Being Norman Mailer’s wife

He was a famous novelist and notorious womaniser with five former wives, she was the pickle-factory worker who almost tamed him
Norris Church Mailer and Norman Mailer,  portrait in studio, New York
Norris Church Mailer and Norman Mailer, portrait in studio, New York
ROBERT BELOTT/ALAMY

Imagine this: it is 1975 and you are a 26-year-old high school art teacher, the divorced mother of a three-year-old boy, living in Russellville, Arkansas. You hear that a world-famous novelist is in town for one night, so you wangle an invitation to the party in his honour, hoping that he’ll autograph your book. You find yourself smitten with this 52-year-old man — as he is with you — and at the end of the evening you go home together. After he leaves, you pour out your heart in a love poem and post it to him. He posts it back — copy-edited in red pencil. Do you:

(a) Hop on a plane to New York and strangle him with your bare hands?

(b) Quit