The Wife of Martin Guerre — 1970 ·

By Janet Lewis

“One of the most significant short novels in English.”

Atlantic Monthly

“When the literary history of the second millennium is written at the end of the third, in the category of dazzling American short fiction (Janet Lewis’s) Wife of Martin Guerre will be regarded as the 20th century's Billy Budd and Janet Lewis will be ranked with Herman Melville.”

The New York Times

“One of the last century’s great novels.”

A Commonplace Blog

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Set in 16th century France, this compelling story of Bertrande de Rols is the first of the Cases of Circumstantial Evidence.

Janet Lewis wrote many books of poetry and historical fiction. She was married to the poet and critic Yvor Winters. Lewis died in 1998 at the age of 99.