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    The Ninth Wife: A Novel
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    The Ninth Wife: A Novel
    Unavailable
    The Ninth Wife: A Novel
    Ebook465 pages6 hours

    The Ninth Wife: A Novel

    By Amy Stolls

    3.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    "In this funny and engaging novel, Amy Stolls shows us that real–life romance is rarely as clear–cut as it seems. The Ninth Wife is a vibrant, nuanced novel about marriage, identity and the moment when we realize that the shimmer of fantasy pales next to the tumultuous reality of ordinary, everyday happiness.” — Carolyn Parkhurst, author of The Dogs of Babel

    A smart, funny, eye-opening tale of love, marriage, and the power of stories to unlock the true meaning of home and family.

    What sane woman would consider becoming any man's ninth wife?

    Bess Gray is a thirty-five-year-old folklorist and amateur martial artist living in Washington, DC. Just as she's about to give up all hope of marriage, she meets Rory, a charming Irish musician, and they fall in love. But Rory is a man with a secret, which he confesses to Bess when he asks for her hand: He's been married eight times before. Shocked, Bess embarks on a quest she feels she must undertake before she can give him an answer. 

    With her long-married, bickering grandparents, her neighbor (himself a mystery), a shar-pei named Stella, and a mannequin named Peace, Bess sets out on a cross-country journey—unbeknownst to Rory—to seek out and question the wives who came before. What she discovers about herself and her own past is far more than she bargained for.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMay 10, 2011
    ISBN9780062079336
    Unavailable
    The Ninth Wife: A Novel
    Author

    Amy Stolls

    Amy Stolls's young adult novel Palms to the Ground was published in 2005 to critical acclaim and was a Parents' Choice Gold Award winner. A former environmental journalist who covered the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, she is currently a literature program officer for the National Endowment for the Arts. She lived in Washington, DC, with her husband and son.

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    Reviews for The Ninth Wife

    3.5/5

    72 ratings18 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I did enjoy this book. The insecurity Bess has of Rory being married 8 times before, the relationship of her grandparents and Rory's insecurities of why his marriages haven't worked show how everyone has insecurities but you deal with them and life goes on. You should always take chances in life. The one thing I didn't like was the chapters kept switching voices between the characters and the chapters weren't marked. That drives me crazy. I shouldn't have to work to figure out who is 'talking.'
    • 3/5
      3 stars - great read in a wonderful voice but was slightly lacking in story.

      The author paints a beautiful picture but glosses over the entire romance. The 'gasp' moment regarding Bess (not Bess and Rory) was less a 'gasp' for me and more a 'yeah, I figured that out fifteen chapters ago'.

