Book Review: The Uncoupling by Meg Wolitzer

Title: The Uncoupling
Author: Meg Wolitzer
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
Publication Date: April 5, 2011
Hardcover: 288 pages
ISBN: 978-1594487880
Genre: Fiction

From the Publisher:

When the elliptical new drama teacher at Stellar Plains High School chooses for the school play Lysistrata-the comedy by Aristophanes in which women stop having sex with men in order to end a war-a strange spell seems to be cast over the school. Or, at least, over the women. One by one throughout the high school community, perfectly healthy, normal women and teenage girls turn away from their husbands and boyfriends in the bedroom, for reasons they don’t really understand. As the women worry over their loss of passion, and the men become by turns unhappy, offended, and above all, confused, both sides are forced to look at their shared history, and at their sexual selves in a new light.

As she did to such acclaim with the New York Times bestseller The Ten-Year Nap, Wolitzer tackles an issue that has deep ramifications for women’s lives, in a way that makes it funny, riveting, and totally fresh-allowing us to see our own lives through her insightful lens.

My Review:

I will admit I struggled through The Uncoupling by Meg Wolitzer and still am uncertain about my feelings about this book.  Did I enjoy the book?  Apparently enough so that I was able to complete the book, however while reading The Uncoupling I could not help wishing it was shorter.  The Uncoupling takes place in Stellar Plains, New Jersey, the year Fran Heller is hired as the drama teacher at Eleanor Roosevelt High School and chooses Lysistrata, an excellent play but in my opinion, not one a high school would allow as the next school production, but I digress.  That winter, a spell is cast over the entire population of women in the town where none of them want sexual relations and none of them know why.  While this could make for an intriguing and unique premise to a book, it fell flat with me, possibly because I was hoping for more. The book assumes that all healthy relationships between a husband and wife must include an enthusiastic sexual component.  And really, this is the fundamental core of the book; how a person is defined, or that was my impression.  Wolitzer has created a thought-provoking book through the use of wit, a quirky cast of characters, which at times are overly simplified, quite possibly so the reader may extrapolate the information and look inward, and at times I did give pause, but not about sexuality, rather about my 20-year marriage and how well we treat each other.  The Uncoupling takes a rather unusual approach to looking at society and the importance of sex throughout the generations, I did not agree with many of Wolitzer’s generalizations and the heavy emphasis placed on sexual relations, which is a main component of the book, but one the author wrote well about.  Wolitzer tells the story in three parts, much like a play, and the second act was probably the most interesting to me, however, I have ultimately concluded that I would have rather read Lysistrata.  I had very much wanted to enjoy The Uncoupling and yet, it just did not work well for me, even though it was well written, witty, quirky and tackling a very deep topic, the heavy emphasis on sexual relations was not a topic I enjoyed.   I do think The Uncoupling would make for an intriguing discussion group choice.

About the Author:

Meg Wolitzer is the author of eight previous novels, including The Ten-Year Nap, The Position, and The Wife. Her short fiction has appeared in The Best American Short Stories and The Pushcart Prize. She lives in New York City.

Further information can be found on Meg Wolitzer’s website and her Facebook page.

For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.

I received an ARC copy of The Uncoupling by Meg Wolitzer from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

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