ANGER

by May Sarton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 27, 1982

Middle-aged marriage counseling--with ruffles of chiffon speech, elite scenery (Boston, beach), and countless repetitions of the theme: let those inner feelings flow forth to the one you love, even angry inner feelings. Singer Anna Lindstrom Fraser, 35, is a veritable Etna of feelings, ""a prisoner of my own rage."" Anna, who married 40-ish husband Ned for safety ""after years of struggle and insecurity,"" is stressed by the demands of her concert career (she solos with the Boston Symphony and such). And though she bubbles with love for Ned, she rages at him too--because he hides his feelings behind the facade of a proper Boston banker. (Ned's reticence is partly a reaction to his widowed mother's longtime moanings.) Furthermore, Ned is increasingly silent, doesn't even go to Anna's concerts, and can't even say ""I love you."" Finally, then, after a visit to Ned's irritating, pathetically lonely mother, Anna forces him deep into his past: Could his father have been a suicide? Has Ned buried his anger at his father all these years? And after Ned hears Anna sing brilliantly in Dallas (fueled by her own anger), he realizes the potential of expressed anger. He dredges up old angers. He cries. So Ned and Anna are closer and ready to accept both bitter and sweet--together. Soothing backgrounds, sound relationship-therapy points made again and again--(""I am becoming the prisoner of your ethos"") but unrelievedly talky.

Pub Date: Sept. 27, 1982

ISBN: 0393313891

Page Count: -

Publisher: Norton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1982

Categories: FICTION