The Wife's Tale

The Wife's Tale

Lori Lansens

5 out of 5

Mary Gooch is quite a memorable character one that we can learn a great deal from. On the eve of her 25th wedding anniversary and weighing in at 302 pounds, Mary is left waiting for her husband Jimmy to come home from work, but as the evening wears on she knows, can just feel it in the pit of her stomach, right next to that aching hunger, that Jimmy won't be home, he won't come back to their life or their anniversary party.

Ever since she was young, Mary has been battling the "obeast", that driving hunger for food, that something that will satisfy her. During her few thin years she met the handsome athletic Jimmy Gooch and their romance was more then she could ever imagine. Then the disappointments and worries came, the weight was back. Jimmy swore that he still loved her, but the well worn path from her bedroom to the refrigerator was something that could no longer be avoided.

To find her husband, Mary knew that she had to break away from her very small world in Canada and board an airplane to California to confront a mother in law that detested her, but she would do that, to bring her Jimmy home. In the process of finding her wayward husband, Mary found the good in people, the good in herself and a way to keep the "obeast" quiet.

Though I've never been a fan of the woman trying to find herself type of book, I loved Mary's story. It wasn't all tied up with a neat bow because a man loved her and they lived happily ever after. Mary came across as a real woman, with real fears and real hopes. And in her journey to put her life back together she found good people, people who appreciated her for who she was, not what she looked like or how much money she had. She was willing to put herself out there, to show the world all her warts and maybe, just maybe, she could find the peace that would finally satisfy her.