Currently Reading

Reading: My Two Polish Grandfathers, by Witold Rybczynski.
Listening to: Blasphemy, by Douglas Preston.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Review: The Wife's Tale


The Wife's Tale, by Lori Lansens. (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2009)

Obeast.

At the age of nine, Mary Brody overhears the doctor telling her mother that the child is seriously overweight. As she hears it, it is the "obeast" living inside her that causes her to eat and eat and eat. In her new novel, author Lori Lansens again examines the life of someone whose physical self makes her different, outside the norm.

Mary loses weight in high school and attracts tall, smart, hunky basketball player Gooch. When a pregnancy scare drives them to marry right out of high school, Mary begins to build a wall of food and fat around her insecurities. Gooch, who gave up his college scholarship when Mary became pregnant, is devoted to his ever-growing wife, urging her to explore the world outside their small Canadian town with him. Mary's clandestine eating binges and lack of "clothes that fit" lead to her increasing isolation. Finally, on the day of their 25th anniversary, Gooch disappears.

This event proves to be cataclysmic for Mary, who sets out on a journey to find her missing husband and to make up for her unwillingness to participate in the life he dreamed of. An innocent of sorts, she sets out for California and meets agents of help and change everywhere she looks. As she searches for Gooch, she also learns to live in the world without him. She begins to lose weight, along with a lot of other emotional baggage.

In some ways, this novel is a "makeover." The reader almost hopes that Mary will find happiness and accept herself without having to lose her weight, but the author handles the transformation gracefully, without applying overly positive or negative labels to Mary's varying body sizes.

The author is an appealing storyteller. While her storyline sometimes seems a little too pat, she nonetheless brings Mary to life and creates a compelling narrative.

This book is a natural for book clubs. Highly recommended.

No comments: