The Temperature of Love

Suzy Gibson spends her days at the stove, raising her six-year-old son Adrian while her husband Harry works. Their home changes when Harry pays fifty thousand for a family education course taught by Larisse Baker, a lecturer with dual master's degrees. Suddenly every meal, every hour and every emotion is charted, and Suzy becomes the flawed piece in a system that needs fixing. When Adrian hands her a written notice about the air conditioning and Harry takes the boy's side, she is told she is backward, unscientific and unfit.

Harry warns her to behave before Larisse arrives on Saturday to evaluate their home, and sends a three-page checklist of demands, including a three-thousand-word reflection on closed-loop family management. Suzy writes none of it. Instead she cooks the meatloaf, ribs and lamb chops that were once loved and are now forbidden, then lays divorce papers on the table.

Harry reminds her the house and car are in his name and that she has been out of work for six years. Suzy does not ask for custody. She names a time and a place, and a threat of her own.