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A Great Marriage

By: Frances Mayes
Narrated by: Sid Sagar, Will Watt, Cassandra Campbell, Eileen Stevens, George Newbern, Dan Bittner, Carrington MacDuffie, Karissa Vacker, Xe Sands, Annie Q. Riegel
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Publisher's summary

When a perfect wedding is called off just days before the big event, it sends two people—and their families—reeling, in this poignant novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Under the Tuscan Sun and Women in Sunlight

“A moving immersion in love and loss.”—People

A great marriage is an elusive thing, and only a few know the secret to making one.

Dara Willcox, in New York for a weekend, meets Austin Clarke at an art gallery. If love at first sight can happen, it happens to them. These two vivid, ambitious people are on different courses—he’s British, working temporarily in New York. She’s from North Carolina, set on law school. They don’t care. They will make their lives together happen. At their April engagement dinner at Dara’s family home, her mother, Lee, sets a beautiful table, and the family and close friends gather to celebrate. Rich, Dara’s father, raises a toast. Suddenly, Lee spills the wine, a brilliant red stain splashing onto the tablecloth and onto Austin.

Days later, Austin hears unsettling news from London that wrecks their plans. Dara abruptly cancels the wedding. She refuses to reveal the reason, not even to her best friends or her parents or grandmother, disrupting their family tradition of openness. As everyone knows, Lee and Rich have a great marriage, and Charlotte, her grandmother, had a colossal one, to the late Senator Mann. Charlotte literally wrote the book on the subject: She’s the author of international bestsellers on what makes a good or possibly a great marriage.

While Dara escapes to California and Indigo Island, South Carolina, Austin, back in London, faces a major tragedy, the consequences of which are life-altering. But it’s Lee, Dara’s mother, whose impulsive visit to London alters their fate.

With her signature warmth, humor, and incisive style, beloved author Frances Mayes creates a multigenerational probe into the complexity of love and the great mystery ride of marriage. A novel of casual choices and fateful consequences, A Great Marriage introduces two unforgettable families and the arrival of a stranger who rearranges their futures.

©2024 Frances Mayes (P)2024 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“A grand love story with plenty of surprises . . . The pleasure of this book is in its rare combination of eloquent writing, human insights, and page-turning storytelling.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Mayes’ talent for creating engaging, empathetic characters coping with the challenges of modern love is on full display in this supremely satisfying escapist love story.”Booklist​

What listeners say about A Great Marriage

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

If you love Frances Mayes’ work, this will be a complete treat.

LOVED all of the “nods” to Francese’s life experiences, from “Sister” the cat to the stunning, surprise wedding. She has created a complete gem. I shed a tear when the pastor showed up unexpectedly, anticipating the outcome. Loved every moment. 😊💕

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Loved the Setting

I loved the setting, inspired by coastal North Carolina. My favorite part of the novel was delighting in the restoration of the Indigo, an inn that was in left in an abandoned state.

I don’t want to spoil anything, and I am sure that this will be an unpopular opinion, but I didn’t like the ending. As someone who has suffered from infertility, I had complex feelings about how neatly it was all wrapped up.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Couldn’t put it down

This was the first book that I have read in a very long time that I didn’t want to put down and I didn’t want it to end.

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Life Well Understood

Many threads weave together as the characters open their hearts. How not to feel affinity with the seemingly real people in this story as unexpected circumstances force new acceptance and inner growth?

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A wonderful Mess

Life can be a mess, but sometimes it’s the adventure of bringing it back together that is worth living for. Another great book by Mrs. Mayes

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Uneventful

It was all about the back story.Then feels like it ended abruptly, which was probably a good thing. If I had not been listening to it, I would have not picked the book back up. Great book if you need a nap.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Meh…

Privileged young woman with a perfect life discovers that one thing in her life isn’t as perfect as she thought and falls apart. Lovely writing but the arc wasn’t compelling for me. Kept wishing fate would interject and say ‘oh yeah? I’ll give you something to cry about.”

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Terrible Narration

I had to stop and return this book because the narration was terrible. Women and men alike…cringe worthy. Particularly the man’s voice sounding like Vincent Price-which is a great choice for some books, but so wrong here. Too bad because I wanted to find out what happens.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Way too long and rambling

This story is really not unique or terribly interesting and the book is way too long and rambling with too many periphery characters with undeveloped stories that aren’t relevant to the main story.

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