The Court of Common Pleas

The Court of Common Pleas

(Houghton Mifflin, 2001, Mariner Books, 2003)

At sixty-three, Judge Gregory Brennan is on the brink of retirement. With his youngest daughter headed for college, Gregory envisions traveling abroad, basking in a repose that his demanding career has not allowed, with his wife, Audrey, at his side. But, Audrey has other ambitions. At forty-nine, she sees the mythic empty nest as an opportunity to explore her own potential - as a medical student. When Audrey reveals her plans, Gregory is overwhelmed, and he emotionally retreats - causing a rift that neither one of them ever anticipated.

In THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS the institution of marriage is not unlike the general trial court where Gregory presides. But the ruling in Gregory and Audrey's own case remains to be seen. Can their disparate life plans be mediated, and their differences reconciled? Marshall navigates these many intricacies of contemporary family life with her trademark perceptivity, wit and sophistication. She offers a nuanced portrait of a marriage in the throes of a midlife crisis, and reveals, with an encompassing kindness, the tenderness, frustration, bewilderment, and ultimately the joy of a marriage willed to endure.

Articles & Criticism