The Wife's Tale

by Lori Lansens

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.

Genres: Fiction, Canada, Chick Lit, Book Club, Contemporary, Marriage, Relationships

353 pages, Hardcover

First published August 18, 2009

About the author

Lori Lansens was born and raised in Chatham, Ontario, a small Canadian town with a remarkable history as a terminus on the Underground Railroad, which became the setting for her first three bestselling novels. After living in downtown Toronto most of her adult life, she moved with her family to the Santa Monica mountains near Los Angeles in 2006. A couple of years ago she relocated with her family to Calabasas, California, home of the Kardashians. Her new novel "This Little Light" is set there.

Reviews

[Pat Herndon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really, really did not like this book. Sure, the writer is capable and entertaining. I kept turning pages, but the feeling was more like that of watching a train wreck. I am an obese woman who has been married for over 25 years. To read the descriptions of this main character, Mary Gooch was disgusting. Mary is portrayed to be dull-witted, slovenly, at one point in her life a petty thief, someone who hides beef jerky sticks in the cupboards so that she can gorge on them, and someone who purchases chocolates directly from the wholesaler so that she can buy them in bulk and more. I could not decide if Mary is the author's stereotype of a fat woman or was contrived to be both detestable and a heroine at the same time. The more I read, I really felt as though the author wanted and expected the reader to like Mary, to appreciate Mary. However, I felt stronger that the author was simply dumping her own disgust for overweight woman into this story. I was offended. But, I kept reading. I took the time to read comments from other online reviews on Amazon and on Goodreads to see if others felt the same way. I will admit that only a couple of reviews noted the things that were bothering me the most about this book. A lot of reviewers loved Mary's stamina and perseverance. Even at the end, I felt that Mary had not grown in any fundamental way that would assure her ability to take care of herself. I did not consider the ending to be the high note that I think that author intended. Other reviewers complained that there was a lack of resolution to the main story of Mary's husband leaving her. I felt that there was no empowerment and that the next morning Mary would awaken and realize that she does not have a bold future, but is stuck living as an illegal alien with no money and not enough clothing to keep her body covered, and certainly not enough money to get her back to Canada ....and that all the pipes had frozen in her unoccupied, quickly abandoned and un-winterized home in Ontario.

Additionally...I can't end without wondering...why didn't Mary buy herself a change of undergarments until weeks after arriving in California? Just ridiculous.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Gooch is a 43 year-old, 302 lb woman who has struggled with weight issues for most of her life. She is married to Jimmy Gooch who is still as handsome as he was in high school. For Mary food became her friend and her solace, when things went wrong in her life. With each major disappointment and loss in her life, she packed on more and more weight. The extra weight she gained, keeps her socially isolated. Even when she was a little girl, she heard the doctor whisper to her mother that she was "abeast". It is only as an adult does Mary, realize that what her doctor really called her when she was little was -- "obese".

While Mary waits for her husband to come home, on the eve of their 25th wedding anniversary, the introspective Mary looks back at her life and recalls a time when she and Jimmy...A.K.A. Gooch were happy. She was thin and happy, when she first met her husband, but now Mary has not wanted to go on a vacation and she has never flown in an airplane. In fact, except for her menial job at a drug store, she spends her life at home hiding food , eating and filling the void in her life with more and more food. Her wardrobe is pathetic, it consists of two pairs of blue scrubs because she has trouble finding clothes that fit her. As Mary waits and waits and waits for Gooch, it becomes pretty clear to her that her husband is not coming home.

Determined to find her husband, Mary faces her fears and leaves her home in Canada for California. She sees the ocean for the very first time, learns to use a bankcard and experiences a few other firsts as well. She soon realizes her own self imposed fears were just that and she soon begins to see herself in a new light.

MY THOUGHTS - I loved this novel and the character, Mary. It is a touching story of a damaged woman in crisis. It was easy to quickly get caught up in her life and this story. The author did a beautiful job creating, an at times heartbreaking story, into a story of hope and transformation. Mary shows us how our own inner strength can give us the power to change our lives, by taking a chance and doing something new when the old way is no longer working for us.

I was sad to see this story end. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm ambivalent. Good writing. But this is a book about a fat woman. Not a woman who is fat. She is solely defined by her weight. I look at the author and realize that she just doesn't get what it is to be a woman who is fat and so she falls back on her own prejudices and the usual stereotypes. The woman doesn't begin to live until she begins to lose weight. What crap. Shouldn't authors be more responsible for getting it right?

