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Published Feb 2010
368 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
On the eve of their Silver Anniversary, Mary Gooch is waiting for her husband Jimmy - still every inch the handsome star athlete he was in high school - to come home. As night turns to day, it becomes frighteningly clear to Mary that he is gone. Through the years, disappointment and worry have brought Mary's life to a standstill, and she has let her universe shrink to the well-worn path from the bedroom to the refrigerator. But her husband's disappearance startles her out of her inertia, and she begins a desperate search.
For the first time in her life, she boards a plane and flies across the country to find her lost husband. So used to hiding from the world, Mary finds that in the bright sun and broad vistas of California, she is forced to look up from the pavement. And what she finds fills her with inner strength she's never felt before. Through it all, Mary not only finds kindred spirits, but reunites with a more intimate stranger no longer sequestered by fear and habit: herself.
"Lansens's handling of her eventual transformation into someone capable of compassion and acceptance is handled with a light but assured touch." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. Lansens's portrait of a woman who hides behind the Kenmore as protection from life's heartache is earthy and primal in its pain. ... Highly recommended." - Library Journal
"While Mary's evolution is all too predictable, Lansens never adequately explains the more enigmatic, sympathetic Gooch. Redemption Lite." - Kirkus Reviews
This information about The Wife's Tale was first featured
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Lori Lansens was a successful screenwriter before she burst onto the literary scene in 2002 with her first novel Rush Home Road. Published in eleven countries, it received rave reviews around the world. Her follow-up novel The Girls was an international success as well. Rights were sold in 13 territories and it was a Richard & Judy book club pick in the UK, selling 300,000 copies. Her third novel The Wife's Tale is currently in development as a feature film.
Born and raised in Chatham, Ontario, Lori Lansens now makes her home in the Santa Monica Mountains with her husband and two children.
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