Whew. This is a heavy one. Beautifully narrated by the author, so definitely listen to the audiobook. Have your tissues ready.

Narrated by the author which was great but the story was just a bit too melancholy for me. I didn't like the main character so it was difficult for me.

I was not a fan of this book personally. I found the story very contrived and uninteresting. That said, I think it’s a novel that other readers will enjoy and is good for book clubs as well.

Sadly, this audiobook didn't excite me at all. I have a feeling that reading it in printed form might be a different experience and I'm going to give that a try.

Beautifully written and beautifully read by the author. Insightful and thoughtful description of a marriage, the impact of infidelity and grief. Highly recommended and will be especially popular with women.

I only listened to about 20% of the book, and I had to put it down. Graham is too self-absorbed and unlikable. That's not automatically a disqualifier, but the book as a whole just wasn't grabbing my attention. I'm finding it hard to care about any of the characters.

I listened to the audio book version. I think the choice of narrator (The author) was spot on. This is a leisurely stroll through the woods in autumn type of book. It is more about the journey then the destination. I am in my 50s. I don’t think my younger self would have liked it.

Love, monogamy, relationships, grief, daily life.
While I was looking forward to reading this book, I didn't quite get in the groove with it. It starts off intriguing, maybe about the first third or so of the book. And you wonder how things will intertwine and come to play. But it was a little too everyday life and not enough to grab me in any way, a slow read, and sad, but in a monotonous average life kind of way. I wanted a build up to something that will happen, but nothing really happens. I didn't connect with any characters enough to care if anything happens. If things happen, they just happen. I enjoy a book as an escape, or inspiration, or sad, but sad in a way that fully grabs my emotion...and this just sort of felt like a flat reality. Just not my kind of read I suppose.

Having the author narrate this audiobook provided a much more insightful exploration of the characters. You could easily tell she knew exactly who Annie and Graham were as people. She expressed the emotions of her characters so well, the reader is drawn into the storyline more than if the narrator were just reading the words of another.

I enjoyed the story of Annie and Graham. When I first selected this book to read, I read only a small portion of the synopsis. For some reason, after reading at least a quarter of the book, I saw more of the description. Sadly, the information included in this description, which I assume is part of the blurb, exposed spoilers I would have preferred not knowing.

I felt like Sue Miller was talking directly to me in this book about marriage. Although I haven’t experienced the unfaithfulness in the story, which makes the title ironic. Her second marriage to Graham and their romantic side as well as their close friendship rings true for someone who has been married a long time. I, too, am friends with my husband’s first wife. Although, my husband has not died, I am grieving his loss as he slowly disappears to dementia. I loved the reflections of the grown children as they seek love and careers just as their parents did. They add to the richness of the story and help fill in the dimensions of Annie, as she tells her story of marriage to Graham. I listened to the audio version as I lay in bedThe tranquil voice, the story in which I had so much in common with Annie, the sorrow at loss I identified. And although, my husband didn’t have an affair, the f*cking demon, Dementia, has stolen my husband just as unfaithfulness seemed to steal Graham from Annie. I imagine that people’s response to this book will depend on their age and their life experiences. For older readers, Miller’s ability to capture the internal lives of the characters will resonate.

This was soooo my kind of book.... and the audio was fantastic. Narrated by the author, her voice was warm and nuanced and perfect for this story.
What starts as a book about marriage and infidelity, becomes so much more. Love, sex, grief, family and friendships, art and creativity, secrets and regrets, aging and death.... and each handled so deftly. Every character leapt from the page, and I cared about each and every one of them. I had not read Sue Miller before, but can’t wait to read more from her. Highly recommended.

This book is not what I expected. It was given glowing reviews, but I just found the characters unlikeable. Perhaps I was not in the "mood" for this type of book. But a book titled "Monogamy" is about all the sexual partners of the characters and about them being in an open marriage. Sorry, but this just wasn't my cup of tea.
The narrator had a pleasant voice and did a good job.

It’s been a while since I’ve read such an enveloping character-driven novel as Monogamy. We don’t just hear about Annie’s life through two marriages, the last ending with his death. We wallow in the grief that she feels, the places her mind goes in the aftermath, full of pain and loss, and the trouble the ensues from a blended family. It’s all there.

Monogamy is narrated by the author, Sue Miller. She captives the listener and helps the listener feel all that pain. This isn’t a novel that makes you cry, but it does weigh heavy on your heart. Great for listening to when you are alone in the car.

