The Fireman's Wife and Other Stories

Clearly, the author loves his characters, to draw them so beautifully (even when they are misbehaving). The stories have an admirable psychological depth, and include some of my new favorite stories: In "Wedlock," a couple's honeymoon is overshadowed by thoughts of the bride's first marriage. In "Design," a hypochondriacal priest becomes obsessed with the failing health of the Baptist minister. In "Consolation," two sisters try to smother the sounds of their fits of laughter at the sappy poetry of one sister's estranged husband.

The stories here are a wonderful look into the work of Bausch, but in all honesty, I love his short stories so much that I'd recommend short story readers simply buy his full collection, The Stories of Richard Bausch, which includes all of the stories here. Each is its own glimpse into another place, into true characters, and into sights worth thinking about, and I never get tired of his writing.

So, yes, absolutely recommended, but all of the stories here are also in that full collection, so that's the direction I'd most recommend.

The epigraph for this collection of ten stories is a brief quotation from the poet John Keats: 'Happy love, more happy, happy love!' Richard Bausch does indeed write about the joys of marriage and family life, however he also reveals the pain lurking just beneath the surface of every seemingly happy life.

The first short story 'Wedlock', is about a newly married couple whose honeymoon night of amiable levity suddenly turns mean-spirited; in 'Equity', three adult daughters whose mother had previously supported them through divorces, nervous breakdowns, and other crises now must deal with their mother's senility; the title tale and its sequel, 'Consolation' both examine the lives of firemen and their spouses before and after a tragedy; show more 'Luck' is narrated by the son of an alcoholic house painter. While many of the stories contained within this collection have contemporary urban settings, the short story 'Old West' is a retelling of the Shane story which basically strips away all of the legendary gunslinger's heroism.

I must say, that while I certainly appreciated reading many of these stories, I was slightly irritated that none of them actually led anywhere for me. To be completely honest, several of these short stories just didn't make all that much sense to me. However, I did find the last story, 'Letter to the Lady of the House' - in which a man on the eve of his 70th birthday, writes an apology letter to his wife after a disagreement they've had that evening - particularly heartwarming and sweet. Overall, I give this book a B+! show less