title: Between Husbands and Friends: A Novel
author:  Nancy Thayer 
description: Two Massachusetts families live out a decade of births, deaths, secrets and infidelities in this moving 12th novel from Thayer (An Act of Love). Narrator Lucy West, 37, is a self-employed mother of two; her husband, Max, edits the local newspaper in Sussex, a Boston suburb. Suave, irreverent Kate Cunningham and her husband, Chip, an attorney, move to Sussex in 1987; Kate and Lucy meet at their children's preschool and become fast friends. Soon the couples summer together on Nantucket, and their lives grow ever more entwined. Thayer's narrative jumps back and forth between the couples' present and their shared past. One set of chapters follows the Wests and the Cunninghams from 1987 to 1991: during these years, Kate chafed in her unfulfilling marriage, Max becomes a depressed workaholic and Lucy, devastated by her stillborn baby, takes comfort in a brief affair with Chip. Other chapters relate the events of 1998, which test Lucy's marriage and friendship all over again. When her son, Jeremy (conceived in 1991), is diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, both couples must confront the chance that Chip, not Max, is Jeremy's real father. Readers prepared for the slow pace of Thayer's plot will appreciate her detailed, realistic records of motherhood, child-rearing and domestic routine in Sussex and Nantucket. The finale, set in Boston's Children's Hospital, will strike some as cathartic and fulfilling, others as pat and predictable. Yet thoughtful chronicles of female friendship (see The Book Borrower, above) always have appeal, and Thayer's twist on the relationship is sure and steady. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternates. (Sept.) <br />Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
zlib_text:   
  The Project Gutenberg EBook of Agatha's Husband, by  
  Dinah Maria Craik (AKA: Dinah Maria Mulock)  
    
  This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with  
  almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or  
  re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included  
  with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org  
    
    
  Title: Agatha's Husband  
  A Novel  
    
  Author: Dinah Maria Craik (AKA: Dinah Maria Mulock)  
    
  Illustrator: Walter Crane  
    
  Posting Date: March 13, 2009 [EBook #21767]  
  Release Date: June 8, 2007  
  Last Updated: March 6, 2018  
    
  Language: English  
    
    
  *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AGATHA'S HUSBAND ***  
    
    
    
    
  Produced by David Widger  
    
    
    
    
    
  
  
    
  
  
    
  
  
    
  
  
    
  
  
    
  
  
  # AGATHA'S HUSBAND
  
  
  ### A NOVEL  
  
  
    
  
  
  BY THE AUTHOR OF  
  
  
  'JOHN HALIFAX, GENTLEMAN'
  
  
  ## DINAH MARIA CRAIK
  
  
  ### AKA: Dinah Maria Mulock
  
  
    
  
  
  #### With Illustrations By Walter Crane
  
  
    
  
  
    
  
  
  ##### Macmillan And Co.
  