Isabel Moore tells her own story, an effective device because the reader perceives her as a reliable narrator. The considerable irony of the story originates with Isabel's clear-eyed understanding of her own emotions, coupled with her inappropriate decisions throughout the story. Gordon successfully draws readers into the story by pushing them to feel anger at Isabel's wrongheadedness. The irony is deepened by Gordon's sharp sense of humor and precision of language. She sharply attacks the feckless behavior of the working-class Irish who Isabel describes as "always defending something, probably something indefensible — the virginity of Mary, the C.I.A. —

Isabel observes both herself and others with a coldly detached intellect.

Gordon's prose is marked by a stunning use of metaphor. Margaret Casey's ugly coat fits her "like a cheese box."

The zipper of Isabel's skirt when she...