Southern Summer Book Club: July https://ift.tt/S1C0LjT
I read widely. I like a mix of voices and approaches and styles. But if forced to declare a topic that is tough for me to pass on, it’s always (and I do mean always) going to be a book that looks at the complexities of grief. These books so often contain something that feels deeply intimate and, somehow, also universal. When these kinds of books are done right, they tend to expand our view and understanding of grief, of course, but they also inform other aspects of our lives. We might learn about our families, communities, or a multitude of other things. Tommy Hays’ The Marriage Bed is a rich, wise, and affecting novel that handles the topic of grief just right.
At the heart of Hays’ latest novel is Asa Flowers, a poet and English professor at a college in Asheville, North Carolina. Asa is well-intentioned for the most part, but he’s also, as his wife, Betsy, tells him, “cranky, depressive, and isolated.” After an argument one stormy evening, we see how strained the pair’s marriage really is. Asa gets so upset, in fact, that he goes to sleep in the garage apartment. This is the first night in over two decades of marriage that he’s done so. I won’t spoil the novel, but when he wakes up the next morning, his world is torn apart by a freak accident.
From here, Asa must figure out what it means to deal with heavy and sudden grief. He has to learn this for himself, yes, but he must also learn this for his family and friends.
Hays beautifully and truthfully brings Asa’s struggles to life. Asa becomes someone we want to root for and also someone who frustrates us so deeply. It’s this complexity to his character that makes him feel so real.
The Marriage Bed is very much focused on Asa’s future and what it can and will look like, but it also gives readers a clear background of Asa’s past, with chapters that move back and forth in Asa and Betsy’s relationship. Reading how they fell in love gives the novel even more power.
As much as this book is about grief and love, it also very much considers fatherhood and survival. How does a flawed man make amends with his children, especially a son that he doesn’t fully understand? How does this same man keep going forward when all he’s ever known is taken away? These are the kinds of questions that I kept thinking of as I read this fantastic novel.
Like I wrote before, The Marriage Bed, brimming with complexity and heart,is the kind of novel that’s crafted just right.
I have been a fan of Hays’ writing since I first encountered his deeply moving novel The Pleasure Was Mine some time back. It’s a pleasure to be able to select The Marriage Bed as our July pick for “The Southern Summer Book Club” here at Southern Review of Books. There is so much to unpack in the pages of Hays’ latest novel, and it truly is a beautiful, thoughtful book that is perfect for discussion.
I’ll be in conversation with Tommy later this month to discuss The Marriage Bed, as part of our programming. If you have a question you would like to have asked during the session, please check out our social media pages to learn how to submit it, drop a comment here, or you can always email editors@southernreviewofbooks.com!
FICTION The Marriage Bed By Tommy Hays Blair Published March 24, 2026
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