The Folded World

March 12, 2007
Gaige follows up on the 2006 National Book Foundation "5 Under 35" selection O My Darling
with a measured account of a mildly troubled marriage and the hurdles faced by well-meaning social caseworkers. Gorgeous and dark-haired Alice Bussard, the 22-year-old daughter of a librarian, leaves "shabby" hometown Gloucester, Mass., to find bigger and better in a nearby (and unnamed) city. What she finds, however, is a job as a dentist's receptionist and the attention of 25-year-old, big-eared Midwestern transplant Charlie Shade, who is finishing his master's in social work. Before long, they're married and Charlie's found an underpaid and overworked job. They have twins, and Charlie's dedication to his work—and two patients, Hal Kramer and Opal Ludlow, specifically—sparks domestic tension (Alice is predictably tempted by another man), professional trouble and physical danger. Alice's mother comes to help with the kids, but ends up sharing with Alice the truth Alice would rather not hear about the father she never knew. Gaige's sophomore effort is polished and competent, with measured doses of dry humor leavening overwrought prose . Details about the mechanisms of the social work system are convincing, as is Gaige's portrayal of a young marriage on the rocks, but the narrative may be too tidy for some.

March 1, 2007
We've all heard the truism that the devil is in the details. For novelist Gaige, whose "O My Darling" was a winner of the National Book Foundation's first 5 Under 35 award, these details are hidden in the folds of everyday life. Protagonist Charlie Shade, a young social worker, is attempting to balance his job as part of a mobile mental-health team with his responsibilities to his family. It's not easy. Eager to prove his competence as a clinician, he virtually ignores his stay-at-home wife and twin daughters. When the inevitable crisis hits, the novel brings readers into the center of the maelstrom. From here, it explores dozens of themes: boundary setting, fidelity, loyalty, compromise, self-preservation, the changing nature of love, and personal growth, among others. Gorgeous prose and unusual characters combine to make this an intriguing and captivating look at the ways traditional gender roles skew adult relationships. Indeed, it is exhilarating to see Alice, the horrifyingly passive wife, transform herself into a competent woman. This alchemy, in concert with a beautiful story wonderfully told, makes this highly recommended for all fiction collections.Eleanor J. Bader, Brooklyn

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