The Wives of Bath

A coming-of-age story with Gothic overtones, The Wives of Bath is the story of two teenagers attending Bath Ladies College near Toronto in 1963. Pauline ("Paulie") is a rebellious outsider, while Mary Beatrice ("Mouse") is painfully shy, in part because she has a hump which she names "Alice" and confides in. Paulie and Mouse become friends, and their curiosity about love, sexuality and the opposite sex leads them into complicated, painful situations. When a grisly murder occurs at the boarding school, the two girls are implicated.

The Wives of Bath was a finalist for the U.K.'s Guardian Fiction Prize and Ontario's Trillium Award.

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From the book

Author interviews

The Next Chapter40:02"The Western Light" author Susan Swan (Extended interview)

Shelagh's extended conversation.

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