Meet Mary Noland (nee Morelli), a tough-talking Jersey City native who comes of age during the turbulent 1970s. Marrying young to escape her parents, Mary finds herself shipwrecked by life with her philandering husband. Financially dependent on but emotionally abandoned by him, struggling to raise their two young sons virtually alone, Mary finally hits rock bottom. How she pulls herself up by her bootstraps is the story she tells in this remarkable debut. And the lives she touches en route to independence--giving a nun a makeover, bringing joy to a group of valium-addled housewives, going into business with her colorful host of "Mafioso" relatives--are testaments to the huge heart, generous spirit, and unflinching insight that make Mary unforgettable.

Bill Gordon's work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Mississippi Review, New York Press, Christopher Street, and Downtown. He received an MFA from Columbia University. He grew up in Jersey City and now lives in New York. Mary After All is his first novel.

From the Hardcover edition.