This was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it. thanks for letting me have an advance copy. I'm new to this author.

Readable enough, very smooth writing. But a few days after I finished it, I struggled to remember any of it. Slightly underwhelming.

While I liked the writing, the plot of this book dragged a little. It was very strong on dialogue and relationship study but, as a result, felt too slow and laborious.

William Nicholson is very talented at realistic character portraits, exploring the dynamics of our relationships and what makes us the people we are. Unfortunately, I got 50% through this book before I stopped reading. It's undoubtedly well-written, but it was moving too slowly for my liking and failed to hold my interest. I couldn't find myself particularly invested in the outcome, and whilst it being set against the backdrop of our 2015 election was interesting, it almost feels that since so much has happened in the intervening couple of years, it already feels out of date.

William Nicholson writes well about women and men, sex and sexuality, marriage and fidelity - all under the microscope in this story of middle class, middle aged life set in Lewes in East Sussex. Empathetic and insightful, this is an easy and enjoyable read.

A beautifully written novel exploring various themes but predominantly middle age and marriage. As always Nicholson has an amazing eye for detail and such empathy for his flawed characters.

An intelligent, enjoyable, and tenderly humorous tale of love, lust, identity and midlife crisis in a world where life and marriage can last way beyond the child rearing years. Almost a comedy of manners, the characters negotiate their way through a maze of responsibility, morality, excitement, loss, disappointment and fulfilment in a way which will resonate with the contemporary reader. Adventures in Modern Marriage is a pleasure to read.

Adventures in Modern Marriage is one of a series of books by William Nicholson and I haven't read any of the others yet. I found this an unusual read but pertinent in view of the material he writes about, including family life and modern day politics.

The focus is on three middle class families at the time of the 2015 General Election. It's a book about people essentially, and how they react to various events in their lives. Children growing up and leaving the family home resonated as did the feeling that many politicians are out of touch with the people they represent, thus leaving them feeling disenfranchised.

An elderly mother dying a long drawn out death is a quandary for her daughter to cope with and not feel guilt is another issue that families face today; an article about women and sex written by one of the younger characters covers the double standards by which men and women are still judged; the loss of power and men having to grow used to the fact that they can no longer do what they used to. Everything experienced by each character is so well described as if Mr Nicholson knew each one personally.

Thanks to Netgalley and Quercus for the opportunity to read and review the book. I shall look out other novels by William Nicholson.

Set in the genteel town of Lewes in East Sussex, the latest novel from William Nicholson, successful screenwriter, playwright and novelist, takes place against the background of the 2015 general election. His middle-class, middle-aged characters have mid-life crises in all their forms, but what makes this novel interesting is the questions it raises: can there be honesty and openness in marriage? If female libido is equal to men’s, then is adultery really so bad if desire is a basic need that both men and women experience? And, ultimately once the children leave home and careers are stalling, how do we live our lives?
Everything is thrown up in the air – for this is a comedy in the traditional sense of the word – but, by the end of the novel, all is resolved: there is no shortage of food in Waitrose, all indiscretions are out in the open, and for everyone there is hope and a future.
Apart from the darkest blot on the sunny landscape: Aster, elderly and dying, has lived with bitter memories of her husband who left her forty years ago. I’ll stop missing him after he’s dead… it’s knowing he’s alive and with the doormat that I can’t bear.’ Her daughter, Liz, who was expected to fill his place, only ever received criticism, not praise. In this moving and melancholy portrait, we see what a waste Aster’s angry, unhappy life has been; and her role in the novel is to point up the consequences of not forgiving or accepting. As Aster is slowly eased out of life by the good humoured hospice nurses, it’s Liz who finally rises to the occasion and sorts everyone out when the novel reaches its climax.
The novel ends with a strong message: You have to learn to live the rest of your life in a new way to achieve the maturity to enjoy each day like a second childhood where tomorrow felt like a brand-new day, waiting to unfold, in which old wounds could be healed, and new joys discovered.
Adventures in Modern Marriage is an enjoyable, gently humorous look at marriage and other long relationships and how to live a good life. In asking for openness and understanding, not forgiveness, it is also quietly radical.