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another lovely, strange story from one of my favourite authors. I liked the way the narrative and subject began so heavily and lightened (somewhat) as the novel progressed, mirroring Mary's experience. I liked Mary a lot, and even though not all of the questions get answered by the end of the tale, I liked that it was really a story about HER all the way through. I also liked that, while it was a story about Mary's (re?)awakening, and (re?)birth, it was not about weightloss. The focus was on her shifting identity not some big makeover.
One thing I couldn't help but wonder about was the way L.L. wrote Mary's attitude towards other women and a particular passage where she is thinking about/observing a "skinny blonde" who could never know the fat person's perspective... which (based on the author photo) kind of describes Lansens herself. It struck me, and I wondered if it was meant to call attention to the fact that she could indeed imagine the "fat person's perspective" or was just something Mary would think?

[Pat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved Lori Lansens' The Girls, but this novel simply didn't have the same extraordinary plot or characters. A morbidly obese, kind-hearted woman whose husband leaves is not the foundation for memorable fiction. Her journey of self-discovery is interesting, but not absorbing. The lack of resolution at the end confirmed my two-star rating. I had hoped for something more from this author who wrote The Girls with such faultless prose and timing.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a novel of transformation. It begins slowly and somewhat ponderously, but this suits, because Mary Gooch, the main character, is somewhat ponderous herself, weighing in at the morbidly obese end of the scale. (Morbidly obese is defined as 100% or more over ideal body weight. Think about it.) Yes, she's big, and yes, she knows it. She loves her husband, but food is her true lover. The love affair is both blatant and illicit. On the eve of their 25th wedding anniversary, her husband does not come home. This pierces even Mary's food-obsessed torpor. She manages to leave her hermit-like existence and goes out into the world (indeed to another country) in search of both her man and answers. Ultimately, she stumbles into self-awareness.

What I liked about this book was Mary's transformation, not so much physical, but in terms of how her mind and heart open and develop. Yes, she does change some habits and transforms physically (though, thank goodness, in a more realistic way than chick lit books, where the fat girl has her heart broken and melts away into a size 2). The more arduous, startling journey is the one that moves her from a stifled, shuttered mind, to one that is aware, alert and active. The small steps she takes add up, whether it's walking up a flight of stairs or discarding pop culture magazines to return to reading books.

The characters that are in the book with Mary were portrayed realistically, even the missing Gooch, who seems like a really nice guy, undergoing his own rediscovery and search. The book didn't end in a predictable, neatly wrapped bow, but still was totally believable. It is, however, true to the title. It tells the wife's tale.

It's funny, but my main qualm was the cover of the book, which is a beautiful photograph, but seemed to me, not part of the book. Yes, Mary makes it to the ocean, but even with her weight loss, during the book she's still a big gal. The toned legs of the woman on the cover don't seem to fit my mind's image. But it's beautiful and will probably sell books, so go for it.

Note: Received this via the Firstreads program on Goodreads and was quite excited as I had read about it in the BookCrossing forums and Newsletter. The author apparently mentions BookCrossing in the book. Yay!

['Nathan Burgoine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently took a train trip to Montreal, and in the process, immersed myself completely in this wonderful, wonderful tale.

Mary Gooch is a morbidly obese woman approaching her twenty-fifth wedding anniversary to a husband who met her and married her in the one year of her life where she was pretty and slim.

What Lansens does masterfully is give Mary Gooch a verisimilitude that doesn't hinder your empathy for her. Mary is a woman who has led a life ruled by what she calls her "Obeast" and yet is an approachable character who earns your compassion.

Forced to be independent for the first time in her life, Mary's journey (both in terms of geography and psychology) is, simply put, engrossing and moving. Mary Gooch will stay with you quite a while after you close the book.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked _The Girls_, so I was excited when this author came out with a new book. And I have to say, this was just the kind of book I needed at a time when I am exhausted and craving something easy.

If I could, I'd give it 3.5 stars. I drank the story down like a slurpee on a hot day. The premise is that a sad, middle-aged woman is left by her husband on their 25th wedding anniversary. And for the first part of the book, as the character is coming to grips with her aloneness, the writing is terrific. The reader and the character simultaneously begin to see the shambles of this life and this marriage.

However, the second half of the book gets a little silly, as the woman ventures to California in the hope of finding her husband. It is supposed to be her first time going anywhere -- her first time on a plane, her first time in America, her first time being by herself in the world. And lucky enough, she meets a whole host of quirky people who help her out. The quirky strangers that work so well in Anne Tyler novels seem unrealistic in this one. Plus, it would have been better to see the main character have to figure stuff out rather than have things work for her because of her encounters with miraculously helpful people.

And there were only two ways that this book could have ended. One way would have been a cliche. The other, deeply unsatisfying. The author chose the unsatisfying route (and it's not often that I root for a cliche).

