 What's true of Ross's accounts of Shawn?
Shawn--"with his usual hushed delicacy of speech and manner"--inquires of the novelist whether he could possibly reveal what prompted the creation of such an exquisite work. Moreover, Mehta writes as Shawn's adoring acolyte, whereas Ross writes as his longtime adulterous lover. Just knowing that Mrs. Shawn is still alive adds a certain tension to reading much of what this Other Woman chooses to divulge. Thereafter, the couple set up housekeeping together in an apartment 20 blocks downtown from the Shawn residence on upper Fifth Avenue and stoically endured the sufferings of Shawn's wife, who did not want a divorce. It also made me feel funny about William Shawn, whom I have always regarded as a great man. Happily, Ross has sprinkled her memoir with clues that it is not to be taken as entirely factual.
 She contradicts herself often. She describes him one way than an inverse way pages later.
 She had a difficult time describing her true feelings.  She contradicts herself often. She describes him one way than an inverse way pages later.  She tells the objective truth about her and Shawn, and the relationship they shared.  She has a habit of glorifying Shawn.