      The characterizations were strong and steady, the flow lovely and overall I liked the book. I just wish we had gotten to see more of Bess and Rory together to understand what tied her so strongly to a man with his history.
    • 3/5
      Single 35-year-old Bess who has been unlucky in love finally meets the man of her dreams in charismatic Irish ex-pat Rory. Rory is just about perfect except for one thing, he as eight ex-wives. Yes, eight. Deciding if she wants to be Wife No. 9 is the premise of Amy Stolls’ novel The Ninth Wife. I enjoyed the alternating chapters in the first part of the book. The chapters alternated between Bess and Rory. Rory’s chapters gave us a play by play of his failed eight marriages. It was a smart way to do this because we learn about Rory’s past from his point of view. However, it gave Rory an unfair advantage because we only knew what Rory wanted to tell us. Everyone knows there are always three sides to a story: His side, her side, and the truth. During Bess’s hunt for the other wives, we really didn’t find out anything we didn’t already know about them. As charming as Rory was and as someone who believed in the sanctity of marriage, he sure did make a mockery of it. Of the eight marriages, I felt that only three were based on love and had a good foundation. The rest made no sense whatsoever. I think the other thing that troubled me about Rory was he came across as a bit insincere, especially towards the end of the novel. I can’t help but wonder what I would have done in Bess’s place. I probably would have run for the hills. Although I liked Rory, I thought he was a player hidden behind a charming façade. He seemed too good to be true. The shining stars in the novel were Bess’s grandparents, Irving and Millie. 60 plus years of marriage was told beautifully on the pages. Their story was very interesting. They made me want to turn the pages and find out more about their history. Millie especially was such a fascinating character. I was thankful Ms. Stolls fully explored her. I also enjoy Irving. He made me wish I still had a grandfather like him. Their story carried this novel. On the same token, Bess’s friend Cricket did nothing to advance The Ninth Wife. He served more as a distraction than anything else. In my opinion, he could have been written out completely. He was a filler character, the token gay best friend. I really believe this novel could have benefited from a 100-page cut back. As much as I enjoyed it, there was only so much I could take of Bess waxing nostalgia about her life. It was very drawn out, but then again that’s how life is. Sometimes we may think we dealt with something but our issues pop up when we least expect it, rearing their ugly heads and making us face them once again. Looking back on this review, I accept that it is a bit all over the place. I liked the novel but didn’t love it. I liked Bess but thought she was making a huge mistake in considering becoming the ninth wife. That alone is probably why my review is unfavorable. I loved her grandparents, but couldn’t figure out why Ms. Stolls included Cricket in the mix. It was an interesting premise but lacked focus. I can’t really say if you should read it or not. Irving and Millie were great but is it enough? Perhaps. On the other hand, since each novel is a personal experience, maybe you will get something from this that I didn’t.
    • 4/5
      Stolls perfectly captures the voices of Bess and Rory. Bess is hoping to have something more in her life while Rory is a hopeless romantic. They couldn't meet at a better time in their lives.The chapters about Rory's wives demonstrate how seriously he takes marriage. Every marriage could've been reduced down to a line or two to sum up why it didn't work out.Parallel to the main romance is Bess's grandparents who have been married a long time. Their tale shows that sometimes, even if your marriage is a long lasting one, there are problems under the surface.If you're a romantic then you'll like this book. If you're a cynic then you may want to read something else.
    • 4/5
      What a lovely, quirky story. In the telling, it reminded me of many things throughout my life. One of describing her mother's arm which reminded me of feeling my own mother's soft arm as she lay dying in the nursing home. The complicated relationships, whether they be your own or those of your parents or grandparents. She made me laugh out loud and she also reminded me of things that I'd thought at one time or another, proving that we're all connected by the same thoughts and the same experiences. I never had a Rory in my life and at 67, I find that a little sad.
    • 3/5
      For the most part, I just felt this book had far too much going on. I was expecting a big story. Eight ex-wives is a big back-story. But it didn't stop there. We also got hit with a big tale of an illegitimate baby from the past and spouse abuse and seriously, all of this character building which could have been made into books in their own right. The story of The Ninth Wife, on its own, would have been enough. But this book had hundreds of pages that really weren't needed to tell that story. I didn't think the writing was bad, I just thought the book had too much happening.
    • 3/5
      How well do we know the ones we love? Bess meets "The one" in Rory but, when he asks her to marry him, she learns that he's asked eight other women to marry him before. She begins a quest to meet the eight women in order to understand Rory and decide if she can trust him with her heart. On a cross country road trip with her grandparents, her gay best friend and a mannequin named Peace, Bess learns that all of us have secrets, heartbreaks and regrets.
