The Wife

After nearly 40 years of marriage, Joan and Joe Castleman are complements: Where Joe is brash, Joan is shy. Where Joe is casual, Joan is elegant. Where Joe is vain, Joan is self-effacing. And where Joe enjoys his very public role as Great American Novelist, Joan pours her considerable intellect, grace, charm and diplomacy into the private role of Great Man’s Wife, keeping the household running smoothly, the adult children in close contact and Joe’s pills dispensed on schedule. At times, a restless discontentment can be glimpsed beneath Joan’s smoothly decorous surface, but her natural dignity and keen sense of humour carry her through the rough spots.