Anita Shreve's Strange fits of Passion
1994 by Abacus
Strange fits of passion is told in the "reporter" style that recounts events that unfolded in the similar way that her other novel Testimony did.
Each chapter offers an outlook of what happened and the thoughts and views of the main characters and those local people who made contact with Mary/Maureen. Shreve writes their thoughts and views as a police interview account, which echoes the police interview they would have gone through at the time of the events in the story. The local people play the part of the eye witnesses to Mary's life and goings-on while she resides in their town.
When Mary arrives in their small town, things are not quite as they seem, for she hides beneath her disguise and lies. The residents accept her for who she is and befriend her, treat her like one of their own. Only when a dark shadow edges towards the town, to cast its ugly head over the new life that Mary has created for herself, do the residents begin to question who she claims to be and uncover the reality that lies beneath.
As the reader though, we find ourselves praying that the residents believe what Mary has hidden from them - the awful story that she is burdened with. We have to hope that true friendship will shine through the despair and stand against the evil that awaits, to help Mary through this tough time.
Justice does prevail in the end but in freeing herself, Maureen simultaneously ruins the lives of two families - her own and that of the man she comes to love. In taking revenge on her husband and ending her nightmare, she brings about more heartache to her life.
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