the Wife`s tale by Lori Lansens

Like her previous book The Girls, this is an excellent and absorbing read.The story of Mary Gooch, beautiful of face but obese of body is one of those stories that hooks you in and refuses to let you go. Instead of celebrating her 25th Wedding Anniversary with her husband as she had planned, Mary finds herself alone, her husband gone and in no hurry to reappear.
Her reflections on the demetrius of their years together fuels a desperate quest to find him and leads her on an adventure that she could never have dreamed of, shucking away the chains of dependence Mary hits the road and the sky and travels to a world far from her imaging, one that ultimately leads her to find what it is she has so desperately longed for all these years. As the secrets and lies that have been her life with Gooch fall away and as she is introduced to a whole raft of characters, in slow steps her eyes are opened to the world, the scales literally fall away.
It isn`t an easy journey, small town versus big city, there are potholes in the road, there are hurts and sadness's, misunderstandings but Mary shows a determination previously unseen and a receptivity to others and their life journey that is heartwarming.
I particularly liked the quirkiness, the uniqueness of Lansens characters and the way she developed them, they resonated, they struck you as being real and totally believable, they were refreshing in their outlook on life,  there was humour and Lansens references The Girls in Marys small hometown..
Lansens writes very well and has a depth of understand about the things that push a life in a particular direction that is quite unique, it blends with wisdom and compassion to give her books a special kind of magic and to leave you thinking about them long after the last page.
Available in paperback and via the library system.