PAPER trail
A WRYLY OBSERVED AND WITTY TAKE ON MARRIAGE, INFIDELITY, PARENTHOOD AND ORIGAMI
This is a novel about a man trying his best to understand the women in his life. It meanders along and nothing dramatic happens, yet is so witty and perceptive, I found myself not wanting it to end.
Graham is married to Audra, his much younger, beautiful second wife who is talkative, vivacious and one of those people that moves through life like a tornado, sweeping up new friends. She can’t go shopping for groceries without stopping to chat with a dozen acquaintances and she’s always in the middle of some sort of drama. She is the polar opposite of Graham’s first wife, a coolly restrained lawyer called Elspeth.
They all live in New York and their lives revolve around dinner parties and an eccentric cast of other characters.
Graham and Audra’s young son Matthew has Asperger’s and an obsession with origami, which takes them into a peculiar world of clubs and conferences for people who like folding paper. And then there are the random people that Audra invites over as house guests or for meals – the doorman from their building, a member of her book club whose husband has left her, a lonely old man and his badly behaved dog.
Amidst all the chaos and colour of his life, Graham begins to wonder if he might have made the wrong choice. Would he have been better sticking with calm, controlled Elspeth? And is Audra keeping secrets from him?
StandardDeviation follows Graham’s thoughts, conflicts and confusions as he navigates life. Both husband and wife flirt with infidelity but that isn’t really the point of the novel. It’s more about the differences between people and the way they interact with each other. Author Katherine Heiny is a sharp observer and she’s also wryly funny so all of its deliciousness is in the everyday details.
It’s a story about privileged people and their problems but, when it comes to relationships and parenting, we all deal with similar issues so I think it’s pretty relatable. And it’s very amusing; a real treat of a book, that is smart and thoughtful too.