SOURCE: Pols, Mary F. “Uneasy in Love—Women's Insecurities about Men Don't Fade with Time.” Seattle Times (22 August 1993): F2.

In the following review of The Rest of Life, Pols comments on the theme of relationships between women and men in Gordon's collection.

I was barely 40 pages into Mary Gordon's new book, The Rest of Life, before I started getting a sinking feeling about my sex.

My group of creeping-towards-30 female friends spends an inordinate amount of time discussing our insecurities about men and lasting relationships. But I've assumed those feelings were going to gradually fade with time and acquired wisdom. According to Gordon, I'm wrong. Dead wrong.

Ways to lose men, and ways to lose yourself through men, are the themes holding together these three beautifully written novellas. Collectively, these stories about women and relationships are a painfully true look at the restraints women place on themselves, hoping...