Product Description

Virginia and Buddy "had to get married." Their daughter, Madeline, was conceived the first time they "did it" in Buddy's room at college. Virginia's college asked her to leave. Her parents put on a wedding. And now? Well, as Virginia puts it, "now that we know each other a little better it turns out we are actually strangers." Set in 1960, AN ACTUAL LIFE, is about the second summer of Buddy and Virginia's marriage. There's no money, no love, no foreseeable future. They both try hard, but Virginia is all of nineteen and Buddy only just past twenty and neither one has a clue how to make this misbegotten marriage work. The way it ends is both a complete surprise and utterly inevitable.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1891244 in Books
• Published on: 1995-12-07
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .71 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 252 pages

From Amazon.com
"It is too bad marriage doesn't come with attachments like a vacuum cleaner. You can't do anything with ours. Ours just sits there and blows hot air," says Virginia, the 19-year-old narrator of An Actual Life. Having gotten pregnant in the late 1950s after a single night of not so blissful sex, she is now mired in a joyless marriage. Her young husband Buddy works, goes to school, and ignores her, preferring to spend free time with his high school girlfriend Irene, whose marriage to Buddy's best friend Chick seems just as much of a sham. In the meantime, Virginia plays with their daughter Madeline, repeats every superstition she's ever heard--passing on the stairs is bad luck, a dropped knife heralds a man's arrival--and obsessively charts Buddy's comings and goings. Quirky humor makes the reader laugh and wince, while adept characterization and flowing prose add up to a wonderful, featherweight novel.

From Publishers Weekly
In her first novel, Thomas, who began writing at age 50 after a career as a literary agent and editor, displays the same incisive character portrayal and bantering prose that readers enjoyed in her collection of short stories, Getting Over Tom. Here, she has taken one of those stories, about the shotgun wedding of college students Virginia and Buddy in 1960, and produced a spirited and often very funny novel about their horrendous marriage. The events, related in Virginia's voice, take place mostly in the house of Buddy's sweet, goofy Aunt Dot, in Buddy's New Jersey hometown. Virginia's life now revolves around her baby, Madeline-which is a good thing, since Buddy is sneaking around with his longtime love and ex-girlfriend, the truck-driving, heavily made-up Irene, who happens to be married to his best friend. Although she doesn't love Buddy and bravely accepts Irene's attempts at friendship, Virginia is still hurt by Buddy's infidelity. Ultimately, she must decide whether she will conform to what her family-and even Buddy himself-expect: that she stay in a loveless marriage for the sake of the baby. Thomas does a masterful job in portraying Virginia: she is terribly naive, has little sense of herself, is uptight, sexually prudish and superstitious. Yet she is also a very young woman stuck in a rotten situation, and her spunky, if often clueless, attempts to make the best of things-and to discover what she wants-are endearing and compelling.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Virginia and Buddy married young because they had to: Virginia conceived the night she lost her virginity. Now she is trapped in a loveless marriage. Buddy remains in love with his high school sweetheart, whom he continues to see on the sly. This novel chronicles Virginia's attempts to make the marriage work, against all odds. Consumed with both tender maternal feelings toward her daughter, Maddie, and the unfulfilled longings of a young, romantic girl, Virginia struggles with her self-esteem as Buddy fails to show any interest in her. She has the support of loving parents and Buddy's aunt, but they aren't privy to her private angst. Thomas (Getting Over Tom, Algonquin, 1994) weaves a good story, beautifully capturing the jaded innocence and idealism of Virginia. The tale is simple and sad, but Virginia triumphs in the end, so the reader is not left dejected. Recommended for public libraries.
Kimberly G. Allen, MCI Corporate Information Resources Ctr., Washington, D.C .
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.