In the Act

by Rachel Ingalls

From Rachel Ingalls, the author of Mrs. Caliban , another delicious, highly improbable, and hilariously believable tale of a wife’s scorched-earth rebellion In the Act “As long as Helen was attending her adult education classes twice a week, everything worked out Edgar could have a completely quiet house for his work, or his thinking, or whatever it was.” In Rachel Ingall’s blissfully deranged novella, the “whatever it was” her husband’s been up to in his attic laboratory turns out to be inventing a new form of infidelity. Initially Helen, before she uncovers the truth, only gently tries to assert her right to be in her own home. But one morning, grapefruit is the last “He read through his newspaper conscientiously, withdrawing his attention from it for only a few seconds to tell her that she hadn’t cut all the segments entirely free in his grapefruit―he’d hit exactly four that were still attached. She knew, he said, how that kind of thing annoyed him.” While Edgar keeps his lab locked, Helen secretly has a key, and what she finds in the attic shocks her into action and propels In the Act into heights of madcap black comedy even beyond Ingalls’s usual stratosphere.

Genres: Fiction, Novella, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Literary Fiction, Literature, Summer

64 pages, Hardcover

First published July 4, 2023

About the author

Rachel Ingalls grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She held various jobs, from theatre dresser and librarian to publisher’s reader. She was a confirmed radio and film addict and started living in London in 1965. She authored several works of fiction—most notably Mrs. Caliban—published in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

Reviews

[Berengaria · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

short review for busy readers:
I'm still not sure what to think of this excellently written short story that seems to be an answer to, or a twist on, The Stepford Wives.

in detail:
A dry-as-toast inventor husband secretly creates a companion-sex bot up in the attic. His wife finds out, steals and hides the bot, then demands that he make her one, but male, if he ever wants to see his precious Dolly-Wolly again. He sets to work...but when it's discovered that Dolly has been stolen from her hiding place, things go totally off the rails.

While on one hand, the different approaches of the sexes to a partner are predictable, they also work well as reflections of different needs in a marriage.

He wants a Barbie with the intelligence and personality of a puppy (playful, silly-stupid, adoring, obedient). She wants a best friend with benefits (supportive, good conversationalist, intelligent, creative in bed).

What makes this story hard to rate, or even completely enjoy, is that while it plays 100% on gender and class stereotypes, it also says something about intimate relationships, expectations and matters of the heart that we've seen play out in the relationships of people we know.

That makes it very good, and not, at the same time.

But what isn't in doubt, is the quality of the prose, which is very impressive and shows a mastery and talent one doesn't see every day.

[Alwynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published in the 1980s as part of a collection Rachel Ingalls’s novella revolves around a seemingly mundane, solidly middle-class couple Helen and Edgar. They have two sons but both are away at boarding school. Ingalls deftly sketches out the dynamics of the couple’s relationship: pedantic, controlling Edgar and restrained but exasperated Helen. When Helen finishes the adult education courses that kept her out of the house twice a week, Edgar seems unusually frustrated by the prospect of her being around more. He spends an increasing amount of time locked away in their attic engaged in some sort of secret project. But Helen is unable to contain her curiosity but when she finds out what it is that Edgar’s working on, her reaction is not the expected one.

There are shades of absurdist fairy tale here, hints of Bluebeard and the work of E.T.A. Hoffmann, as well as SF, and echoes of the kinds of themes I associate with Angela Carter’s fiction, but all carefully blended with a matter-of-fact kitchen-sink realism. Ingalls is adept at representing everyday tensions and anxieties, and the lingering suspicions, distance and lack of knowledge that can exist in an apparently settled, conventional marriage between men and women – she seems very much caught up in the so-called ‘battle of the sexes’ that was raging at the time this was written. A battle, her scenario suggests, that has no likelihood of producing any kind of lasting peace – Edgar’s response to Helen’s demands demonstrate his total inability to understand what it is that she or any woman might truly want, whereas his desires are all too predictable. Beautifully-drawn, clever, quirky and compelling portrait of a toxic marriage but one that seems very much rooted in the mainstream gender politics of its era, and a little lacking in subtlety when it comes to broader issues around class.
 

