Wife's Tale

by Lori Lasens

I usually get recommendations from reading customers; I cull their responses and choose my books accordingly. Lansens first novel, The Girls, was told conjointly by Siamese twins, and was both a well-told tale and remarkably compelling. Wife's Tale is the story of Mary Gooch, who had worn a path in the rug from the bedroom to the Kenmore, weighing a resultant 302 pounds. Her devoted husband continually tried to break through her fear of life, but all she could hear or respond to was "the hunger." Somehow the story is quite sympathetic and human, as is Mary's ultimate awakening.