This one was not for me. It was long and boring. And, the back cover description basically reveals the whole story. No surprises. Just about grief and how we never really know people.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an okay book. I'm glad I did it as an auidobook, because I probably would have given up if it were in print. I almost did in the audiobook. The first part has a lot of sex, so if you are uncomfortable reading about that, you won't like this book. Some of the language gets a bit graphic. I think the story was overall good and I liked the characters. It just moved a little slow and focused a little too much on the sex lives of the couples than I cared for.

The author narrated this book herself. She did alright but she didn't really distinguish the voices or emote. That could have been better.

I really liked this domestic tale about love, marriage, loss, fidelity, and complex family relationships. The many characters are so well drawn that you feel you really get to know them and they are for the most part pretty likable, despite the flaws that make them interesting. I particularly thought the relationship between Annie and Frieda was well drawn, and I liked that it avoided cliches in the interaction between an ex-wife and widow. The fact that each woman had a close relationship with the child her husband/ex-husband had with the other woman was lovely. You might expect that a step-mother would have a strong bond with her husband's child from a previous marriage, but that the child from the second marriage would develop a loving friendship with her father's ex-wife is less common and added a really warm touch to the story. The setting, including a Cambridge bookstore and all that entails, was very appealing. The philosophical musings are well woven into the narrative, never heavy-handed or overwhelming to the story. Not a whole lot happens, but it was engaging and interesting and really gave the reader room to think and to appreciate the gentle story. I particularly appreciated listening to the audiobook version of this novel. Having the author as the narrator can be a bit of a risk, but Sue Miller was excellent and her almost soothing delivery worked really well with the book. Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperAudio for an allowing me to listen to this novel in advance of its publication.

(I posted this review to Goodreads, but since the ISBN for the audiobook was not found, I could not link through here.)

Tells the story of a couple- Graham, a bookstore owner, and Annie, a photographer, living in Boston. As readers, we're taken through their courtship, marriage, affairs, later life, family relationships and ultimately 30 years of their relationship.
I've never read Sue Miller before but something about the premise of this story drew me in. Without being able to truncate my praise, this story is an absolute sumptuous example of language. I haven't read anything in a long time that felt like such a feast for the senses that I felt explained things so viscerally and honestly. I felt at times as if I was with characters in the room as things were happening, sitting at the table as they were having conversations. I could never properly describe with the same mastery of words that Miller possess, but measure by measure, there was little of this world that was in shadow. The only fallacy in this story for me comes through in Graham's lack of monogamy once he marries Annie, insomuch as how both he and Annie react to it. He, Graham, has this guilt that he describes at one point. Talks about how it is really different with Annie. And yet, is it really? The way his good friend, John, even reacts to Rosemary and the affair, as if it's so commonplace. It entirely lessens your pity and belief that any guilt on Graham's part may be real. I do love what Freida said about Graham later--as if it was an appetite for him--the attention and the lust. But Annie, who was not monogamous at the beginning of her relationship with Graham, being so upset that Graham hadn't been. I think honestly, that it upset her because she had had the choice in front of her to cheat and had chosen the right thing. She's like a child in a candy store, pouting because the other kid got a bigger piece than she. It feels unrealistic to the nature of who either of them really were. They hadn't changed. They just had told themselves they had. In summation, I enjoyed this book. I was pleasantly surprised by the author's adept narration. I would love to read more.

I am reviewing the audiobook version.

The positives- this is a realistic look, under a microscope, of a long term marriage. The minutiae that makes a bond that both bind and strangle a couple.

The negatives-this book dragged on. I did not find any of the main characters especially likable or relatable. The narrator was a bit plodding at times and I really just wanted to get to the end of the story. Maybe it’s because of the times our world is in right now....but this book was not an enjoyable listen for me.

A wonderful in-depth look at a marriage from multiple points of view. Marriage isn't the only relationship this novel portrays--it also contains detailed pictures of parenthood, friendship, relationship with the self. It avoids generalizations through the marvelous specificity of its characters, despite their apparent normality.

A story of a marriage and what happens when what you believe to be true is found to be a lie after the death of a partner. Was the marriage a lie? How can you figure out what was true when they are no longer there to ask. The author, Sue Miller, narrated the book and she was enjoyable to listen to as she gave voice to her characters.