Synopses & Reviews
It was February 1963 when Ruth Hyde Paine, a Quaker housewife in suburban Dallas, first met a young man named Lee Harvey Oswald and his Russian wife, Marina. Over the nine months that followed, Ruth offered shelter and assistance to the couple. She even found Oswald the job that put him in the Texas School Book Depository from which, on November 22, 1963, he fired the rifle he'd kept hidden in Mrs. Paine's home. Mrs. Paine's Garage is the story of this devout, openhearted woman and the role she inadvertently played in the tragedy of Dealey Plaza. It is also the story of how Ruth Paine weathered a whirlwind of suspicion and betrayal and refused to let her connection to that November calamity destroy her life. Thomas Mallon has fashioned an account of generosity and secrets--tragic might-have-beens and eerie coincidences--that unfolds with a gripping inevitability.
"In his fine historical novels, {Mallon} has often approached the past from a sideways angle, and here views the events in Dallas from {Mrs.} Paine's perspective, which gives them an unexpected freshness."-THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
"Out of the darkness of an iconic American tragedy, Mallon finds an overlooked but bright figure for us to remember."-SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
THOMAS MA LLON' S books include the novels Henry and Clara, Two Moons, Dewey Defeats Truman, and Aurora 7, as well as a collection of essays, In Fact. His work has appeared in the New Yorker, the Atlantic Monthly, the American Scholar, and GQ. He lives in Washington, D.C.
Review
"One of the best nonfiction works of recent years... a delight." National Review
Review
"[Mallon] here views the events in Dallas from Mrs. Paine's perspective, which gives them an unexpected freshness." New York Times Book Review
Review
"A fascinating, carefully researched account of what [Mallon] calls 'the collision of innocent intentions and unforeseen enormities.'" Wall Street Journal
Review
"[Mrs. Paine's Garage] is entirely unlike any other book about the assassination. It reads like a good detective novel." Austin Chronicle
Review
"Fresh and unexpected. Out of the darkness of an iconic American tragedy, Mallon finds an overlooked but bright figure." San Francisco Chronicle
Review
PRAISE FOR MRS. PAINE'S GARAGE
"In his fine historical novels, Mallon has often approached the past from a sideways angle and here he views the events in Dallas from Mrs. Paine's perspective, which gives them an unexpected freshness."-The New York Times Book Review
"A fascinating, carefully researched account of what [Mallon] calls 'the collision of innocent intentions and unforseen enormities.'"-The Wall Street Journal
Review
"A trenchant and offbeat examination of how history happens." Chicago Tribune
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"Mallon succeeds admirably, not only portraying Paine in depth and with sympathy, but managing to make her goodness genuinely interesting." Los Angeles Times
Synopsis
Exactly forty years have passed since Ruth Hyde Paine, a Quaker housewife in suburban Dallas, offered shelter and assistance to a young man named Lee Harvey Oswald and his Russian wife, Marina. Mrs. Paine's Garage is the tragic story of this well-intentioned woman who found Oswald the job that put him six floors above Dealey Plaza-into which, on November 22, 1963, he fired a rifle he'd kept hidden inside Mrs. Paine's house. But this is also a tale of survival and resilience: the story of a devout, open-hearted woman who weathered a whirlwind of suspicion and betrayal, and who refused to allow her connection to the calamity of that November to destroy her life. From these stories Thomas Mallon has fashioned an account of generosity and secrets, tragic might-have-beens and eerie coincidences, that unfolds with a gripping inevitability.
About the Author
Thomas Mallon's books include the novels
Henry and Clara,
Two Moons,
Dewey Defeats Truman, and
Aurora 7; a collection of essays,
In Fact; and his book on the assassination of JFK,
Mrs. Paine's Garage. His work has appeared in
The New Yorker,
The New York Times Magazine,
The American Scholar, and
GQ. He received the National Book Critics Circle award for reviewing in 1998. The recipient of a 2000 Guggenheim Fellowship, he lives in Westport, Connecticut.