The Good Wife by Stewart O'nan

The Good Wife by Stewart O'nan

From a writer who reveals 'the plainness of everyday life with straightforward lyricism' (The New York Times Book Review), the story of one remarkable, average woman.

On a clear winter night in upstate New York, two young men break in to a house they believe is empty. It isn't, and within minutes an old woman is dead and the house is in flames. Soon after, the men are caught by the police. Across the county, a phone rings in a darkened bedroom, waking a pregnant woman. It's her husband. He wants her to know that he and his friend have gotten themselves into a little trouble. So Patty Dickerson's old life ends and a strange new one begins.

At once a love story and a portrait of a woman discovering her own strength, The Good Wife follows Patty through the twenty-eight years of her husband's incarceration, as she raises her son, navigates a system that has no place for her, and braves the scorn of her community. Compassionate and unflinching, Stewart O'Nan's The Good Wife illuminates a marriage and a family tested to the limits of endurance.

Last Night at the Lobster, The Night Country, and Prayer for the Dying are among Stewart O'Nan's works. Snow Angels, based on his story, was adapted into a film in 2007. He's also the co-author of the nonfiction books The Circus Fire and Loyal, which he co-wrote with Stephen King. He was designated one of the Twenty Best Young American Novelists by Granta magazine. He currently resides in Pittsburgh.