The Burning House, by Anne Beattie

The Burning House, written by Ann Beattie, centers around a narrator, Amy, her relationship with her husband, Frank, and to a lesser degree Amy’s interactions with and insights to Frank’s half brother, Fred, along with two of their closest friends, JD and Tucker. Amy and Frank are having a dinner party with Freddy, Tucker and JD as guests. They are all frequent visitors. As the dinner party progresses, it becomes apparent that there is tension or at least something not quite right between Frank and Amy as they do not interact much. A conversation between Amy and Freddy later reveals that Frank is having an affair and Amy is aware of it. Not too much later, a telephone call discloses that Amy is also having an affair. It is not clear which affair began first or if one affair is the result of the pain caused by the first? Neither person shows great pain from the knowledge of their spouse’s affair. Neither does either one of them show remorse. Amy does however make note that...