The Wife of Martin Guerre

In 1539, at age eleven, Bertrande de Rols was married to Martin Guerre, also eleven. It was an arranged wedding, intended to unite two influential peasant families of Gascony. At age fourteen, Bertrande moved into the house, and the bed, of her husband. She gave birth to a son when twenty, but shortly later Martin left the Guerre estate, unable to comply with the subservience to his father that tradition demanded. Over time Bertrande began to think her husband dead. But eight years after he had left, and after the deaths of both his parents, Martin Guerre returned, to the joy of almost everyone -- all except Bertrande, who first suspected and then firmly believed the returned prodigal son to be an impostor. Should she denounce him? Devout Catholic that she was, should she share her body with him? Was she mad? These and related questions plagued Bertrande over the next three years. Eventually everything came to a head in legal proceedings against the returned Martin Guerre for imposture, and in each of two trials a different surprise witness turned up. The ultimate disposition of the case vindicated Bertrande from a legal standpoint, although her life was ruined despite having tried to conduct herself by the light of the truth as she saw it.It is a captivating tale. Moreover, in its principal elements it is a true tale. THE WIFE OF MARTIN GUERRE is an historical novel -- at ninety-eight pages, more a novella. Janet Lewis writes in a poised, unadorned manner. With relatively few strokes, she gives a masterly portrayal of both Bertrande's psychological being and the setting of sixteenth-century rural France. She writes without the hipness, cynicism, or irony that mark so much twentieth-century American fiction. The novella is a small gem, well worth the two hours or so required to read it.Janet Lewis had a long life -- 1899 to 1998. She was a high school classmate of Ernest Hemingway; both their families vacationed in up-state Michigan and both wrote short stories about the area. Her prose is quite different from Hemingway's, however. While hers too is spare, it is less edgy and self-consciously modern; it does not call attention to itself via authorial quirks or trademarks. In 1926, while a tuberculosis patient in Santa Fe, Lewis married the poet Yvor Winters. Over her career, she wrote at least four other novels and a handful of volumes of poetry. I intend to seek out more of her work.This edition includes an excellent article by Larry McMurtry (originally published in "The New York Review of Books") about Lewis and her writings.

****Warning: spoilers ****With her very short novel, Lewis offers a model of economical storytelling.This true tale is famous enough. In the sixteenth century, Martin Guerre leaves the family farm in southern France escaping his father's wrath and perhaps seeking adventure. Years later, a man claiming to be Martin returns. He is changed but convinces the abandoned wife and family that he is truly Martin. After three years, he is accused of imposture and convicted. Just as his conviction is about to be overturned on appeal, the real Martin dramatically reappears, the impostor's guilt is confirmed, leading to his execution.Lewis adapts many of the facts. For one thing, she underplays the role of Pierre, Martin's uncle, in the accusation and she presents Bertrande, Martin's wife, as the chief accuser. Lewis never mentions Bertrande's mother, who in real life was married to Martin's uncle Pierre, and who played a large part in the actual events. But this is a novel, not a historical essay. In the end, we see more sharply into human nature than we would were the novel more accurate.Lewis demonstrates her artistry in the resolution, when the last shred of doubt is lifted from Bertrande's heart. Martin's father is a just but stern and autocratic man. Early in the book, his authority causes him to strike Martin and break two teeth; the event later comes up as evidence supporting the impostor's claim since he has the same two teeth broken. The same stern and pitiless authority causes Martin to leave the farm as he fears his father's anger for taking some seed without permission. Finally when Martin reappears at the end of the appeal, he refuses to forgive Bertrande claiming that she should have known the impostor from the start. He shows her the same pitiless character his father showed him.Brilliantly, with one single trait (lack of pity) Lewis establishes two plot devices (the identifying teeth and the reason for leaving) she defines two supporting characters (the father and the son) and she develops the main character (Bertrande) when she realizes she has lost the love of her real husband. A lesser writer would simply have explained it all in so many words, as I just did.Vincent Poirier, Tokyo

Based on an astounding true story...many movies about it...usually titled "The Return of Martin Guerre."The story starts a little stiffly...but the setting it establishes in very few pages is crucial to understanding the period, and it just builds tension relentlessly from there. The writing is tight. Each detail is crucial to either the characters...or to the always-moving-forward plot. Many twists, emotional and physical -- including the harsh but well-foreshadowed ending.A small masterpiece...deserves to be much better known. Highly recommended.

The core of this novella (excluding the introductory pages and the afterward pages) is a 100 page account of the wife of Martin Guerre, of course. The florid statements about identity, etc., are quite overwrought. However, it is a provocative story. In our time when our social media accounts define us more than we like to imagine and AI can map our faces, it is quite something to think of a time when people might not be able to positively identify a brother or even a husband.I’ve read the book The Return of Martin Guerre and watched the two movies based on this story. Each adds something to this puzzle of a story.

Beautifully written ! I enjoyed this book immensely and recommended it to friends . I also ordered the other three books by this author that are related to this title .

The writing is bare and clear. You will miss the fascinating story if you read too fast. I have not enjoyed a book so much in a long time.

I read this many years ago and loved it. I wanted to re-read it but you have just reminded me that it never arrived.I am pleased to say that a copy arrived for me yesterday exactly the same as the one I owned many years ago.I have started to read it and I am sure I will enjoy it just as much as before. Many thanks

This was an interesting viewpoint in the story of a well-known story.

Janet Lewis is an extraordinary writer and both this book and The trial of Soren Qvist are quite wonderful.

Received book fine. Story a bit disappointing

Diese Fall hat sich wirklich zugetragen. Eine junge Frau wird verheiratet und ihr Mann verschwindet nach einem Streit mit seinem Vater. Nach acht Jahren kommt ein Mann auf den Hof zurück und gibt vor, der Verschwundene zu sein. Alle einschliesslich seiner Schwestern meinen, ihn zu erkennen, und auch seine Frau nimmt ihn an und bekommt sogar ein Kind von ihm. Doch sie bekommt immer mehr Zeifel, ob dieser Mann tatsächlich ihr Ehemann ist und lässt die Angelegenheit bei Gericht klären. Dort stellt sich heraus , dass er ein Hochstpler ist, und darüber hinaus taucht auch der echte Ehemann auf. Der Hochstapler wird zum Tod verurteilt. Eine kurze, aber sehr einprägsam geschiderte Geschichte. Ich habe sie allerdings im Enlischen Original gelesen und kann nicht sagen, ob die Deutsche Übersetzung an das wunderbare English des Originales herankommt.