Fiction. LGBT Studies. In his second novel, Alfred Corn tells the story of Mark Shreve, a well-heeled fiction writer now in his sixties and living in Brooklyn, New York. Shreve has a favourite niece, Marguerite Weise, who is in prison and has asked him to reveal her story to the world disguised as fiction. Shreve's narration is multi- layered, full of suspense, and weaves its threads from New York to the mid-west, Canada and Mexico. The novel also unfolds with a backdrop of the contemporary art world and its politics. Readers may sense an affinity with Doris Lessing and Calvino as they respond to the doubled narratives of both Shreve and author Corn.