[Cym Lowell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine that you were left all alone one night. No spouse, no money, down on yourself, no children, no relatives active in your life, no future, and really no past except for the absent spouse. What would you do? Would you go down in flames? Or would you soar like a phoenix, reborn from the ashes of prior life?

This is the story of Mary Gooch, an obese rural Canadian woman who declared that she would commit suicide if she weighed more than 300 pounds. With that figure in the rearview mirror, she continued to gain. The day before her 25th wedding anniversary, her husband disappeared. He left a note saying he had won the lottery and left her some money in the bank.
Mary then embarked on the journey of her life.

The Wife’s Tale is a beautiful story, compelling told to the point that Mary becomes our hero. I was excited to follow her evolution, cheering for her at every step in the path. I celebrated her achievements and self-realizations. When she encountered adversity, or defeat, I hoped she would brush herself off and move forward, which she inevitably did. This is a story of self-determination at its finest. We should all seek to find ourselves. Mary does in her own way.

I can only hope that I would be as strong as Mary.

In the end, this is a story of self-fulfillment. Each of us is the master of our own destiny, reaping the harvest of what we sow. Mary sowed affection, generosity, and faith in the strangers that she met. She was rewarded with a new life. Perhaps, she was far better off in her new life than had the prior life continued.

The Wife’s Tale is also a spiritual guide. Though not a religious book as such, the life of Mary is a testament to the healing power of redemption. A new life born from the bold.

I loved this book and so will you!

[Juniper · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Lansens' third novel. Her last book, The Girls, is one of my favourite and Rush Home Road was a wonderful novel which I loved too. Her new work,The Wife's Tale A Novel, while well written with and interesting main character in Mary Gooch, was not as strong as her previous two works. In this story the author references her other two novels. I found this a bit disconcerting. She is not writing a series although each story does take place in the same county she has invented in south-western Ontario, Canada. The insertion of these points of reference seemed to affect the flow of the story. I was cheering for Mary and I did wonder how the story would unfold. I felt Jimmy Gooch could have been more fully developed. I recognize the story was about Mary, but a bit more about Jimmy could have added to the story, giving it a bit more depth. I felt the ending to be a bit weak - slightly unfinished or hasty. Over all I would give this three and a half stars. I still believe Lansens is a gifted writer and story-teller but, for me,The Wife's Tale A Novel falls a bit short of her previous .

[The Bookish Wombat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this and tried really hard, but in the end I found the protagonist Mary too annoying to sympathise with.

The novel is beautifully written and tells the story of an obese woman whose husband leaves her on the eve of their 25th wedding anniversary. She travels from their home in Canada to his mother's home in California to look for him and encounters new friends and experiences along the way. While on her journey she reflects on her past, including her childlessness and how her marriage has ended up the way it has.

However, Mary is so self-pitying that she wore out my patience long before the end of the book. In addition the ending is unsatisfying for a number of reasons, so it feels like the novel just stops rather than actually ending.

[Linda Lipko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary Gooch promised herself that if her bulky mass of rolled flesh ever registered a lumbering 300 pounds, she would simply take enough pills to put herself out of misery.

Mary reached 302 the day before her 25th wedding anniversary. Years earlier and hundreds of pounds lighter, she married her high school sweetheart. Young and pregnant, she justified both the added pounds and the nagging sense that she tricked Jimmy into a commitment to be with her instead of following his dream of college and a writing career.

Settling into small town complacency, Jimmy drove truck for a furniture company and Mary continued her day and night obsessive commitment with the frigidare and with donuts, chicken, beef, pastries, mounds of candy and anything that she could shove into her body.

Mary wakes to find Jimmy will not be dining with her for their anniversary meal. Instead, after years of living with a complacent, inert partner, he seeks a lost dream and leaves Mary with a cell phone and a debit card she never bothered to learn how to use.

In her search to find her missing husband, Mary "finds herself." While this may sound like a trite, overused theme for a book, Lansen's weaves a magical tale of discovery. We journey with Mary as she makes "better, healthier" choices.

This is the latest and third of Lansen's books, following The Girls and Rush Home Road. Once again, I enjoyed each morsel and page and didn't want it to end.

While they are not page turners, her books are delightful, sensitive and wonderfully crafted tales filled with people you cannot help but love.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first part of this book was painful to read. Lansens does a marvelous job of illustrating how much emotion is attached to obesity or the "obeast". Having been a large woman for much of my life, I connected only too well with Mary Gooch.

