Disparate Housewives

Stories about women trying to make marriages work.

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Reviewed by Meg Wolitzer

Sunday, November 27, 2005

WHAT DO YOU DO ALL DAY?

By Amy Scheibe

St. Martin's. 308 pp. $21.95

SLEEP WITH ME

By Joanna Briscoe

Bloomsbury

306 pp. $23.95

THE MERCY OF THIN AIR

By Ronlyn Domingue

Atria. 310 pp. $24

Novels about marriage and family life used to fall into the slightly insulting category of "domestic fiction." Judging by some of the novels written today, what might once have been considered domestic is now in no way domesticated. Events that take place within the home and, specifically, within a marriage can be some combination of surprising, disturbing, sexy, moving or funny.

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