    • 3/5
      Bess Gray never thought she'd meet the man of her dreams. She had a great job, good friends, a nice apartment, but still thought it would be nice to round it all out with marriage and maybe a family. She had almost given up hope by the time of her thirty fifth birthday when she met Rory. An Irish immigrant, fiddle player and computer specialist. Sweet, funny, sexy, everything she had been looking for. Everything was going along perfectly too, until he asked her to marry him. Because with that proposal came the revelation that he had been married before. Not once, not twice, but eight times before. Now as she hears out his explanation she has to decide, does she really want to be wife number nine?The Ninth Wife was a nice, relaxing, fun read. Rory is so lovable. As he tells the stories of each of his wives you find yourself really feeling for the guy. This book isn't poking fun at marriage and the ideals that generally go with it. Rory really believes in love and marriage. He falls in love to easily and wants to make people happy but is just lacking some good common sense. Bess on the other could get on my nerves. Sometimes her reactions were just too much. I realize this is an extreme and unusual situation but sometimes you just need to take a few breaths and relax.This book is coming out just in time for summer and it will be a great beach read. It's light and refreshing and it'll make you laugh. There aren't any great revelations about life and it's not an English language masterpiece but sometimes you just want to have fun when you read. In this way The Ninth Wife delivers.
    • 5/5
      When Bess finally finds that special someone who wants to share his life with her, Rory has just one small surprise- he has been married 8 times before! As she tried to work through her feelings about his past and theor future, she embarks on a cross country road trip from DC to take her grandparents to their new home in AZ, stopping along the way to meet as many of Rory's former wives as she can find.From the description and flap copy, I expected a standard chick-lit book, full of humor and froth. What I got instead was a well-crafted family drama that explores love in all its different incarnations. The backstories here are poignant and complicated, giving the book a depth that I did not expect. Bess and Rory are great characters, as are Bess' friends and grandparents (who sounds quirky in the flap copy but are actually quite tragic in their way). I found it hard to put this excellent novel down and highly recommend it.
    • 5/5
      Rory has had 8 previous marriages by the time he asks Bess for her hand. How did this happen? Is Bess willing to take a chance at happiness and become his 9th? In alternating chapters, their stories are told, including Bess' road trip, along which she meets up with some of those who went before. Stolls turns a delightful phrase so often I was literally laughing aloud on several occasions. The writing is crisp and evocative as well. Bess is a very genuine character, her faults elucidated almost as much as her triumphs. The reader can't help but sympathize with her situation. Rory, I don't feel I know as well, but I think that's part of the point. How well can we ever really know a person? Revelations about the lives of Bess' grandparents and her friend Cricket also seem to highlight that theme. I would very much recommend this book to any fan of the genre.
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed this book but it seemed like it took a while to get into the story. Sometimes I found it hard switching back and forth between the main characters' (Bess and Rory) stories. And, in the end, I wanted to find out more about Bess and Rory than I did. Hopefully there will be a sequel. Even though I gave it 3 stars, I would recommend this book to all my friends.
    • 4/5
      The ultimate serial monogamist!What would you do if you learned the man you wanted to spend the rest of your life with had been previously married eight (!) times? Thankfully, that’s a question very few of us will ever have to ask ourselves. However, it is at the heart of Amy Stolls’ adult fiction debut, The Ninth Wife.Bess Gray is successful, attractive, independent—and still single at 35. It’s not the life she thought she’d be leading. That sounds like the opening of a chick-lit novel, and while this rumination on the nature of marriage and the permanence of relationships does have some heightened, chick-lit-like elements, there’s actually quite a bit going on in this unusual novel. It’s the story of Bess and Rory—at long last, a man with whom she can see a future.For the first 16 chapters, Part I of the novel, every other chapter is narrated by Bess or Rory respectively. Bess’s narrative details their meeting and courtship, leading up to his surprise marriage proposal and dropped bombshell. Rory’s narrative is essentially a monologue. Each of the eight alternating chapters is a marriage told in his own words. The reader is hearing Rory’s colorful matrimonial history as the two lovers inexorably head towards this difficult conversation. At one point speaking of a drunken, one-night mistake, Rory says:“I don’t know what I’m trying to say. I guess I just get angry that people can have lots of relationships that no one would blink an eye at, but because mine have formal labels they get listed against me somehow, and they get lumped together as if