by Jane Smiley
First published 1992
A dentist watches his wife across the breakfast table, certain she has fallen for someone else. He sees it in her distracted glances, her sudden interest in evening walks, the way she holds herself differently now. He believes the other man has rejected her, leaving her wounded and withdrawn. Rather than confront her, he chooses a different path. He works to find what he calls the ironic middle, that practical center of their marriage where humor and daily routine can shelter them both. He wants to protect her from knowing that he knows, to spare her the shame of discovery. His silence becomes an act of love, even as grief settles into the spaces between them. This title novella anchors a collection of five stories, all written in Smiley's precise, unadorned prose. Each piece captures ordinary people navigating the complexities of relationships and family life. The characters sound authentic as they handle both the mundane tasks and deeper pleasures of their daily existence.
Genres: literary-fiction, family-life, contemporary, relationships
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Period: 20th-Century
224 pages · Paperback · Ballantine Books