Do women crave sex as much as men? That is the question at the centre of ADVENTURES IN MODERN MARRIAGE. Three middle-aged couples, based in Sussex and Notting Hill, dance around each other in a week when the 2015 General Election takes place. Not that this is a bed-hopping bonkbuster, no this is a considered look at love, ego and power.

Full review on Catherine's Cultural Wednesdays http://culturalwednesday.co.uk/book-review-adventures-in-modern-marriage/

I was given a free proof copy of this by Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Adventures in Modern Marriage looks at three middle-class couples, middle-aged and slightly above. The story is set over the days around the 2015 general election with the political upset by the unexpected results mirrored by the character’s personal upheavals. The author's insight into the workings of the human mind, of how the characters deal with ageing, how their evolution affects their relationships, and the feelings that arise when their children have reached adulthood, makes for a very interesting read. The consideration of gender-based sexual double standards and fidelity makes for an intriguing look at modern marriage.

The book is part of a series, although I was unaware of this when I read it and had no trouble immersing myself in the story and the lives of its characters. I think it would probably be worth reading the other books in the series but Adventures in a Modern Marriage works perfectly well as a stand-alone novel. This is a really good piece of emotional and family drama.

It is sometime since I read The Secret Intensity of Everyday Life by William Nicholson but I do remember enjoying it, and his other books, very much. Adventures in Modern Marriage features some of the same characters from the author's other books. They aren't quite sequels but the same characters may appear in different books perhaps with less of a focus on them. It doesn't matter if you haven't read any of them before, all the books are easily enjoyed as stand alone novels.

Adventures in Modern Marriage focuses on three couples: Harry and Laura, Allan and Liz and Annie and Mitch. All are at the stage in their marriages when they have been together a long time, their children are growing up and leaving home and elderly parents may be in need of care - the sandwich generation if you like. The book is an intense exploration of what each marriage is like and the challenges and trials the couples face.

I found this to be a quietly compelling novel which had me immersed in the characters' lives as I read. I felt fury along with Henry when his tv project didn't go to plan. I empathised with Liz sitting with her dying mother wishing it was all over, but feeling guilty at the same time. I was angry with Alan as he put his marriage at risk when he met a former lover and wondered what if? I was also cheering Liz on as she worked on her magazine article showing that yes, women are just as interested in the physical side of a relationship as men and that being of a certain age doesn't mean their desires fade. I really want to know more about Carrie, Henry and Laura's daughter, and find out why she was so unhappy. I hope she might be the focus of a future book.

In examining the everyday happenings of each character's life in fine detail, William Nicholson takes his reader right into their minds. I enjoyed reading about characters of a similar age to myself and although not having the same predicaments, I could identify with their situations being a wife, mother and daughter myself. The book is a thoughtful look at marriages after many years, with their regrets and temptations but also delights. With William Nicholson's characteristically beautiful writing, this is a well observed reflective look just what a modern marriage is.

Exactly as the title suggest, this very readable novel explores a contemporary marriage and is narrated with empathy and perception and with a fine eye for the details of everyday life. The characters are sympathetically portrayed and the nuances of married life well observed. But at its heart it’s a rather banal story of love and sex in middle age, and although the writing elevates it above its mundane subject, at the end of the day it doesn’t really amount to very much. However, I must admit to enjoying it quite a lot!

I approach a new William Nicholson novel with the same sense of pleasurable anticipation as I have when I read an Anthony Trollope. And he never lets me down! This seventh book in what I call his East Sussex series is a delight. It's a joy to meet again many of his long standing characters and share, all too briefly, to misquote the author, in the many trivialities which give meaning to their lives. Every one of the 432 pages is filled with his boundless wit and wisdom which flows effortlessly from his pen and deserves to be much more widely read. I'll be hard pressed to read a more satisfying and enjoyable novel this year!

I struggled with this - having really loved The Secret Intensity of Everyday Life.
I liked the beginning, but then really found it hard to keep going with no plot to pull me forward.

Dan Savage (from the Savage Lovecast podcast, which you should definitely listen to if you don't already) often advises listeners to "do what you need to do to stay married and stay sane". This book is basically the elongated version of that advice, and I very much enjoyed it. It felt a bit like William Nicholson maybe read a similar article to the one that Liz pens, in the book, and thus decided to write his own book on the very same topic. I'm all for it!