Happenstance: The Wife's Story; The Husband's Story -- Two Novels in One About a Marriage in Transition

416 pp. A novel by the Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Stone Diaries. "...this early Eighties chronicle of a marriage is actually two novels in one (The Wife's Story and The Husband's Story) published in a back-to-back format. Over the period of one particularly eventful week, the husband and wife each experience midlife crises. Brenda, a quilt-maker, travels to Philadelphia for a craft convention and a journey of self-discovery. Jack, a historian, who remains behind to look after the children, wrestles with his own set of problems--troubled friends and the long-delayed completion of his book on Great Lakes Indian trading practices. The two stories were originally published as separate novels, and the unique format of the current publication forces the reader to choose whose story to read first. Ultimately, it makes little difference since the parts form such a well-meshed whole that you will leave this couple and their stories with reluctance." -- Library Journal