A Today Show Summer Reads Pick

A Washington Post Book of the Year

""We think we know the ones we love."" So Pearlie Cook begins her indirect, and devastating exploration of the mystery at the heart of every relationship--how we can ever truly know another person.

It is 1953 and Pearlie, a dutiful young housewife, finds herself living in the Sunset District in San Francisco, caring not only for her husband's fragile health, but also for her son, who is afflicted with polio. Then, one Saturday morning, a stranger appears on her doorstep, and everything changes. Lyrical, and surprising, The Story of a Marriage is, in the words of Khaled Housseini, ""a book about love, and it is a marvel to watch Greer probe the mysteries of love to such devastating effect.""

""Inspired, lyrical . . . Mr. Greer's considerable gifts as a storyteller ascend to the heights of masters like Marilynne Robinson and William Trevor. . . . [He] seamlessly choreographs an intricate narrative that speaks authentically to the longings and desires of his characters.""--S. Kirk Walsh, The New York Times

""A beautiful, lyrical novel . . . a book full of urgent questions.""--O, The Oprah Magazine, Recommended Summer Reading

""Andrew Greer writes with an aching clarity of the heart. This is an exquisite story with shattering realizations about love.""--Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club and Saving Fish from Drowning