Simon Vance

Seeing how even someone as gifted as Monroe was vulnerable to this kind of coercive control is instructive. In a letter to Virginia Barber from June 1992, Monroe reports that, after she fled their home in Clinton, Fremlin joined her at their Vancouver Island condo. The two of them were in couples therapy, she said, and progress, as they call it, is being made.

Seeing how even someone as gifted as Monroe was vulnerable to this kind of coercive control is instructive. In a letter to Virginia Barber from June 1992, Monroe reports that, after she fled their home in Clinton, Fremlin joined her at their Vancouver Island condo. The two of them were in couples therapy, she said, and progress, as they call it, is being made.

At the time of writing, Monroe was laid up with laryngitis. I've almost welcomed being sick, because it dulls things. But the dips aren't so bad or so deep now, she wrote, expanding on her fragile state of mind. The very bad and surprising thing was how things you'd expect to be eternally comforting, I mean the beauty of the world and poetry and stuff, hurt worst.

At the time of writing, Monroe was laid up with laryngitis. I've almost welcomed being sick, because it dulls things. But the dips aren't so bad or so deep now, she wrote, expanding on her fragile state of mind. The very bad and surprising thing was how things you'd expect to be eternally comforting, I mean the beauty of the world and poetry and stuff, hurt worst.

And what a great boon tabloids turned out to be. Coffee held its own, but booze is another fair-weather friend. Jerry is doing really well when you consider what a reversal and loss this had to be. Andrew's okay but doesn't want to be in touch with me now G is here. We'll see. It's still so raw. You never come out with a mended teapot looking like new. And I guess you're lucky if it holds the tea.

And what a great boon tabloids turned out to be. Coffee held its own, but booze is another fair-weather friend. Jerry is doing really well when you consider what a reversal and loss this had to be. Andrew's okay but doesn't want to be in touch with me now G is here. We'll see. It's still so raw. You never come out with a mended teapot looking like new. And I guess you're lucky if it holds the tea.

See how Ms. M clings to the comfy domestic images. I feel very weirdly free, in a way. For so long I've felt oddly apologetic or strange with people, and now I feel I know what the trouble was. Do I? Odd. What kind of loss Munro is referring to is hard to discern. A loss of dignity or status? But the letter makes her priorities plain. Fremlin came first, Andrea second.

See how Ms. M clings to the comfy domestic images. I feel very weirdly free, in a way. For so long I've felt oddly apologetic or strange with people, and now I feel I know what the trouble was. Do I? Odd. What kind of loss Munro is referring to is hard to discern. A loss of dignity or status? But the letter makes her priorities plain. Fremlin came first, Andrea second.

Munro said as much to Andrea. She said that she had been told too late, Andrea wrote in the Star. She loved him too much, and that our misogynistic culture was to blame if I expected her to deny her own need, sacrifice for her children, and make up for the failings of men.

Munro said as much to Andrea. She said that she had been told too late, Andrea wrote in the Star. She loved him too much, and that our misogynistic culture was to blame if I expected her to deny her own need, sacrifice for her children, and make up for the failings of men.

Six months later, Munro and Fremlin made another trip to their condo, where, she wrote to Barber, they had lots of practical problems to take our mind off large griefs. One day she visited Victoria, a two-and-a-half-hour drive. Knowing I would not see Andrea, I cannot request this, though we are in touch by letter.

Six months later, Munro and Fremlin made another trip to their condo, where, she wrote to Barber, they had lots of practical problems to take our mind off large griefs. One day she visited Victoria, a two-and-a-half-hour drive. Knowing I would not see Andrea, I cannot request this, though we are in touch by letter.

It's up to her, and hoping I wouldn't do something awful and pathetic, like hanging around on her street. I didn't. By that point, she and Fremlin had abandoned therapy, which Sheila recalls they struggled to take seriously. They made a joke out of it, she told me. Jerry could be so captivating and amusing that the therapist was brought into the joke as well. They remained a cult of two.

It's up to her, and hoping I wouldn't do something awful and pathetic, like hanging around on her street. I didn't. By that point, she and Fremlin had abandoned therapy, which Sheila recalls they struggled to take seriously. They made a joke out of it, she told me. Jerry could be so captivating and amusing that the therapist was brought into the joke as well. They remained a cult of two.

She was not interested in therapy or self-improvement, in making amends, Sheila said. She just used her experience in her art. This was as true at the end of her career as it was at the start. The stories Munro wrote after Andrea cut off contact in 2002 are rife with the pain of estrangement.

She was not interested in therapy or self-improvement, in making amends, Sheila said. She just used her experience in her art. This was as true at the end of her career as it was at the start. The stories Munro wrote after Andrea cut off contact in 2002 are rife with the pain of estrangement.

In Runaway, published in the New Yorker in 2003, the young protagonist Carla has broken all ties to her haute bourgeois family after marrying an older man named Clark, whose rough charisma it had once seemed both proper and exquisite to submit to. Three years in, his charisma has evaporated, and he stands revealed as a sour domestic tyrant who rules her with his moods.

In Runaway, published in the New Yorker in 2003, the young protagonist Carla has broken all ties to her haute bourgeois family after marrying an older man named Clark, whose rough charisma it had once seemed both proper and exquisite to submit to. Three years in, his charisma has evaporated, and he stands revealed as a sour domestic tyrant who rules her with his moods.

To sustain their fraying sexual bond, she becomes a kind of Scheherazade, inventing stories about an elderly neighbor who she claims molested her in the months before his death. The stories which Clark takes to be true do the trick of arousing them both, and their marriage is extended one evening at a time.

To sustain their fraying sexual bond, she becomes a kind of Scheherazade, inventing stories about an elderly neighbor who she claims molested her in the months before his death. The stories which Clark takes to be true do the trick of arousing them both, and their marriage is extended one evening at a time.