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Sally Mandel
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Portrait of a Married Woman: A Novel Kindle Edition

by Sally Mandel (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.5 3.5 out of 5 stars 22 ratings
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A dissatisfied wife is tempted by another man in this novel by the New York Times–bestselling author of Out of the Blue: “A wonderful writer” (Luanne Rice, author of The Secret Language of Sisters).
 
After seventeen years of marriage, Maggie Hollander seems like she has it all. Her husband, Matthew, still loves her deeply, and two irrepressible children complete the picture-perfect family in their elegant New York apartment.
 
But at thirty-eight, Maggie has questions about herself that grow deeper and more disturbing. Once a promising artist, she decides to return to art class in search of answers. It is there she meets a sculptor who rekindles her talent—and her passion. David Golden will expose Maggie to a tenderness that is as liberating as it is dangerous, and will carry her toward an unforeseen choice . . .
 
“A living, breathing portrait of a truly contemporary woman . . . A lovely read.” —Barbara Taylor Bradford, New York Times–bestselling author of Voice of the Heart

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  1. Print length
    265 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Diversion Books
  5. Publication date
    September 10, 2013
  6. File size
    2714 KB
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The author of Change of Heart has again produced a contemporary romance, this one focused on an extramarital love affair. On the verge of her 38th birthday, Maggie Hollander is vaguely unhappy. Married to her college sweetheart, ex-Harvard athletic champ and dreamboat Matthew (they met when Maggie was at Radcliffe, naturally), Maggie has two bright teenagers, a lovely Manhattan apartment and a bridge group. So why isn't she happy? For one thing, she has put aside her painting in favor of full-time wife- and motherhood. She fears her talent has gonebut surprise!it's still there waiting to be used, and at her very first art class she meets this sexy, soulful sculptor, David Golden, he of the "uncivilized" blue eyes and urgent sexual need. Readers soon realize that two weighty matters are at stake here: How will Maggie be able to reconcile a career with the demands of her family life? How will she make a decision between husband and lover? Mandel often sweeps into purple prose (she writes of Maggie: "her sensuality, her intelligence, her warmth"; of David: "his creativity, his intellect, his sexuality"), but in the main the story is competently told.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07H18YD6W
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Diversion Books (September 10, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 10, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2714 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 265 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.5 3.5 out of 5 stars 22 ratings

About the author

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Sally Mandel

Sally Mandel

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SALLY MANDEL is the author of seven novels: Heart and Soul (Ballantine); Out of the Blue (Ballantine); A Time to Sing (McGraw Hill/Harper-Collins); Portrait of a Married Woman (Bantam); Quinn (Delacorte/Dell); Change of Heart (Delacorte/Dell), and Take Me Back, which will be published by DiversionBooks in September 2013. Change of Heart was on The New York Times bestseller list for ten weeks. The film rights were sold to Columbia Pictures.

Mandel spent two years writing for television’s Guiding Light and was awarded an Emmy in 1992. Two of her screenplays have been optioned and she is a two-time winner of the Montage/HBO Screenwriting Competition.

She lives in New York City with her husband, and is at work on a new novel.

Customer reviews

3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5 out of 5
22 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Top O' Trawden
5.0 out of 5 stars A rare novel that elicits sympathy for all the characters. Utterly believable!
Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2014
Maggie,38, intelligent and artistic has been married for seventeen years to Matthew a successful lawyer. To all her friends they appear to have the perfect marriage yet beneath the surface Maggie is experiencing feelings of discontent and a yearning for self-fulfilment. Typically, she does not reveal to Matthew the depressing relentlessness of each passing day or the nights she succumbs to his unimaginative love-making.

Throughout the novel Sally Mandel subtly makes us aware of Maggie's predicament. We share her inner torment as she listens to casual remarks that superficially seem insignificant, but sadly in her state of mind are both hurtful and demeaning, Chapters 4 & 5 are arguably two of the most revealing chapters in the book. Their brilliant juxtaposition illustrates the widening gulf between them, even if, sadly, Matthew is not conscious of it! Following these chapters life will inevitably change for both of them.

Maggie now filled with a new determination surprises her family by joining an art class. There she is drawn emotionally and sexually to David Golden a sculptor of repute. Sally Mandel being the brilliant novelist she is captures the emotional intensity of their relationship, the spontaneity of it all mingled with the guilt and apprehension inevitable in such an affair. The novel increases in tempo towards a disturbing climax leaving us with an overwhelming question. However there are enough clues for the discerning reader to deduce the probable outcome. Having read "Quinn", I thought that was a wonderful novel that explored love in all its complexities (See My Review). This novel I believe is even more powerful. Here we are not involved in the love affairs and casual sex of college students but the emotional turmoil of a mature married woman. Sally Mandel enables us to understand and sympathise with Maggie's yearning for love and recognition. I commend this book whole heartedly.

