Colwin’s is a New York-based novel about Polly [Dora] Solo-Miller Demarest, married to Henry Demarest, an affluent, Jewish East Manhattan husband she loves, and Lincoln Bennett, an artist who lives in Lower Manhattan.
Polly finds family happiness by leading two lives, each separate and fulfilling. On Sundays, Polly has lunch with her parents and extended family. Afterward, she runs to her lover, Bennett, and picnics in bed with him.
They kiss. He eats the lox and cream cheese sandwich. She has a second cup of coffee, and then they make love.
“I am a fallen woman,” she thinks, but she loves it.
Featured Image: Nancy Crampton. Laurie Colwin (1982)
See Laurie Colwin. Family Happiness. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1982.