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

devalued housewife discovers her husband's secret homemade sex robot hidden in the attic! drama ensues!

this clever novella is not dissimilar to ingalls' domestic mutant frogman romance mrs caliban. both feature a sad wife, stuck in a bitter marriage with an arrogant and distant husband. in both cases, it seems as though they will stay miserable together forever, until a strange scifi element enters their mundane lives. i love the way ingalls writes about the absurd and unexpected in such a down-to-earth way!

i also love how as soon as our protagonist discovers her husband's secret sex robot, she goes on the offensive. she stores the doll at a secondary location and demands her husband build her a toy of her own. this was probably relatively subversive in its 1980s second wave feminism context. the wife is seeking an egalitarian solution to their problem. 

i also love that the story ends, predictably, in a moment of chaos - a full on brawl between three humans and two robots.

[Kyle C · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comic twist on the myth of Pygmalion, the old Cyprian sculptor who, outraged at the supposed sinfulness of the local women, fashioned his ideal woman from stone. In this short novella, Helen, a neglected housewife who suddenly has to spend more time at home after her adult education courses have ended, discovers something mysterious and disturbing in her husband's basement laboratory: an idealized and hyper-eroticized robot replica of a woman, with blond hair, beautiful skin, a voluptuous body, exaggerated nipples and even manicured pubic hair. She is horrified when it speaks in coquettish baby-talk and she stuffs the machine into a suitcase, hiding it in a public storage unit. But the story takes a twist when she asks for her own male robot in return. Whereas Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Birth-Mark" or Ira Levin's Stepford Wives imagined the ramifications of self-serving male scientists manufacturing the perfect wife for their own easy gratification, Rachel Ingalls offers a funnier feminist alternative in which the man is forced to build an ideal man for his wife. It does not go well. All the things that made him a terrible husband make him terribly suited to the task. He has no idea what would make his wife happy. Like Ingalls' more well-known Mrs Calliban, this is a wry fable that pokes fun at the small miseries of a woman's married life. In Mrs Calliban, the wife finds a more satisfying form of love in a humanoid sea monster which has escaped from a local research center; In the Act is a satirical spin in which the woman hopes that maybe a robot will be able to fulfill her in all the ways her badgering, patronizing husband could not. In both stories, Ingalls recasts familiar myths and tales from a feminist perspective, with housewives imagining and insisting on love outside of the tired tedium of menial domesticity, outside of the human race even. It's funny and has a hilarious ending.

[Jolanta (knygupė) · Rating 4 out of 5]

1987 metais sukurta apysaka prasideda tuo, kad žmona ant aukšto randa vyro (mokslininko) sukurtą robotę. Pasakojimas įgauna pagreitį, kuomet ji pavagia ją ir pareikalauja iš jo sukurtui robotą jai.

'[...] her conversation wasn't much more limited than most women's. She sometimes said something that didn't fit, that was all - never anything really stupid. And if she came up with the wrong wording, that wasn't her fault. It almost never happened. Her answers so good and she was so understanding about everything, that he believed she knew what he was getting at; even if she was a doll, even if she wasn't real in any way. To him she was real. When he looked into her beautiful eyes, he was convinced that she loved him. He was happy. He was also sure that there were no others like her. There could be only one Dolly.'

Šioji patiko labiau nei LT pažįstama Raros leid. leista “Ponia Kaliban”. Papirko humoras, 80-jų atmosfera. Robotai ir robotės (ne)padeda išspręsti šeimyninių problemų 😉
Labai rekomenduoju.

[el · Rating 3 out of 5]

exactly what you would expect of early literary responses to donna haraway’s “a cyborg manifesto”—and other conversations about the feminization of technology. lukewarm, unsurprising, probably a lot more enthralling for readers when this was originally published in the late 80s.

[Nadine in California · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comic, absurdist scenes of a marriage, 1980's style. I love these New Directions one-sitting novellas, not least the wonderful physical format - the size and shape of a children's early reader book. This wasn't nearly as good as the first one I read, The English Understand Wool, but still a great way to spend an hour or two.

[Ed Erwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a better reviewer here said, this short story is like Bluebeard, a story by E.T.A. Hoffmann, and Angela Carter. A man builds a robot woman. Then the wife finds out....

[Stacia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think it might have been more novel/unique/funny in the 1980s (published 1987) than now.

