Book Club Book Review: Sorrow of Archaeology by Russell Martin

The Sorrow of Archaeology is about dealing with a debilitating disease while life goes on around you. Sarah has multiple sclerosis and has to address the issues of losing her ability to work, her ability to be a mate to her husband, and her ability to care for herself. Her husband Harry is struggling with all of these things, too, and the relationship dynamic is the center of this moving story.

Structured in a series of vignettes focusing on three areas of their lives, The Sorrow of Archaeology does a nice job of showing how a once healthy person (and relationship) changes in the face of disease. It is sad to watch Sarah blame herself for the failing of her marriage, while her husband, who isn’t the best of communicators, tries to cope but isn’t able to do so very well.

I liked the structure of the novel. I thought the comparisons between the different phases of Sarah’s life were very interesting. The sense of knowing a geographical place and living best within it was also a strong point of the novel. I did find some of the language to be a little stilted and there were mechanical/typographical errors that should have been caught in the editing phase. Overall it was a good book and a quick read.