia is still hurt by Buddy's infidelity. Ultimately, she must decide whether she will conform to what her family-and even Buddy himself-expect: that she stay in a loveless marriage for the sake of the baby. Thomas does a masterful job in portraying Virginia: she is terribly naive, has little sense of herself, is uptight, sexually prudish and superstitious. Yet she is also a very young woman stuck in a rotten situation, and her spunky, if often clueless, attempts to make the best of things-and to discover what she wants-are endearing and compelling.
