My mortal enemy

In Short

This novella is a piercing study of the decline of a passionate marriage. It follows the life of Myra Henshawe, a woman who famously eloped from a wealthy, sheltered life, and her husband, Oswald, as their decades-long romance slowly corrodes under the pressures of poverty and resentment. Through the eyes of an observant younger cousin, the narrative traces their trajectory from an enviable, romantic union to a bitter, hollowed-out ending. It has endured as a classic because of its unflinching, unsentimental look at how time and disappointment can transform a deep, devoted love into a source of mutual torment.

The Story

The story begins in the narrator’s childhood, where Myra Henshawe is a figure of legend—the woman who abandoned a fortune for a man her family deemed unworthy. When the narrator, Nellie, finally meets Myra as a teenager, she encounters a woman of immense spirit, wit, and beauty, living in a charming New York apartment with her husband, Oswald. To the young Nellie, their life seems a model of intellectual and romantic vitality. However, even during this early visit, hints of instability emerge: Myra oscillates between deep tenderness for Oswald and flashes of volatile, mocking anger.

Years later, the narrator encounters the couple again after they have fallen into dire financial ruin. They are wandering between cities, and Myra is terminally ill. The romantic, high-spirited woman of the past has become a shell of herself, her physical pain exacerbated by an obsessive, spiraling resentment toward her husband. She views Oswald not merely as a companion, but as her "mortal enemy"—the man whose influence she believes severed her from her faith and her former life. The apartment they share is tense and claustrophobic; Myra’s accusations against Oswald have become constant, and the former warmth between them has been replaced by a crushing, silent fatigue.

Oswald, meanwhile, remains unfailingly polite and devoted, though his spirit is visibly broken. He attempts to maintain a veneer of dignity, finding solace in the quiet company of a young local girl who admires him. As Myra’s condition worsens, her inner life turns toward a dark, self-lacerating regret. She rejects the world and eventually, in a final act of desperate defiance, slips away from her husband and the hotel where they live. She is later found dead on a lonely headland by the sea. In the aftermath, Oswald heads to Alaska in search of work, dying there shortly after. The narrator, reflecting on their lives, is left with the haunting memory of Myra’s final, agonized realization that her greatest love had become the very person she could no longer endure.

How It Unfolds

The legend of the elopement The story opens with the family myths surrounding Myra’s decision to abandon her inheritance and social standing to follow her husband. This establishes the tension between her past life of security and the uncertain future she chose in the name of romantic freedom.

A glimpse of the dream Nellie visits the Henshawes in New York and witnesses the high-water mark of their union. She is enchanted by their plum-colored curtains and their circle of artistic friends, yet she detects the first, sharp edges of Myra’s unpredictable temper.

The descent into shadow The narrative shifts to the couple’s later years, where the loss of professional success and wealth has stripped away the glamour of their early life. They appear as transients, and the once-vibrant connection between them is now marked by physical decline and psychological warfare.

The final confrontation Myra’s illness forces her to confront the wreckage of her choices, leading to a bitter, inward turn. She begins to view Oswald as the architect of her unhappiness, culminating in her flight from their home to seek a solitary death by the sea.

The lonely end The story closes with the aftermath of Myra’s death and the news of Oswald’s quiet passing in the far North. The narrator reflects on the cycle of love and destruction, holding the memory of their love as a cautionary, beautiful tragedy.

The People

Myra Henshawe is the gravitational center of the book. She is a woman of immense "desperate courage," whose sharp intelligence and fierce pride make her magnetic but also impossible to satisfy. She wants to live grandly, but her inability to accept compromise or misfortune drives her toward a tragic, isolated end. Oswald Henshawe is her foil—a man of "languid, friendly eyes" and infinite patience. He is a gentleman who remains devoted to Myra despite her cruelty, though he lacks the force of character to prevent their descent. While he finds comfort in the admiration of others, he remains a shadow of himself, defined entirely by his loyalty to his wife. Nellie Birdseye, the narrator, serves as the bridge between the reader and the Henshawes. She starts as an innocent admirer, but her role shifts to that of a witness who must reconcile her childhood idolization of Myra with the brutal reality of the woman’s final, lonely months.

In Its Own Voice

"It is a solace to me to know that to-morrow a mass will be said here in heathendom for the spirit of that noble artist, that beautiful and gracious woman."

Myra reflects on her hidden, enduring faith while asking the narrator to arrange a memorial for an old friend.

"Why must I die like this, alone with my mortal enemy!"

The narrator recounts the chilling, final complaint uttered by the dying Myra, revealing the total disintegration of her love for her husband.

What It's Really About

The central argument of the book is that love is often a form of idolatry that demands too much from the human spirit. It asks whether a life defined by a single, all-consuming passion can survive the slow erosion of poverty and age. The author suggests that when we bind our happiness entirely to another person, we risk turning that person into a scapegoat for our own failures. The book explores the tension between the "flaming courage of youth" and the harsh demands of reality, ultimately questioning if the intensity of a great love is worth the bitterness that often follows its inevitable decay. It is a meditation on the cost of living authentically, and the way pride can prevent us from finding peace in our final moments.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate psychological depth over plot-driven pacing will find this novella rewarding. Its brevity is deceptive; it is a dense, emotionally heavy work that captures the precise moment when love transitions into resentment. The prose is elegant and spare, though modern readers should be prepared for the period-specific attitudes of the 1920s and the occasional use of European cultural references—like Heine and Shakespeare—that reflect the intellectual life of the characters.

The experience of reading it feels like watching a slow-motion collapse; you are lured in by the initial warmth of the Henshawes’ home, only to be left cold by the reality of their final days. What stays with you is not the social context, but the terrifying clarity of Myra’s final realization. It is a difficult book because it refuses to offer the comfort of a redemptive ending, choosing instead to present the "hideous injustice" of a life that ends in isolation. If you have ever wondered about the dark side of devotion, or how the people we love most can become the mirrors of our own deepest regrets, this book will speak to you with an unsettling, lasting power.