After persevering, the story becomes amazingly uplifting. Gooch, Mary's husband, disappears on the eve of their 25th anniversary and her life becomes increasingly fraught with complications. Mostly negative. Okay, all negative.

But, without conscious planning, Mary drinks from the hose and carries on in a splendid fashion. Her first plane trip takes her on a journey to California. In this unknown world, the kindness of strangers plays a big part in Mary's new life away from Leaford.

Mary's makeover isn't about beauty, or weight, or finding her husband. Mary takes small steps towards finding herself.

It turned out I had read this before, but it was well worth diving into again.

[(Lonestarlibrarian) Keddy Ann Outlaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

What sadness and then eventually, some transcendence there is to this tale. An obese woman must learn to cope when her husband disappears on the eve of their 25th anniversary. Mary Gooch doesn't know how to use a cell phone or automated teller. She lives near Toronto but has never been there. Her whole life has been centered on food. Mary has been squashing her feelings for so long she is practically numb, miserable about not having children after two miscarriages, unable to participate in life's little joys. Eventually even a box of chocolates lets her down. Mary goes into shock at losing the one identity she had, that of Jimmy's wife.

I felt much sympathy for Mary, but also some frustration. Her journey towards any kind of independence is halting. Much is unresolved. Yet in the process of looking for her runaway hubbie, Mary becomes a new woman right before our eyes.

[Natasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book started off with Mary Gooch doing very little for herself and completely depending on her husband. And then her husband leaves. Even though the story dips into Mary and Gooch’s life (25 years together), I still don’t understand why he stayed all that time and why he decided to leave now. As Mary grew into her own person, I didn’t believe how it was happening. Everything just seemed to work out for her. I found the reason behind her losing weight to be believable but I felt like the insights she was having (donuts are just sugar and fat) to come out of nowhere.

[Rumheadsbakery · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual, a very strange but enlightening story. It starts out as a sad and shocking look at the misery of someone's addiction and what it has cost her. You follow as she searches for her lost husband, finding herself as she goes. I saw myself in many of those pages.

[Gina Moltz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the characters in this book, especially Mary Gooch! She is so unique! I enjoyed traveling on her journey to basically figure out who she is and what she wants out of life. My only problem was the ending- felt unfinished to me. So I will need a sequel!

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book. I really did. It was just okay for me. So here's the story, the main character is morbidly obese (she calls the constant hunger within her the obeast.) She has reached 302 pounds and those 2 pounds are important--she had decided if she ever hit 300, she would kill herself. (But she doesn't.) On the eve of her 25th wedding anniversary, her husband does not come home. She goes after him. Through the story, in flashbacks the reader realizes that her husband LOVED her, but she used her fat to shut him out. She was "living" this fear filled, self-focused life, constantly expecting that he would leave her because of her weight--while growing ever bigger. I get the struggle with weight. Totally!!! Maybe I dont' have hundreds of pounds to lose, but I always am struggling with weight. But, even understanding and having parts of her story resonate with me, in the middle of the book, I was getting tired of it and her. Once she is out of her comfort zone, she is thrust into life. She gets involved with people and it makes a profound difference in her and her weight. For me, it was all just okay.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even after reading and loving The Girls, one of my favorite novels in which I learned that conjoined twins were indeed relevant to my life, I admit I wondered at the relevance of a 300 pound woman. Well, shame on me for ever doubting that Mary Gooch in The Wife's Tale: A Novel would have a story with which I could connect. Reflections, self and wordly discoveries, transformations--of course we relate. Lori Lansens is a master at taking what appears to be a somewhat extreme character(s) and proving just how much we all have in common, that the boundaries we may envision in our mind just do not exist. This novel did feel a bit unfinished at the end, as in there must be a sequel, please, but it can certainly stand on its own, too. I can't wait to see what Lansens creates next.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book took me forever to read. Mainly because I thought it was really really boring. How could I not see it from the title? First off, it wasn't written in first person, which I always like better. It was also written very much like all the Irish books I read, Girl counts on guy to "save" her and complete her life, except that it was Canadian instead.

Overweight girl somehow manages to snag some guy and becomes pregnant, so they have to marry. She ends up loosing the baby, but they get married and stay together anyway. On their 25th anniversary, said guy leaves her without even a note. Girl doesn't believe that he has really left for a while, but then does and runs off to California, where his mother lives, to find him. Of course, this is the part of the book where her life turns around, thanks to the help of some friendly strangers! Blah. I just don't care. And I hate girls that lean and count on men for everything. Get your head out of the sand and do it yourself, bitch!

