SOURCE: "The Push that Brings on Spring: Valerie Martin's Set in Motion," in The Southern Review, Louisiana State University, Vol. XIV, No. 4, Autumn, 1978, pp. 849-51.

An American critic, editor, and educator, Fischer is both a friend and former teacher of Martin. In the following positive review, he discusses characterization and Martin's use of language in Set in Motion.

To say what kind of novel Set in Motion is poses a number of pleasant embarrassments. To begin with, Set in Motion is a first novel, but is far too accomplished to be classified by that fact. It is also a local novel: its author lives in New Orleans, has set her novel there and in Baton Rouge, was my student in Baton Rouge, and is my friend. However, these facts matter to me in talking about this novel only because the novel triumphs over them. Against odds, Set in...