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The Good Wife by Stewart O'Nan
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What a book. Stewart O’Nan’s ninth novel examines a life of waiting. Patty Dickerson’s husband is charged and convicted of a murder during a botched robbery and sentenced to prison for twenty-five years. This is Patty’s story. Just thinking about all the details skilfully crafted to tell this rather sad story leaves me stunned. Patty Dickerson is a good wife. She is loyal, raising her son while his father is in jail. She and her son visit her husband every Sunday. During the week she earns money working on a road and clean-up crew, looking tan and healthy, as if just back from a cruise to an island paradise. Patty’s strength shows when she returns to work after an accident with a chain saw that just misses the side of her head: she is merely cut on the forehead by a falling branch. But she’s the careful one on the crew, and she doesn’t want the rest of the bunch to go on unsupervised. Patty waits. First, time is measured in calls from the defense attorney, appointed by the state; not enough money to hire someone in private practice. The court room proceedings and treatment by the defense is painful: cold, impersonal, and distant. The other guy turns state's evidence and gets off. This is a blow. Once sentenced, the time is measured in weeks, between visits to see Tommy. Begrudgingly, the attorney agrees to an appeal, handing the case off to another attorney. The case is finally heard and the waiting is still measured week to week, but now instead of a visit, Patty is focusing on Thursdays, the day after the courts hand down rulings on the appeals. After months of Thursdays, she gets bad news. After five years, Patty and Tommy apply for the Family Reunion Program. Every four months, the family can move into a trailer on the prison grounds and stay the weekend. Tommy will have to come out eight times for a count (more waiting), but still, every four months, there is something to look forward to. Patty also changes jobs several times. She is lonely; people know what she’s been through. She lives with her mother and is close to a sister. Patty sends their son off to Kindergarten, then junior high school, the months turning to years. After many years, Tommy is moved for the last time. The moves are not reported until all is done, disconcerting for Patty. The final move is to a minimum security facility, which is good for Tommy, but there is no FRP, no shared weekends. The years pass. When Tommy is released from prison, O’Nan uses brilliant details to describe the drive home, taking us right to the scene, complete with the tension and joy of release after having been displaced for twenty-five years. Patty and Tommy are now in their fifties, adjusting to life together, and it is hard. But Patty’s waiting is over. She is a good wife. Review by Sarah Bagby, July 29, 2005
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