Personally, I liked the book because it was about characters in a specific time frame on a very interesting journey. I felt Pilar could have been better developed but that Mia and Julian were certainly the focus. It is a story about how decisions can affect your future and how/why people make decisions based on outside forces and the lessons we learn from that.

This book stirred emotions in me that I haven't felt in years and had me crying and laughing at various points. The loss of a mother, a divorce, saving pieces of the past...all things that can scar a child and influence their personal lives.

Speaking with Josh on the speakerphone was great for our group. We thoroughly enjoyed his insight into the characters and his 10 year struggle to develop the book into novel form. He is a great person to have speak to a group and I would recommend it to other books clubs interesting in finding out the reasons writers write!

Well written but with fairly shallow characters. Our "older" members wanted to give the characters a "good talking to", while the "younger' members thought the characters were well defined and believable. Lots of issues for discussion.

I thought this book was very blah. No excitement, no plot twists or climaxes. Just when you think something is about to happen it gets glossed over and you've fast forwarded beyond it.

Have no idea why this is called "Matrimony". I think it is a cynical look at marriage. Might bring up some good discussion about what matrimony means.

As I was reading this book, I thought I had made a mistake and got the wrong "Matrimony" book. I was sincerly hoping there was another book with the same title but different author. I found out, there was no mistake. I reluctantly read the rest of the book. The only character I found somewhat interesting was Professor Chesterfield.

I disagree with the reviewer that said it wasn't about matrimony. It was all pretty much about the whole processes of courtship, marriage, infidelity, surviving marriage and friendship, and family relationships and how they affect your views of marriage. It is a better book to discuss after reading than enjoying the reading experience of the story. I suppose I would recommend it for book club discussions (because there was more passion in members' discussions than in the whole book), but otherwise not for individual enjoyment or enlightenment.

Matrimony is a character-rich depiction of life. You'll meet Julian & Carter during their freshman year of college; suffer along with them as they endure the curmudgeonly barbs of Professor Chesterfield; root for their romances & careers to succeed; empathize with their bumpy pasts and fragile futures; and if the mid-point "revelation" between Julian & Carter doesn't spark some debate amongst your book club members...well, then you're just not alive and breathing!

From the first page - this is a terrific book - my club loved it. The characters are rich and resonant and the story is both emotional and extremely well told. Henkin is a beautiful writer and master at characters that live off the page long after the book is done. The questions about love, delusion and fidelity.

I saw a review of this that called this "a quiet novel." That's the best description I can imagine for it. Nothing earth-shattering, or portray as such. Just 4 characters' lives, their relationships with one another as they grow up, with lovely prose. If that's your cup of tea, you'll love this one. Everyone in our group did. It turned out to be a really good discussion book, too.

If you are not currently in a book club Joshua Henkin's much anticipated second novel Matrimony is the reason to start one! Henkin's ability to make the reader feel as though they are in the moment along with the characters is what makes Matrimony a story that will resonate with you long after the book is back on the shelf. I didn't want to say goodbye to Mia and Juilian, and as the weight of the pages shifted, and I could see the conclusion out of the corner of my right eye I found myself reading more slowly in order to savor every moment. Upon completion I felt the need to share the experience with everyone, I will have to buy a second copy to lend out to friends, this one is mine to treasure.

Henkin is the kind of writer that other writers admire. His prose is lovely and taut. I loved the characters, felt that I knew them and wanted to know them more. I liked getting into the characters' minds. I found this book very interesting and readable and have recommended it to all my friends. Having the author available for book club discussion seems to me to be the total literary jackpot! An offer too good to refuse.

A dramatic and honest story of young love being challenged unexpectedly. Henkin engages readers with intricate, real characters that change and grow over time. This book was well-received in our group and touched many of us with insights on friendships and marriage.

