Staying On, by Paul Scott

An old book (I think it won the booker in 1977), that's less portentous than the amazing Raj Quartet, this for me remains an unsurpassed description of the relationship between a man and a woman after a long marriage. It is sometimes cruelly authentic, often dark and unflinching in describing the petty arguments and humiliations of everyday life, but always tender and human in its understanding of what constitutes a real partnership. It is also full of irony and at times downright funny. A book I go back to again and again