SOURCE: "Masochists, Martyrs (and Mermaids) in the Fictions of Valerie Martin," in The Southern Review, Louisiana State University, Vol. 24, No. 2, Spring, 1988, pp. 455-50.

In the following, Fischer analyzes Martin's focus on personal freedom and masochism in her novel A Recent Martyr and her short story collections.

Valerie Martin is a major writer on the verge of being famous. Last spring, readers responded to her latest novel, A Recent Martyr, by reminding themselves of her two earlier novels, Set in Motion and Alexandra (1978, 1979). This winter the publication of The Consolation of Nature and Other Stories will send them in search of her first collection, Love (1977). Someone will recognize an important canon in formation and write a first article. Others will respond. Collectively, we shall embark on the necessary task of learning what Martin has to tell us.

A good guess at Martin's abiding topic might be freedom, freedom not...