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary Gooch has lived her whole life in Leaford, Ontario. Life is not perfect. She has no clothes that fit her to wear to her father’s funeral and the outfit she bought just three weeks ago to wear to her silver anniversary dinner is now too tight. She has a part time job she hates, a house she has lived in her whole married life, a truck with a sunroof that will not close and her closest friend is her Kenmore refrigerator. All that aside, she is still in love with her high school crush, now her loving and ever-patient husband. A scratch-and-win lottery ticket changes her life forever but will it be for the better or the worse? I loved Mary and her (mis)adventures. I would rate this book as one of the most enjoyable reads of 2010 so far and will definitely be checking out more from Ms. Lansens.

[Jennifer G · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first, I wasn't sure that I would get into the story, but I ended up really enjoying the book. The story is about an obese woman who eats compulsively and doesn't leave the house other than to go to work. Her relationship with her husband is suffering, and she doesn't seem to connect with life itself. After her husband mysteriously leaves her, she starts on a journey to find herself. The story is heartwarming. However, as several of my friends pointed out, the weight-loss solution seems to be a bit too easy....

[Kiessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are a Lori Lansens fan, get ready for a big dose of disappointment in this book. The entire read boils down to two central points: The main character is obese. She has a crappy marriage. There. Now you don't have to read it.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a bildungsroman of sorts, even though the protagonist was not a youth, but a woman in her 40's. She did, however, have to make a journey to maturity and self reliance after marrying too young, and living a life feeling loss, guilt and unfulfilled "hungers." Mary Gouch is much like character Harold Fry in THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY in that she sets out on a quest, totally unprepared or equipped. She finds her way slowly by the people she meets and befriends; those who help her and those whom she helps. Mary is obese and has lived a mundane life in a small Canadian town. The shock of her husband's unexplained abandonment on their 25th anniversary finds her unprepared for the journey she takes, but in setting out, she finds her dependence on food vanishes, as is often the case when someone is in shock. Ultimately, she finds the answers she seeks within herself. I heard this on audio, and didn't like the reader's voice, thus the 4 star rating. The book itself is 4.5 stars for me.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I really enjoyed this book. As I read, I realized that few protagonists in fiction are overweight. At least, weight is rarely discussed, leaving the impression that protagonists are all thin. I liked Mary. I liked that the book was quirky without falling into ridiculous. Mary's battle with the 'obese' made her an interesting protagonist and gave a real depth to both her and the husband's struggles. I did feel Mary's weight 'solution' was a little too easy and unrealistic but the journey felt real. I liked too that the author managed to make me feel for the husband. He wasn't a one dimensional character, despite being portrayed only through Mary's eyes.
I do not like the cover shown here on Goodreads. The copy I read had different art work. Why is there a thin woman on this book? Is this what Mary is supposed to want to be? Not cool.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars. A fun read. I do like Lansen's writing style, having enjoyed The Girls many years ago. In The Wife's Tale, Mary Gooch is a married woman in small-town Ontario, who is extremely unhappy with herself. One day her husband disappears and she soon discovers that he left her for time to think. What follows is a lovely story of Mary stepping out of her comfort zone, looking for her husband, and discovering who she is. Might be the first time I've said that a book is a "feel-good read" but it really is :)

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Lori Lansens other novel The Girls and I loved this one too. Her characters are so well fleshed out and their development as her novels progress is believable and engrossing to follow. Great writing - I would often look up from the book and realise lots of time had passed and I'd just read like 50 pages without realising. Highly recommend.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Falls short in comparison to her previous work. I was vested in Mary’s story however and found it a very easy read.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. This is the kind of story I adore. One in which the characters become friends and you’re sad when the book ends because you won’t hear from your friends again.
Excellent combination of laughter, sadness, anticipation, and contemplation.
Lori Lansens is now on my list of favourite authors. And she is Canadian! Well done, eh.

[Fanny · Rating 3 out of 5]

L’autrice avait sûrement une bonne intention lorsqu’elle a choisi d’aborder des thèmes tels que la boulimie hyperphagique, l’anxiété et l’estime de soi.

Or, je crois qu’elle fut maladroite ou méconnaissante à plusieurs égards en véhiculants des propos franchement grossophobes (le livre a été écrit en 2012 où la question de la grossophobie était moins connu…on peut lui pardonner un peu).

Outre ces malaises ressenties à plusieurs moment de l’histoire, j’ai bien aimé assister à l’épanouissement de l’héroïne duquel je me suis attachée.

⭐️Veuillez noter que pour l’évaluation sur 5 étoiles, je me suis basée sur mon plaisir à lire ce roman, l’originalité et la qualité du contenu, le style de l’auteur ainsi que l’empreinte de l’oeuvre laissée sur moi.⭐️