I loved this book, much more than I expected to! Alice Buckle, who is soon to turn 45 (the age at which her mother died), decides to participate in an online marriage survey, "Marriage in the 21st Century," after receiving an email solicitation. As wife of 20 years to William and mother to 15-year-old Zoe and 12-year-old Peter, Alice is finding it increasing difficult to keep lines of communication open within her family. As "Wife 22," however, she is free to communicate her thoughts and feelings about her marriage and family life anonymously to "Researcher 101." When William loses his advertising job (after apparently revealing personal information about his marital relationship to a focus group) and finances tighten, Alice worries about her part-time job as an elementary school drama teacher. An aspiring playwright in her younger years, she was humiliated by the failure of her first professional production and has been haunted by that setback ever since. Do more failures loom on the horizon? Why is Researcher 101 becoming more and more appealing to her as their correspondence develops? Is son Peter gay? Will Alice serve as matron of honor at her best freind's same-sex marriage ceremony?
This is definitely a novel for the 21st century. The Internet is the true main character of this clever story, with email, Facebook, and You Tube featured prominently. Gideon does a wonderful job of allowing Alice to evolve emotionally. I loved the anonymous survey premise, because aren't all of us more honest and forthright in our opinions when we are safely hidden behind a keboard and monitor?
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