“That man loves you.”

Her eyes seemed to darken and she looked back out at whatever was beyond those screens.

 “Have you ever had it just stop, Noni?”

 “What? The feeling?”

“Yes.”

“The sex part or the other?”

 “The other.”

“I did with your grandfather, but he killed it off himself.”

“What about with Don?”

 “I didn’t like him sometimes, but I always loved him.”

Susan seemed to go real still in her chair. She shook her head.

“Then maybe you never did, Suzie. You always jumped in too fast, you know.”

Lois flicked her cigarette ash into the seashell tray on the table beside her. She knew she’d just run right over that line, but the hell with it. If they were going to have a talk then they should damn well have one. Susan was staring at her.

“Something’s wrong with me.”

 Her voice sounded small and naked. It had been years and years since her granddaughter had allowed herself to be like this in front of Lois, not since she was eleven or twelve years old. Its unexpected arrival felt like both a gift and burden.

“Join the club, honey. I haven’t met anyone perfect yet, have you?”

“You know what I mean.”

“I know self-pity when I hear it. What good will that do you? You don’t think I’ve had reasons to feel sorry for myself? Living with a man is a job, Suzie. You go to work whether you feel like it or not.”

From “Gone So Long: A Novel,” by Andre Dubus, III.

In this dialogue between a granddaughter and her grandmother, Andre Dubus deals with the high expectations of the spouses nowadays. His conclusion goes back to what long-lasting marriages have always been, 

“Living with a man is a job, Suzie. You go to work whether you feel like it or not.”

Gone So Long tells the disjointed story of a father who has killed his wife and searches for his daughter after a lengthy jail time. You will find excellent passages. Andre Dubus writes well with forceful prose.