“Fates and Furies”: Two Takes on a Marriage, One Impressive Novel

Lauren Groff’s Fates and Furies is an unusual accomplishment, not only because it is that rare ambitious novel that largely lives up to its ambition, but because it is essentially two novels rolled into one.
Fates and Furies is the story of Lotto and Mathilde, who get married at 22 just two weeks after meeting. Following 24 years of their relationship, the book is split into two distinct sections; “Fates,” telling the story from Lotto’s perspective, and Furies, from Mathilde’s. The two segments are as different as Lotto and Mathilde themselves. “She’s so calm and quiet. Ice queen,” one of thei...