Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Swallow Press (2013), Edition: 1, 112 pages
Description
In this new edition of Janet Lewis's classic short novel, The Wife of Martin Guerre, Swallow Press executive editor Kevin Haworth writes that Lewis's story is "a short novel of astonishing depth and resonance, a sharply drawn historical tale that asks contemporary questions about identity and belonging, about men and women, and about an individual's capacity to act within an inflexible system." Originally published in 1941, The Wife of Martin Guerre has earned the respect and admiration of critics and readers for over sixty years. Based on a notorious trial in sixteenth-century France, this
User reviews
LibraryThing member Jayeless
I read this novel years ago for school, but I was clicking around Goodreads randomly and I realised that, for some bizarre reason, this book has a lot of positive reviews, so I thought I'd try to counterbalance that a little.
This book made me really angry. For a start, it's just so boring -- you'd
But worse, I despised the plot. Basically what happens is this: a woman in sixteenth-century France marries this man, Martin Guerre, who is abusive and generally a despicable person. At some point he up and leaves her, which would seem to me to be the highlight of their entire marriage, except for the part where this leaves her in a precarious position in sixteenth-century France. Eight years later, Martin Guerre finally deigns to return, only now he's much kinder and warmer, a really nice guy, someone it wouldn't be hell on earth to live with. This means Bertrande (the woman) becomes convinced that he's not really Martin Guerre at all, but an impostor. Most of the rest of the book is then about her struggle to make everyone else realise he's an impostor, even though he's clearly a vast improvement on the man she was married to before, so I personally would be very inclined to bury my doubts.
Then at the end he's proved to be an impostor because the real Martin Guerre actually returns, and promptly abuses Bertrande anew to thank her for making the impostor's life as hard as possible in spite of what a great guy he was. Oh sorry, I mean for "cheating" on him. Because he was definitely entitled to her loyalty after being abusive and abandoning her, after all.
I mean, I do hate novels where characters seem anachronistic, and my teacher at the time gave me a lecture about how I just didn't understand how deep the fear of hell ran in Bertrande's time. But quite honestly, I think this depth of fear of hell would have been equally unusual in Bertrande's time as ours. In the last millennium, Europe has been full of people who had affairs or even, god forbid, sex before marriage - and this is a guy who could quite easily have been Bertrande's true husband, just a bit more mature and with an actual conscience. So fine, Bertrande is part of that small minority of people who actually think remaining loyal to an abusive husband is better than the possibility of eternal damnation. This is not really a segment of society I care to read about. Each to their own, though.
This book made me really angry. For a start, it's just so boring -- you'd
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think it'd be easy to avoid putting too much padding in a 109-page novella, but no, this book will do such things as devote an entire page to describing a tree, and honestly, I do not care about trees that much. So. That happens.But worse, I despised the plot. Basically what happens is this: a woman in sixteenth-century France marries this man, Martin Guerre, who is abusive and generally a despicable person. At some point he up and leaves her, which would seem to me to be the highlight of their entire marriage, except for the part where this leaves her in a precarious position in sixteenth-century France. Eight years later, Martin Guerre finally deigns to return, only now he's much kinder and warmer, a really nice guy, someone it wouldn't be hell on earth to live with. This means Bertrande (the woman) becomes convinced that he's not really Martin Guerre at all, but an impostor. Most of the rest of the book is then about her struggle to make everyone else realise he's an impostor, even though he's clearly a vast improvement on the man she was married to before, so I personally would be very inclined to bury my doubts.
I mean, I do hate novels where characters seem anachronistic, and my teacher at the time gave me a lecture about how I just didn't understand how deep the fear of hell ran in Bertrande's time. But quite honestly, I think this depth of fear of hell would have been equally unusual in Bertrande's time as ours. In the last millennium, Europe has been full of people who had affairs or even, god forbid, sex before marriage - and this is a guy who could quite easily have been Bertrande's true husband, just a bit more mature and with an actual conscience. So fine, Bertrande is part of that small minority of people who actually think remaining loyal to an abusive husband is better than the possibility of eternal damnation. This is not really a segment of society I care to read about. Each to their own, though.
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LibraryThing member arubabookwoman
I've wanted to read this book since I saw the movie decades ago, so I immediately checked it out when it showed up on my library feed.
Based on an 1874 legal history, this short novel describes the events leading to a legal dispute in 1539. Martin Guerre is married to Bertrand, and after an argument
The focus of the book was on Bertrand's state of mind. It did a good job of putting the reader into a 16th century mindset, and the characters were well-developed. Although it might seem fantastical that a woman might not recognize her husband, the story was plausible and well-told.
Recommended.
3 stars
Based on an 1874 legal history, this short novel describes the events leading to a legal dispute in 1539. Martin Guerre is married to Bertrand, and after an argument
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with his father, with whom he owns and manages a prosperous farm, he takes off for a break. Bertrand expects him to be gone a few months at the most. Instead, he is gone eight years. When he returns, everyone accepts him as Martin Guerre, but after a while Bertrand begins to suspect otherwise--he is too "nice" to be Martin. Bertrand begins legal proceedings to have him declared an imposter.The focus of the book was on Bertrand's state of mind. It did a good job of putting the reader into a 16th century mindset, and the characters were well-developed. Although it might seem fantastical that a woman might not recognize her husband, the story was plausible and well-told.
Recommended.
3 stars
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Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1941
Physical description
112 p.; 8 inches
ISBN
9780804011433