"I've always thought of cars as places to die. That's what high school driver's ed did to me."

That's the oh-so-catchy opening of Debra Gallant's tale of marriage as told through cars. We first meet Ivy Honeycutt just as she has transplanted herself from the Virginia of her upbringing to a New York City that's not quite made up of the Hollywood myths she'd imagined. When she attends a supposedly free open mic comedy night that ends with two $4 Diet Cokes she can't afford, she finds herself being rescued from humiliation and total meltdown by Ellis Halpern, a stand-up comedian and a rare New York City car owner.

Told in chapters alternating between Ivy's and Ellis's points of view, Cars From a Marriage follows the couple from their initial trip to meet Ellis's mother to their moving to suburban New Jersey to raise their two daughters, one serious and studious, the other pretty and precocious. The chapters, which move along chronologically but skip several years in between in favor of highlighting the more momentous events of the marriage, each begin with the car the couple happens to be driving during that time period, usually one forced on Ellis by Ivy's well-meaning Buick dealer father. Soon Ellis is in L.A. more and more often grooming new talent for his PR agency and Ivy is returning to writing school, and the couple's marriage is becoming something they'd never dreamed of.

Cars From a Marriage is a deceptively easy read with a serious story to tell. Gallant's writing flows easily from event to event and captures the nuances of a marriage that sows the seeds of its own struggle from its very first stages. The writing is uncomplicated, at times laugh out loud funny, at others terribly sad and ironic. The ease with which Cars From a Marriage reads would almost lead you to believe that it's a fluffy story, but it's certainly not. It's a far more serious story about a woman whose fears and insecurities have kept her from living and a man who loves his wife, but always envisioned a bit more for himself than a needy housewife, two kids, and the controlled chaos of suburbia.

Perhaps it was the easy, uncomplicated writing style that always had me expecting fluff when there was none to be had, that made it possible for the ending to catch me unawares. It was abrupt and not quite what I was expecting. I thought that the end of Ivy's story could have done with a bit more fleshing out, thought I also fear that had it been fleshed out, it might have taken the focus away from the marriage and put it only on her, which I don't think was the intent. Ultimately, though, despite the unexpected end, I enjoyed Cars From a Marriage. It's a compulsively readable and honest exploration of an imperfect marriage that is as smart and perceptive as it is entertaining. ( )

Cars From a Marriage is a portrait of the marriage of Ivy and Ellis. Debra Galant uses their various cars to begin each chapter, illustrating what their cars say about them and where they are in life's journey. Its a rocky road for the two of them as they have two kids, then Ellis finds himself increasingly away from home on business. Ellis cruises the coast of California while Ivy must conquer her fear of driving in New Jersey.

I read Debra Galant's other two books and found them hysterically funny. Unfortunately Cars From a Marriage just didn't live up to them, for me. It was mostly a sad story of a doomed marriage and two people so lost they have no chance of finding their way back to each other. I didn't find this book funny at all! The use of cars in telling the story was interesting and worked well, I just didn't care for the plot. ( )

"Cars from a Marriage" is a delightfully honest portrayal of a 20+ year marriage, told from the perspective of the cars that the couple drove during their life together. I found this premise intriguing and highly enjoyable. We don't really think about how our cars have been with us through the ups and downs of our lives, and telling the story of a marriage in this manner is refreshing and quite unique!

Ivy Honeycutt and Ellis Halpern meet and fall in love in NYC in 1981. Ivy is a southern transplant with an intense fear of driving, although her father owns the local Buick dealership in her hometown. Ellis is a wannabe stand-up comedian who rescues Ivy from a mean waitress in a nightclub he is performing at. He whisks her away in his 1974 Burgundy Mustang Hatchback and they fall in love.

Where most stories end, "Cars from a Marriage" is just beginning. From the 1982 Light Green Buick LeSabre, to the 1987 Buick Century Wagon (white with wood trim), to the 1992 Silver Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon, to the 1995 Red Audi Cabriolet Convertible (rental), and finally to the Red Chrysler Sebring Convertible (rental), the reader is taken on a journey of the highs and lows of a 20 year marriage. What I found interesting about this book is what each car signifies - that the car is a metaphor for the characters lives at that time. From just starting out, to having children, to figuring out life, to death, and to infidelities. You can picture the family in each of these cars during these times, feel the joy and feel the pain that they are experiencing.

The story is told in alternating chapters between Ivy and Ellis. I really felt for both of these characters. I could understand their frustrations and their angst and you can't help but be drawn into their story, wanting to help them and hoping that they will figure it all out. This story is, at times, laugh-out-loud funny, and at times very, very sad. Just like a marriage.

I would absolutely recommend this book - I loved it! ( )

This is the story of the (probable) dissolution of a marriage, from 1981 to 2001. (The ending is unclear.) It's the story of Ivy, a naive daddy's girl from the South, and Ellis, a stand-up comedian who gradually becomes entangled in the razzle-dazzle of L.A. I thought the author did a good job showing the resentments and changes that build up in a marriage over the years. I wish the ending had been more concrete, but I enjoyed the book anyway. ( )