The Writer's E-Zine Home

Writers' Village University - F2K: Free Fiction Writing Course - ePress-online
Writers' Village University Membership Information

Writer's Read

Wynelda-Ann Shelton

Isabel's Bed

In Isabel's Bed, Elinor Lipman deals with the question of voice in writing. Harriet Mahoney, a would-be writer, has just ended a long-term relationship with her boyfriend and decides to take a job as a ghost writer for Isabel.

Isabel's story is one of sex and murder, and with the court trial of her lover's wife and the ensuing media coverage, Isabel's story has already been sold. She hires Harriet to be her ghost writer, to give the story shape and a voice. But the question becomes: Is Harriet's voice the right one for Isabel's story?

Harriet's voice, her style of writing, just isn't quite right for the story. At one point, Harriet and Isabel submit a chapter each to see whose version the publisher prefers. The publisher prefers Isabel's version, and Harriet becomes a typist. By the end of the novel, it seems as if Harriet has given up on writing, having opened her own bagel shop.

But has she? Isabel's Bed is told in first person narrative by Harriet's character. While Isabel's story was not hers to tell, Harriet's own story is charming and witty. While the central plot seems to be about Isabel and getting her memoir written, it isn't her character that goes through a transformation. It is Harriet who grows and learns to accept herself and her life.

As a writer, I was disheartened to see the grand opening of the bagel shop at story's end. I thought, there goes another one. More dreams dashed against the wall of reality. It wasn't until I realized that Harriet had just shared her story with me that I got it. Yes, she was the typist for Isabel.

But Harriet the writer became the heroine of her own story.