Review: Captivating novel about the collapse of a marriage
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 4, 2013
For starters, "When We Were Married" really gets into the nitty-gritty emotional aspects of a collapsing marriage.  From lies, violence, self-pity, and passion, Daniel Quentin Steele writes a multi-dimensional novel about a man struggling to regain his life after his wife leaves him.Whether intentional or not, the protagonist Bill started off as arrogant and annoying, but grew more relatable as the novel progressed.  I never had a specific character to "root" for, which was difficult in trying to feel a strong connection with Bill or his wife Debbie.  There were too many flaws in their character portrayals, which may have been what Steele wanted.  However, Steele writes such emotional and charged dialogue between the couple, that it made me want to keep reading. This also made me able to look past the typos and grammatical errors since the plot line was so strong.  Steele is a fantastic writer who can successfully bring out the drama in any situation.I'm not going to lie, it was a long book, I was very aware of it while I was reading. What made it feel long was Steele's intense attention to detail. Sometimes this painted a very realistic picture of a relatable situation, but other times it came across as excessive.  For example, each chapter started with a quick recap that completely disrupted the flow from the previous chapter.  I'm not sure what Steele was trying to accomplish, but it reminded me of the summaries at the beginning of weekly television shows, and it proved redundant since I had just read what happened.As for the language and crude scenes, I never have a problem with it if the author weaves it into the storyline--which he did.  The harsh language helped create Bill character and was a part of him, so I found it entirely necessary.  It didn't go over-the-top to the point of making me uncomfortable, but it's a good thing to be warned about in case it isn't your thing.