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Covering a span of twenty-five years, Mrs. Kimble tells the story of three women married in succession to the same man—a charismatic opportunist named Ken Kimble. Told from the perspective of each Mrs. Kimble, Mrs. Kimble offers a mesmerizing look at how three very different women become accomplices in their own deception.

Birdie. 1961.

He was the choir director at a southern Bible college. At practice she followed his hands with her eyes. Watching him, she thought of the Pieta: Mary weeping over her son's crucified body, his naked arms smooth as milk, his chest delicately ribbed like the underside of a flower. She imagined his shoulders bare beneath his shirt, his body long and white. One evening he approached her after practice.

Joan. 1969.

She met him at a pool party in Florida. He was tall and slender, his lank dark hair hung to his shoulders. He wore faded jeans and a colorful cotton blouse. His eyes were a startling blue. No man had touched her in a year. He was engaged to someone else.

Dinah. 1979.

They met by accident in Washington, D.G. Their paths had intersected once before, when she was a teenager. "You're a beautiful girl," he'd told her, oblivious to the hideous scar on her face. He was old enough to be her father.

Beautifully wrought, stunningly original, this emotionally compelling novel of marriage and illusion marks the debut of an astonishing new literary voice.

Jennifer Haigh's short stories have been published in Good Housekeeping and numerous literary reviews. A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, she has been awarded a 2002 James A. Michener fellowship. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts.