I'm glad I read this story of a marriage from both points of view, because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about and to form my own opinion: which is that I didn't really enjoy it! As with most people, I thought the whole first half (really more than half) was too much of the husband Lotto's self indulgent drivel. Even though I found the wife Mathilde's story so much more interesting, it was less than half the novel and I don't really think she got her due. I also think the writing was annoyingly overwrought. I've read one of Groff's other novels (Monsters of Templeton) and she's just not my cup of tea. It was a great concept, as we can never see the world through someone else's eyes. What an amazing thing it would be if we could read the story of our spouses life from his or her point of view?? Alas, Groff's approach didn't work for me.