Conversations from a Long Marriage: based on the beloved BBC Radio 4 comedy starring Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam

by Jan Etherington

Reflecting the ‘fears, joys, insecurities and desires’ of a couple who’ve shared most of their lives with one another, this collection of dialogues, based on the long-running BBC Radio 4 series starring Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam, is rich with rueful wit and charm.

272 pages, Paperback

Published November 2, 2023

Reviews

[Cleaver Patterson]

Wonderfully, laugh out loud funny. Whether you’ve ever been married or not you can relate to the effortless, comfortable banter between a couple who are clearly, besides loving each other, best friends. A gem of a feel good book.

[travelsalongmybookshelf]

Joanna and Roger have been married for over forty years. Children of the Sixties, they're still free spirits, drawn together by their passion for music - and each other.

Conversations from a Long Marriage is exactly that: following conversations that take them from the local café, to their kitchen table, taking in her resentment of new glasses - a symbol of ageing - and fury at being lectured by the dental hygienist. He has a dodgy knee and is on statins, and when they discuss the marriage break-up of their closest friends, Sally and Peter, there's jealousy and talk of affairs. She suggests there are advantages to single beds, separate holidays and wants to go clubbing in Ibiza for her imminent 'big' birthday.

This book is just laugh out loud funny. I have been making my way through this and chuckling away, reading out bits to my husband, who has been rolling his eyes as husbands do! Although we haven’t been married for forty years, so much of this you will recognise if you are in any relationship to be honest - this will make such a great stocking filler for Christmas. I’m passing this to my Mum for a read after I’ve finished!

[Kay]

Actually 3.5 stars. I couldn’t make my mind up about this book. Firstly it isn’t a novel but a collection of plays written for Radio 4. The writer Jan Etherington realised that so often women of a certain age are shown rarely as strong independent women who still have lives and opinions so she decided to create her own. The couple, Joanna and Roger have been married for over 40 years, have no children, but do still have interesting lives and conversations as well as a busy sex life. A very different kind of thing to read.

[Nicholas Allen]

Enjoyable but quickly repetitive.

[Morag Ranford]

What an utter joy!

[Trish]

So funny, and touching too.