I discovered this book while working on 2010 book club selections for the MMBC. A special thank you to HBG for suggesting it, and sending me an advance reader copy.
With sharp humor and delicate grace, The Wife’s Tale follows Mary Gooch – morbidly obese and living in denial – as she pursues her husband across the country.Lori Lansens was a successful screenwriter before she burst onto the literary scene in 2002 with her first novel Rush Home Road. Her follow-up novel, The Girls, was in international success as well. Born and raised in Chatham, Ontario, Lori Lansens now makes her home in Los Angeles with her husband and two children. (source: author's website)
This is the story of a woman trapped in a self created mundane existence. Mary has been married for 25 years and just tipped the scale over 300 pounds when the story begins. We quickly understand some of the life moments that have contributed to her weight gain and current state of mind. The story continues as we follow her on her journey to understand the woman she is today, the highs and the lows. At the end of the book she is starting to take ownership of her life and the decisions she has made/is making.
I just finished this book yesterday and can’t wait to talk about it. It’s at the top of my best read list for 2009! A smart, well written novel, solid plot with A LOT to discuss for book clubs.
MMBC: If you enjoyed Driving Sideways & Eating Heaven you wil love this one!
With sharp humor and delicate grace, The Wife’s Tale follows Mary Gooch – morbidly obese and living in denial – as she pursues her husband across the country.Lori Lansens was a successful screenwriter before she burst onto the literary scene in 2002 with her first novel Rush Home Road. Her follow-up novel, The Girls, was in international success as well. Born and raised in Chatham, Ontario, Lori Lansens now makes her home in Los Angeles with her husband and two children. (source: author's website)
This is the story of a woman trapped in a self created mundane existence. Mary has been married for 25 years and just tipped the scale over 300 pounds when the story begins. We quickly understand some of the life moments that have contributed to her weight gain and current state of mind. The story continues as we follow her on her journey to understand the woman she is today, the highs and the lows. At the end of the book she is starting to take ownership of her life and the decisions she has made/is making.
I just finished this book yesterday and can’t wait to talk about it. It’s at the top of my best read list for 2009! A smart, well written novel, solid plot with A LOT to discuss for book clubs.
MMBC: If you enjoyed Driving Sideways & Eating Heaven you wil love this one!
Below is a great video clip of a bookclub discussing the book with the author.
Type: Fiction, 368 pages, HardcoverSynopsis:
Mary Gooch was once young and slender and carefree. But with each passing year she’s accumulated an excess of pounds and a warehouse of worries and has become stuck in the run of her small-town existence. Then, on the eve of her 25th wedding anniversary, her handsome husband does not come home. Shocked out of her inertia, Mark boards a plane for the first time in her life in pursuit of him across America, discovering a boundless supply of human kindness in unexpected places – runaway children, single mothers, taxi drives, migrant workers, and bitter relatives. With a surge of energy that she hasn’t felt in years, Mary fights for her husband and starts to see a new world bursting with possibilities for change, happiness, and fulfillment. Accustomed to hiding behind hunger, worry, fear, she’s forced to look up from the pavement in her new surroundings, astonished by how the shift in perspective has let in the light.