A wonderfully fresh look at a marriage. Her characters are complex and flawed and the language the author uses reads like a private diary. This is a contemporary and honest look at infidelity and the reality of being married. ( )

Sarah Price is a thirty-five year old wife and mother of two small children. She doesn't feel as though she's getting older, but there are some noticeable changes: a hangover after two beers, the stray gray hair, and, most of all, she's called "Mom" by two small children. Always responsible, Sarah traded her MFA Degree for a steady job, which allows her husband Nathan to write fiction. But Sarah is happy and she believes Nathan is too, until a shattering truth is revealed: Nathan's upcoming novel, Infidelity, is based in fact.

Suddenly Sarah's world is totally turned upside down. Adding to her confusion, Nathan abdicates responsibility for the fate of their relationship and of his novel's publication - a financial lifesaver they have been depending upon - leaving both in Sarah's hands. Reeling from Nathan's betrayal, Sarah is constantly plagued by dark questions. How well does she really know Nathan? And, more importantly, how well does she really know herself?

For answers, Sarah looks back to her artistic twenty-something self to try to understand what happened to her dreams. When did it all seem to change? Pushed from her complacent plateau, Sarah begins to act - for the first time not so responsibly - on all the things she has let go of for so long: her blank computer screen; her best friend, Helen; the unread volumes of Proust on her bookshelf. And then there is that email in her inbox: a note from Rajiv, a beautiful man from her past who once tempted her to stray. The struggle to discover which version of herself is the essential one - artist, wife, or mother - takes Sarah hundreds of miles away from her marriage on a surprising journey of self-discovery.

I really enjoyed this book. It was beautifully written and the characters completely drew me in. I just had to find out what happened to them. Husband and Wife is the first book by Leah Stewart that I have read, although I will certainly be looking out for more books by this author. I give Husband and Wife by Leah Stewart an A! ( )

I loved this book on so many levels the characters, the voice, the humor, the pathos. ( )

I liked it but.... It was very very slow, and Sarah was a bit of a whiner.... However, that's easy to say when you're peering into a life and not actually living it. ( )

Imagine that you're preparing to attend a friend's wedding, the babysitter is downstairs keeping the children engaged, your husband is looking for a shoe and he decides to tell you that he had an affair a year ago while you were pregnant. So begins Husband and Wife by Leah Stewart.

Sarah Price is forced to accept that her marriage is far from perfect. She also realizes that Nathan's newest book INFIDELITY has far-reaching implications now that he's admitted to his own infidelity. She has given up on her own creativity as a poet to work and support their family so Nathan could continue to write. Sarah thought she was happy but soon realizes that she has just become accepting of life changes rather than being truly happy. In an effort to regain her sense of self, she plays hooky from work, packs up the kids and travels from North Carolina to Texas by car. She stays with friends in Texas and starts a "relationship" with a college friend that seems to appreciate her for who she really is.

In many ways Sarah has to learn to accept that she is providing more restraints on her life than anyone else. She can't blame Nathan or circumstances on where she is with regards to being a poet. She decided that she couldn't write poetry anymore and that she had nothing more to offer creatively. When she realizes that marriage and life is about compromise as well as growth, she realizes that creativity is ultimately in the mind of the beholder. If she wants to write poetry she can, if she doesn't then she won't. Along with this realization comes the knowledge that you can't ever go back in time.

Although I condemn Nathan's extramarital activities, I found that I could only sympathize with Sarah so far. Her reaction of "you had an affair so I should be able to have one too" is very childish. I found Husband and Wife to be a decent read, offering a somewhat credible and realistic story even with the juvenile attitudes and behavior. ( )