The Courtship

Susan Patrick is a librarian at Ryerson University.

This collection of stories centres on marriage and family relationships,
the differences between inward feelings and outward reactions, and those
between parents and children and husbands and wives. Wilson exposes the
follies of human nature, the consequences of stuffiness, and the dangers
of accepting surface appearances, but with a sense of humor.

One of the themes that run through this collection is a need for love
and companionship, particularly in older people, but Wilson also shows a
keen appreciation for the way children see and feel things, and for the
way they try to interpret the adult world.

These stories are both entertaining and touching. The characters may
suffer through life’s range of tragic events, but they are resilient,
and the tone is optimistic.