MATRIMONY is a book to savor slowly, to read a little and then stop and consider what you've read and to make inevitable connections of your own. Because Joshua Henkin has somehow managed to tap into the mainstream consciousness of what it was to be young and then suddenly not-so-young back in the 80s and 90s. And yet his characters are unique, memorable and all their own. Henkin has figured out how to combine Everyman and his own particular voices or characters, represented here by Julian Wainwright and alternately, his wife, Mia Mendelsohn. Granted, these two main voices may seem to come from lives of comparative wealth and privilege, but their hopes and dreams, fears and disappointments, heartbreaks and joys are universal.

I especially enjoyed the various academic settings, shifting from Ivy League (the fictional Graymont College) to Big Ten (U of M in Ann Arbor) to the Iowa corfields (the Iowa Writers Workshop). Henkin provided plenty of satisfying and authentic details and description, particularly with the two latter campuses. In the Iowa section, Henkin also quite perfectly describes his own writing style, in a passage on a story Julian was working on -

"The story was quiet; all his work was. Perhaps it was a matter of differing aesthetics. There had emerged in American fiction a strain of excess, he believed, a group of knowing authors whose every sentence seemed to shout, 'Look how smart I am.' He had nothing against muscular prose; it was the flexing of those muscles he objected to, and along with it a disregard for character, which, for him, was what fiction was about."

A quiet kind of fiction with emphasis on character - that's what Joshua Henkin writes, as exemplified both here, in MATRIMONY, and also in his wonderful debut novel, SWIMMING ACROSS THE HUDSON.

I was reminded of other novels of academia I've read in the past. They may not have a lot in common, but I'm going to list a few anyway. Philip Roth's early novel, LETTING GO, has always been a particular favorite of mine. So have John Irving's THE WATER METHOD MAN, Marge Piercy's SMALL CHANGES, John Williams's STONER, and Larry McMurtry's MOVING ON and TERMS OF ENDEARMENT. What is the biggest difference between those novels and MATRIMONY is the sweetness Joshua Henkin brings to his stories. He is not afraid to let his feminine side and sensibilities show, as in his description of Mia's fears over a lump she finds in her breast and in his treatment of the whole concept of gene-related breast cancer.

As was true of his first novel, MATRIMONY is a book about love. This time love is examined in the context of marriage, with all its ups and downs. And not just in Julian and Mia's marriage, but in those of their parents - both sets - and their friend Carter. Henkin treads softly and carefully in these areas, and in so doing he has created a story that is both complex and simple all at the same time. Discerning readers will come to care about Julian and Mia, and probably see a bit of themselves in them. I may have said the same thing about SWIMMING ACROSS THE HUDSON, but what the hell, I'll say it again. I loved this book. - Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir BOOKLOVER

Unfortunately, even with novels I thoroughly enjoy, I tend to forget the characters and plot points almost immediately after putting the book down. This one was different. The characters were beautifully drawn. The dialogue was fresh, and I liked how the author wasn't shy about weaving ideas and issues into the characters' journey into adulthood. Whatever the reason, all I can say is that the story and the characters have stayed with me for well over a year now. It's a great read, folks, and I highly recommend it.

Jealousy, loss, betrayal, mortality, musings about the writer's struggle? It's all in there. But at bottom it's just an engaging and memorable read about some imperfect, but deeply compelling, characters coming to terms with their youthful aspirations as they settle into the realities of adulthood. And it's written with a beautiful, light touch that makes it all the more satisfying. I really enjoyed it.

I adored this book. The characters are so real and lifelike you feel that you know them as well as you know your family and friends. Matrimony follows the twenty-year history of a relationship, and in the course of it covers such things as friendship, sickness and health, infidelity, sibling tensions, and growing up. There's a key moment in the book that provoked a lot of great discussion and debate in our book club. There are sad moments in the book but also a lot of humor and Henkin writes with such a winning, light touch. I was really sorry to get to the last page. It's a perfect book club selection.

Touching and insightful examination of marriage and friendship. Reads quickly.

Matrimony displays Henkin's light touch and insightful observations about relationships and the world around us. The book avoids gimmicks and relies on solid writing, interesting plot and satisfying resolution to make its points. Memorable for its restraint and wisdom - can't recommend highly enough.