they’re all equal, but they’re not. I’ve been married eight times, this is true, but Fawn shouldn’t count. She just shouldn’t. It was an evening that got out of hand. No casualties…”Part II of the novel is the aftermath. Bess is understandably confused and concerned. Needing a little space to explore her feelings, Bess embarks on a cross-country road-trip, nicely set up in Part I, to drive her elderly grandparents to their new retirement home. In addition to an opportunity to learn more about her roots and observe the good, the bad, and the ugly of a 65-year marriage, it turns into an odyssey to connect with Rory’s various exes.I really liked the structure of this novel, and there was a great deal to enjoy in the course of the story-telling. For starters, it’s not your everyday conundrum. I don’t believe this was ever tackled on an episode of Sex and the City. Bess and Rory (“the octo-husband”) are likeable, relatable characters. The plotting was a little unconventional, frequently surprising me. It was refreshing, as I wasn’t always sure where things were going. My biggest problem with The Ninth Wife is that in the end it was neither fish nor fowl. What I mean by that is that Stolls’ kept adding wacky elements to an interesting adult dramedy. There was Gaia, the possibly clairvoyant earth mother, and Cricket the flamboyant gay neighbor—a last minute addition to the road-trip. I didn’t dislike their storylines, really, but I didn’t feel they added anything to the novel. They detracted (or perhaps distracted) a bit. I’m all in favor of a little comic relief, but I just felt like maybe they were in a different novel altogether. This was my introduction to Ms. Stolls’ work. Despite the criticisms above, I found The Ninth Wife a surprisingly quick (at 496 pages) and engaging novel. Not being married, it gave me plenty of food for thought. And above all, it was simply entertaining. That’s enough for a thumbs up from me.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book so much. The main characters were likable and real. I especially liked the alternating chapters between Bess working through her feelings in the present and Rory explaining his past life. The side story of Bess and her Grandparents, which created the need for the cross country journey, was an unexpected twist that turned out to be very powerful and emotional. I loved the ending which came at the end of the journey and felt like coming home. I will gladly seek out Amy Stoll's other offerings.
    • 4/5
      The Ninth Wife takes the reader on a journey of discovery through the eyes of the main character, Bess. At the age of 35, Bess meets the man of her dreams and falls madly in love, only to learn that Rory has already been married eight times! Even though I found the other characters in the book to be stereotypical cliches (i.e. the gay friend, the Jewish grandmother) I enjoyed this quick read. I would really like to see Amy Stolls write a book that features Gaia, the girlfriend of one of Tess' ex-boyfriends as the main character; Gaia was intriguing!
    • 4/5
      This book is so much more than its intriguing (and unsettling) premise. Would anyone want to marry a man who had previously been married 8 times? By the end of this lengthy novel, I was deeply immersed in the lives of Bess and Rory, and the merging of the past with the present. Amy Stollls writes very well, and manages to imbue her very likeable characters with understandable emotions. There is a surprising poignancy and depth to this novel that develops as the plot unfolds. I will definitely read future novels by this gifted writer.
    • 4/5
      I received my copy of The Ninth Wife through LibraryThing Early Reviewers. I found the book a little slow to get into, but a few chapters in, I was hooked. I really liked how each chapter rotated between the viewpoint of the 2 main characters, Bess and Rory. What I liked even more was how Bess's chapters were in the present- what was happening at that time- and Rory's chapters were reflecting on the past; then they merged together at the end. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
    • 5/5
      "Pick a partner and get a tombstone," is the opening sentence of this delightful quest novel. Bess (age 35, never married) meets Rory (age 45, married eight times), they fall in love, and Rory proposes. In alternating chapters, we learn about Bess's family (bickering grandparents) and friends, and Rory's previous marriages. All the characters are well-drawn, most of them are sympathtic, yet real. The second half of the novel recounts Bess's journey across country to sort out her feelings for Rory, to meet some of his ex-wives, to deliver her grandparents to a life-care community in Arizona, and to make some startling discoveries about her own heritage. Handling Sin by Michael Malone is my all-time favorite read. The Ninth Wife has much in common with Malone's book.I smiled, laughed, wept (a little), and found much to ponder. An example: "...the basic personal ad of the human race--troubled, needy person seeks love and salvation."Because there's more to this tale than "what happens," I did not find the almost 500 pages at all tedious or wordy. I love Amy Stolls's writing style as much as the story itself. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      I received an ARC of The Ninth Wife and loved it. It is a great light-hearted read. Perfect for those beach days. It reminded me so much of my own relationships with grandparents, boyfriends, friends. It has so many laugh-out-loud parts. i highly suggest this one.