A better man

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A better man

Title:

A better man

Author:

McLaren, Leah.

ISBN:

9781455532513

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

312 pages ; 22 cm

Subject Term:

Marital conflict -- Fiction.

Man-woman relationships -- Fiction.

Self-actualization (Psychology) -- Fiction.

Summary:

Having decided that their marriage is over, Nick is determined to leave quickly and with dignity. But when he looks into the financial realities of splitting up, he realizes that more of his hard-earned income than he can handle will go to Maya. Then a mutual friend proposes that Nick improve the marriage in order to end it amicably, because the better father and husband he is, the more self-sufficient Maya becomes and the cheaper his pay-out will be at the end. But as Nick sets out to be a better man, he starts to feel like one. Time with his kids, dinners with his wife, fewer hours in the office has the strange effect of making him happier. As Maya starts to feel appreciated by her husband again, she starts to blossom, to unclench her fists from the parenting reins and start to do things for herself. Nick and Maya feel like they are falling back in love. How odd, how funny, how serendipitous. But if Maya knew what had promoted this marital metamorphosis? Then it would be war.

Holds:

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Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Park Grove Library (Cottage Grove)	FICTION MCL	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Stillwater Public Library	FICTION MCL	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

What if the only way you could get out of your marriage was to become the perfect husband?

Nick and Maya Wakefield's relationship has been in crisis since Maya left her high-powered legal career to stay home with their now 3-year-old twins. Today she feels invisible, anxious, and under-appreciated, and Nick has checked out of family life. Sex is a distant memory and the love is gone.

A workaholic and a consummate flirt, Nick has decided he wants out. But he balks when their old friend, a divorce attorney, shows him that as sole breadwinner, he stands to lose the most. Together, he and his friend hatch a plan: Nick will act like an ideal husband and father in order to ease the pain of leaving and make out better in court. So he encourages Maya to go back to work, spends time with the kids, and even takes her on a vacation without them. But with his cynical ruse comes a surprising change of heart. Nick is astonished to find his actual emotions match his act and now his marriage is truly on the mend. That is, until Maya finds out, and Nick's world falls to pieces. Now his only hope of saving his family is to prove to his wife that he really is the man he was pretending to be.

A Better Man is a sharply observant novel of the pitfalls of marriage and success, and how one couple must lose it all before they can hope to find their way back.

Author Notes

Leah McLaren is a novelist, journalist, longtime columnist for Canada's national newspaper, the Globe and Mail , and the Europe correspondent for Maclean 's magazine. In 2013, she won a gold National Magazine Award in the long features category. Her first novel, The Continuity Girl , was published by GCP in 2007. She lives in Toronto and London, England, where she shares a home with her husband and two boys.

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

McLaren (The Continuity Girl, 2009) brings us the story of a marriage straining under the weight of parenthood. This romance novel for the post-marriage set introduces college sweethearts Nick and Maya, who have moved from hot sex to separate bedrooms and mismatched priorities after the birth of their twins, Foster and Isla. Nick, a brand-obsessed commercial filmmaker, is unhappy with his wife, a high-powered attorney-turned-humorless stay-at-home mom, who's now obsessed "with nitrates, toxins, and evil ingredients." While Maya fantasizes about the past and her personal trainer, Nick dreams of divorce and other women. As Maya consults a self-help book that tells her to state her deepest desire and it will come, Nick consults Adam Gray, a lawyer friend who warns that as the family's breadwinner, Nick will pay dearly for the divorce he wants. Just as Maya wishes for her marriage to return to its golden days, Nick embarks on a plan to restore balance before he files for divorce. Despite the heavy subject matter, McLaren keeps the tone light and airy throughout. Nick's shiftlessness and Maya's neurosis are humorous and vividly drawn, starting from the moment Maya uses her own mouth to suction snot from her daughter's nose. Sometimes McLaren strains to make the plot as deep as the characterizations. Adam Gray's long-standing love for Maya leads to declarations that conveniently work to distance Nick and Maya. In one page, Foster morphs from calling Maya "pooey bum head" to a toddler philosopher: "Even when Daddy's home, it's like he's away." A perfect beach book for those who like their reading light and their endings happy. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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Summary

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Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

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