Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff

    Love and marriage are tried and true plot lines for writers.  Telling a story about two people who meet, fall in love, marry and then weather the storms of their lives generates a tale that is often a blending of truths from the two people involved.  Lauren Groff in her novel, Fates and Furies, takes a much different approach to telling about the love and marriage of Lancelot (Lotto) and Mathilde.  This story is told through two entirely separate sections.  Lotto's story of love and life with Mathilde is found in the "fates" half of the book.  Lotto, the charming, handsome, wealthy young man who glides through life with ease is madly in love with his wife and lives in supremely blissful ignorance of any real problem.  Chance and "magic" take care of most of Lotto's success and he floats along, happy and content.  The second section, "furies," is a counterbalance to Lotto.  In this section Mathilde reveals many truths that Lotto never knew or never acknowledged about his wife and their life together.  Mathilde is much darker, much more filled with needs for revenge and retribution toward most of the people in her life except for Lotto.  These two damaged souls found each other and lived happily together in a kind of crazy dance on a ledge.  Lotto did not realize the danger he was so close to and Mathilde kept the demons at bay for Lotto's sake.  This is not a typical "marriage" story but perhaps that was Groff's plan, She says through Mathilde, "she was so tired of the old ways of telling stories, all those worn narrative plots...she needed something messier...something like a bomb going off."  This is not a feel good, pat yourself on the back, happy marriage book.  It is a beautifully written, thought provoking work that leaves readers with more questions than answers.  Kind of like real life.