The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro
"The Love of a Good Woman" by Alice Munro is a layered narrative set in a small Canadian town, exploring themes of secrecy, morality, and the complexities of human relationships. The story begins with three teenage boys who discover the submerged car of the town's optometrist, Mr. D. M. Willens, leading to a tragic revelation that unfolds through interconnected lives. The focus shifts to Mrs. Quinn, a young woman dying of kidney failure, who is attended to by Enid, a nurse grappling with her own desires and dreams.
The plot thickens as Mrs. Quinn recounts the events leading to Mr. Willens’s death, revealing a scandal involving her husband, Rupert, who violently confronts Mr. Willens after discovering a compromising situation. The couple collaborates to conceal the murder by disposing of Mr. Willens's body, intertwining their fates with dark secrets. Following Mrs. Quinn's death, Enid becomes conflicted over Rupert’s guilt and her own feelings for him, leading her to consider testing his integrity regarding the crime. The story concludes ambiguously, leaving readers questioning the truths within the narrative and the characters' intentions as Rupert heads toward a pivotal moment on the riverbank. This exploration of love, guilt, and moral ambiguity invites readers to reflect deeply on the motivations that drive human actions.
The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro
First published: 1996, as short story; 1998 as short story collection
Type of plot: Domestic realism
Time of work: 1951
Locale: Walley, Ontario, Canada
Principal Characters:
D. M. Willens , the town optometristThree teenage boys Mrs. Quinn , a young woman who is dyingRupert , her husbandEnid , her home nurse
The Story
The multilayered plot of "The Love of a Good Woman," a complex treatment of secrets in a small Canadian town, begins when three teenage boys go swimming in the river and find the body of the town optometrist, Mr. D. M. Willens, in his submerged car. They do not report their discovery to the police immediately but instead wait until after dinner to tell the local constable, who is too deaf to hear them. Later, one of the boys tells his mother, and the police find the body.{OldFileName}New{/OldFileName}
The second section of the story shifts to a period some time after the death of Mr. Willens. The young Mrs. Quinn, who is dying of kidney failure, is cared for by a home nurse named Enid. Mrs. Quinn is portrayed as a cranky young woman, and Enid is portrayed as a middle-aged spinster tormented by erotic dreams.
The third section links the first two sections by recounting the story of Mr. Willens's death, as Mrs. Quinn tells it to Enid. Mrs. Quinn is having her eyes examined in her home by Mr. Willens, who has a reputation as a lecherous old man. When Mrs. Quinn's husband, Rupert, comes back to the house and sees his wife with her skirt up her thighs and Mr. Willens's hands on her leg, he knocks the older man down and beats his head on the floor until he dies. Mrs. Quinn, who comes up with the idea to put Mr. Willens and his car in the river, helps her husband carry out her plan.
In the fourth section, after Mrs. Quinn dies, Enid, who has feelings for Rupert, believes he should go to the police and confess to killing Mr. Willens. Convinced that he cannot live in the world with such a secret, she tells herself that she will go to the trial every day and then wait for him while he is in prison. Not sure that the story Mrs. Quinn told her is true, Enid devises a scheme to test Rupert. She plans to have him row her out in the middle of the river, tell him she cannot swim, and then tell him what she knows. This will give him the opportunity to kill her if the story is true. "The Love of a Good Woman" ends with Rupert getting the oars while Enid waits for him on the riverbank. The reader never knows whether Rupert killed Mr. Willens or whether he will kill Enid.
Sources for Further Study
Booklist. XCV, September 1, 1998, p. 6.
The Canadian Forum. LXXVII, October, 1998, p. 49.
Library Journal. CXXIII, September 15, 1998, p. 115.
Maclean's. CXI, November 16, 1998, p. 82.
The New York Times Book Review. CIII, November 1, 1998, p. 6.
Publishers Weekly. CCXLV, September 7, 1998, p. 81.
Time. CLII, November 30, 1998, p. 119.
The Times Literary Supplement. December 4, 1998, p. 22.
The Wall Street Journal. October 30, 1998, p. W4.
The Washington Post Book World. XXVIII, November 15, 1998, p. 5.