The title novella is worth the purchase of this book. I have read--and reread--it four times. Why? to study the exquisite structure and prose, to experience the physicality of the setting, the sheer capture of a certain moment in a life, and the poignancy of the unexpected visitation of the deep past. In a word, this is mastery. ( )

"She's an unusual girl....uncommonly intelligent. But it's more than that. She has tremendous powers of concentration."

These sentences appear on the first page of the fourth novella and while they may be attributed to the main character I believe they must aptly describe the author. Ms Gordon has defined the art of nuance and description and it is the reader's good fortune that she is so adept at phrasing. She is an artful writer and I can only say "Brava". ( )

I had never read any Mary Gordon until a friend gave me this collection of four novellas. I found that Gordon is a perceptive writer who explores interpersonal and moral issues in these stories.

In the title novella, "The Liar's Wife," an older married woman, well off, is surprised to receive a visit from her first husband, a musician, and his current lady friend, who is a singer; they were married briefly when she was in her 20s, and she fled from him, while living in Ireland, back to the US. She first looks down on them, because of their appearance and questionable lifestyle, but gradually comes to understand that they bring joy to people through their music.

In "Simone Weil in New York" (the first of two novellas featuring historic people), a former student of Weil's, who also has fled from France to New York, runs into her teacher on the street, and Weil subsequently insinuates herself into the student's life. The student is now married and has a child; her husband is a doctor who has joined the army. She also takes care of her brother, who has cerebral palsy and is a college teacher specializing in getting people with disabilities, both physical and emotional, to communicate. Through Weil's obsessions, the former student realizes that Weil isn't always right -- and in fact can be very wrong.

In "Thomas Mann in Gary, Indiana," and old man looks back on one of the highlights of his life, introducing Thomas Mann when he spoke at his high school. (Mann, when he came to the US, traveled around the country warning of the dangers of Nazism, although as Gordon notes in an afterword never in Gary.) Through teachers who also fled to the US, the high school student learns of the racism in his community. Of course, he also has typical teenager interests, including unrequited love for the smartest girl in his class; in the course of the story a tragedy occurs. Part of the interest in this novella derives from the old man referring to his children and grandchildren and his self-understanding.

In "Fine Arts," a graduate student finds herself in Lucca, Italy, studying for a month to find an art history thesis topic. She previously attended parochial school, where the nuns tried to rescue her from a stressful home life by pairing her with another girl who also has a trying home life (they remain friends for life), and an apparently Catholic college, but now is at Yale for graduate school, through a connection made by her college advisor. At Yale, she had an affair with her advisor, but regrets it on the way to Italy because she has come to see that he was a weak man. In Italy, she meets various people, realizes that she can get angry and take action, and ultimately receives a gift she could have no way of expecting.

I am not sure I will read any more Gordon, but I enjoyed all four of these novellas.

Mary Gordon’s The Liar’s Wife is a collection of four novellas whose main characters seem to be trying to get on with their lives despite issues and secrets from their past. In the case of some, that past suddenly comes back to haunt them as physical presence. In the cases of others, it is more a matter of considering past behavior, be it recent or more removed from the present.

Two of the novellas are set in the past and feature historical figures from the World War II era. In the book’s second piece, “Simone Weil in New York” it is real life French philosopher Simone Weil who suddenly appears in the same New York neighborhood in which one of her former pupils now lives. Now the young woman, who when in her teens idolized Weil, must deal with the disappointment of seeing her former teacher through the recently acquired eyes of an adult. Both are very different people than the ones they were before coming to New York.

“Thomas Mann in Gary, Indiana,” the book’s second story focuses on a fictional meeting between that noted German writer and the naïve young high school student chosen to introduce him at a school presentation. The two brief encounters the young student has with the author will greatly impact his life, forcing him to face the question of what a good man does when confronted by as pure an evil as that represented by Adolph Hitler. This fictional Thomas Mann proves to be a hard man to please.

The first of the novellas, “The Liar’s Wife,” is another in which a woman must physically confront a key figure from her past. In this case, it is an ex-husband she has not seen for fifty years, an Irishman with whom she lived in Dublin during their brief time together. The man, a failed musician, wanting to say his final goodbyes, forces his former wife to relive a past she has seldom thought much about since carving out a whole new life for herself – and her reaction surprises her.

In the book’s closing story, “Fine Arts,” a young woman working on an advanced art degree is stung by more recent events from her past that result in a rash decision she fears could ruin her. Her response, to seek solace from those who know her best - an old friend and the nuns who schooled her as a girl – is what she hopes will help her to repair her life.

The two contemporary stories, perhaps because they move at a quicker pace than that of the two stories set in the past, are likely to appeal more to most readers. Their main characters are certainly easier to understand and sympathize with than the Simone Weil and Thomas Mann characters presented by Gordon, both of which are about as unsympathetic – even unlikable - as one can imagine. This makes for an uneven collection, but when Mary Gordon hits the right note, there are few better – and she hits the right note here more times than not. ( )

“The Liar’s Wife” is only one of the four novellas in this book. Veteran writer Gordon has produced stories where the protagonists are all knocked out of their comfort zones and find themselves contemplating life changing moral issues.

In the first, the title story, a 70-some year old woman is surprised by the appearance of her ex-husband. They were only married a short time before she fled, unable to settle into a life in Ireland with a musician husband who, of course, lies continually. Her life has been comfortable; happy children, career she liked, good husband, three houses. His has been the opposite, but he feels he’s lived life to the fullest. Whose life has been better? Has one been a waste?

In “Simone Weil in New York” the protagonist is a young woman who was one of Weil’s students in France. Now married to an American doctor who is stationed in the Pacific Theater during WW 2, with a baby and living with her brother, she encounters Weil in the street. She is not happy to see her; she represents all that has been lost because of the war. As a student she had loved and revered Weil; now she feels a tangle of feelings. Weil feels an obligation to live as the poorest live; does that help anyone? Should Genevieve feel guilty for being safe in America instead of being part of the French Resistance? Can she break free of Weil’s philosophy?

The narrator in “Thomas Mann in Gary, Indiana” is an old man, looking back on his life. The high point of his life was when, in high school, he was selected to present the visiting Thomas Mann to the school. Mann has left Germany because of the Nazi regime and is visiting the school to lecture on what is happening in Germany. Like Weil, Mann cannot enjoy his own freedom and success because of guilt over what is going on in his native country; this opens the high school boy’s eyes to the racism that is so casually accepted in America- so casually that no one ever really sees it.

My favorite story is the last one, “Fine Arts”. A college student who has been given a grant to go overseas to study the work of sculptor Citivali for her doctoral thesis. Theresa has had a hard life; her childhood was taken up with caring for a bed ridden father; her teens taken up with studying. Her one indulgence has been an affair with her married mentor, who is a self absorbed ass. Two of the sculptures that she wishes to study are in a private collection; the owner turns Theresa’s life upside down and completely reverses her situation.

All four protagonists wrestle with moral issues. Is what they are doing worthwhile? Are they wasting their lives? Is it all right to enjoy your life while others suffer? It sounds grim, but the stories are very engaging and thought provoking without being heavy. The prose is so… perfect… that it just leads you on into the stories. ( )