[G L · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is part of the ND Storybook series. Who doesn't remember sitting on their parent's lap reading along with a Little Golden Book? A couple of my favorites that I can actually remember were in the Big Little Golden Book collection (intended for slightly older children), and I still remember my mother or father sitting beside me at bedtime and read along with me. This volume of the ND Storybook series felt a lot like that. The book cover looks and feels much like the Big Little Golden Books of my childhood, though the spine and the front and back that hinges are silver rather than gold. The typeface is large and clear, with serifs just like the Little Golden Books I remember.

On its surface, the story was simple and predictable. Able to be read in one sitting if you are a reader of medium fluency. For those of us who are slow readers, or have many interruptions, you may need two sittings.

As at least one other reviewer pointed out, it's sort of amalgam of the Pygmalion and similar myths. What saved the read, and made me actually enjoy it, was not this, but the wicked humor and the mischief that comes from adding a wife, Helen, who is neither fool nor trophy. And as I wrote this, I experienced once more one of the chief benefits of writing GR reviews: in the process of dressing my thoughts up in words, I discover details of the read that I missed. Admittedly, I am weak on the Greek myths, so I needed a quick trip to Wikipedia to discover a hint of what I missed in the reading. In this case, the name of the wife certainly gives some malicious depth to the story. This Helen kidnaps the rival and demands ransom, and that's when the mayhem begins. I may have to read it again.

[bug · Rating 5 out of 5]

a feminist masterpiece

[Karin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a trip! I've got to read more of her stuff ... Loved this and Mrs Caliban. She's got such a wild sense of humor.

[Alex Juarez · Rating 5 out of 5]

the queen of novellas, unhappy & bitter relationships, and perverse sexual ideas of a partner has done it again! In roughly 60 pages she succinctly tackles what would take other writers 400 pages. A man named Edgar is building something upstairs & his wife is too curious to resist snooping…Brilliance 🤩

[Theresa N · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very absurd take on a dead end heterosexual marriage. It made me giggle and cringe and was enjoyable, but not particularly thought provoking

[Natalee · Rating 3 out of 5]

People will really do anything except get a divorce, huh.

[Casey :) · Rating 1 out of 5]

now girl wtf was that ?????

[Bridget S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so funny and smart and it’s perfect and I loved it.

[Chanel Chapters]

Domo Arigato Mr Roboto

3.5⭐️

[Paige Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 rounded up. A lot of commentary in a bite sized book. Weird and fun!

[Lynette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating!

[mikaylabry · Rating 4 out of 5]

no because WHAT WAS THIS BOOK

[Haley N · Rating 4 out of 5]

A funny little novella parodying the (stereotypical) ways in which (heterosexual) men and women treat each other. The details about Dolly were my favorite parts. The initial descriptions of her were delightfully creepy, and her childlike speech and inhuman sex patterns were all too realistic for what a disturbing proportion of men would want from a sex doll. Or from a real woman. A nice lunch break read.

[christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars!!! Mrs. Caliban was one of my favorite books this year so of course I end my challenge with another Rachel Ingalls story. Ingalls was so adapt at portraying female rage in ways the reader would not expect. Her themes pack a punch, and the words she specifically uses just reek of intentionality. How she portrays housewife’s, the relationship between married men and women, and female desire, are just top notch. Her stories are a mix of domestic drama, and an A24 fantasy, filled with loads of meaning. Highly, highly recommend for a smart and satisfying book you can read in one afternoon.

[Javier · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 ⭐️
(But fuck it ima round it up)

This book was so fucking good.
One wife can’t get love from their husband and only craves quality time and growth.
One husband only interest is science but he needs validation and “sex” from something right?
Another man’s plight is in his love for the husbands creation.
Simple/Creative/Hilarious story and greatly executed.
Damn it was good.

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an expertly written novella that all lovers of contemporary short fiction will enjoy. This edition from New Directions is especially cool — the physical style of the book binding really does evoke the feeling of being a kid and reading a short book in one sitting.

[Renée Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bizarre and hilarious. Commentary on traditional gender roles in marriage, the disillusion of the fantasy and sex dolls as companions.

[mads · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 rounded down~

scarfed this one doooown. was easy to do, short & sweet (well… not actually sweet) & incredibly compelling. weird, funny, timeless. loved it from start to finish.

[Xixi Liu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gendered and bizarre

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh how delightfully weird and hilarious!

[Anna carnegie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Completely wild & bonkers