If, as I believe, this book appeals to you so will Dangerous Intimacy by David Lyons. This is an adult novel that also explores the tangled web of relationships amongst a group of friends in their late thirties. There are episodes of passion, love and betrayal. However being a modern tragedy it ends on a ray of hope.
One person found this helpful
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Jennifer Harrison
3.0 out of 5 stars Ok
Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2016
Verified Purchase
Okay read, slow at times.
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T. J. Alberti
5.0 out of 5 stars A Fave Reread!
Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2013
I've probably reread this book at least 10 times since it first appeared in 1986. I was 22 when it was published (I managed to get an advance reading copy from someone who worked in a bookstore), and didn't have a lot in common with main character Maggie Hollander-- she was 38, married with teenage kids, an artist who had lost herself and her art because the demands of motherhood and life had taken over. I was a single college student who wanted to be a writer. Yet something about Maggie's yearnings to rediscover herself and her passion for art, the love connection she finds with another artist, and the way she has tries to untangle all the relationships in her life--all this drew me in. I could relate to so many of her feelings.

It had been several years since I've read this book, so when I picked it up last week, I wondered if it would feel really dated to me. Even though the story is set in mid-80s New York, it wasn't too far off of life today. There is the lack of cell phones, the mention of the World Trade Towers still standing, women playing bridge and talking about what it used to be like to work in sexist office settings... these still seemed to fit with the somewhat exotic (to me) upper-middle-class lifestyle of living in New York and being involved in its art scene.

Maggie's relationship with her artist-lover David does have a bit of romantic cliché about it--with them being missing halves of each other, finishing each other's sentences, etc.--but the author really saves this book with the complexities of all the relationships Maggie has to re-examine in her life. Nothing is predictable about the way these develop, and as Maggie makes big changes, so everything shifts around her. The author is also a master of simplicity in her prose and dialogue--the book reads like a drawing made with long clean strokes--she doesn't overstate or over-describe, often leaving things at the point of tension, and yet, it is just enough.

Funny, now I *am* a little more like Maggie Hollander--a middle-aged married woman (though happily married), seeking the creative parts of myself after years of raising kids. I'm glad to rediscover Maggie again, and to find the hope in her renewal... in reading about her struggle and her discoveries, I once again learn more about myself.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Top O' Trawden
5.0 out of 5 stars A rare novel that elicits sympathy for all the characters. Utterly believable!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 19, 2014
Verified Purchase
Maggie,38, intelligent and artistic has been married for seventeen years to Matthew a successful lawyer. To all her friends they appear to have the perfect marriage yet beneath the surface Maggie is experiencing feelings of discontent and a yearning for self-fulfilment. Typically, she does not reveal to Matthew the depressing relentlessness of each passing day or the nights she succumbs to his unimaginative love-making.

Throughout the novel Sally Mandel subtly makes us aware of Maggie's predicament. We share her inner torment as she listens to casual remarks that superficially seem insignificant, but sadly in her state of mind are hurtful and demeaning. Chapters 4&5 are arguably two of the most revealing chapters in the book. Their brilliant juxtaposition illustrates the widening gulf between them, even if, sadly, Matthew is not conscious of it. Following these chapters life will change for both of them.

Maggie filled with a new determination surprises her family by joining an art class. There she is drawn emotionally and sexually to David Golden a sculptor of repute. Sally Mandel being the brilliant novelist she is captures the emotional intensity of their relationship; the spontaneity of it all mingled with the guilt and apprehension inevitable in such an affair.

The novel increases in tempo and emotion towards a disturbing climax leaving us with an overwhelming question. However there are enough clues for the discerning reader to be able to deduce the likely outcome. Having read "Quinn" I thought that was a wonderful novel that explored love in all its complexities. (See My Review.) This novel I believe is even more powerful. Here we are not involved in the love affairs and casual sex of college students but the emotional upheaval in the life of a mature married woman. We readily understand and sympathise with her yearning for love and recognition. I commend this book whole heartedly.

If, as I believe this book appeals to you so will "Dangerous Intimacy" by David Lyons. This is an adult book that explores the tangled web of relationships amongst a group of friends in their late 30s. There are episodes of passion, love and betrayal. However being a modern tragedy it ends on a ray of hope.
Report
swissmad
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Was not able to put it down until I ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 19, 2014
Verified Purchase
Fantastic Was not able to put it down until I had read it all. Then had to get the rest of her books
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