SOURCE: Wymward, Eleanor B. “Mary Gordon: Her Religious Sensibility.” Cross Currents 37, no. 2-3 (summer/fall 1987): 147-58.

In the following essay, Wymward comments that the stories of Temporary Shelter are infused with the author's religious sensibilities.

Mary Gordon's comments on the liaison between her religious beliefs and creativity have never equalled the boldness of Flannery O'Connor's revelation:

I see from the standpoint of Christian orthodoxy. This means for me the meaning of life is centered on our Redemption by Christ and what I see in its relation to that. I don't think that this is a position that can be taken halfway or one that is particularly easy in these times to make transparent in fiction.

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Nonetheless, Gordon willingly provides insight into the context of her religious values. To the question, “Are you still a believing Catholic?”, Mary Gordon answered in a New York Times interview:

I consider myself...