Review: The Wife Between Us
Either I read too many thrillers, or I somehow end up reading similar books very close together. I wish I hadn’t read The Last Mrs. Parrish before this one. Because even though The Wife Between Us is infinitely better than that book, the main idea is so similar that it looks like the same person shared their ideas with the authors!
The Wife Between Us starts out as a simple enough narrative, told in two alternate voices, one a first-hand narrative, and the other in Third Person about a girl called Nellie. The first twist comes out of nowhere. Even though I had read the blurb and was ready to question everything, I didn’t see that one coming. I was able to predict a couple of things but not the first twist. For me, this turned everything I thought upside down, and I had to go back and read a few things again. This twist was so good that I had very high expectations from the rest of the book.
Alas, the second part of the book is just spent in clearing up all that happens in the first part. All loose ends are dealt with and everything is neatly tied up. Not a good idea for a Thriller. While you want to know what actually happened, all the suspense is dead and you just read on to find the motives and conclusion. The one thing that the authors seem to think we don’t know, is glaringly obvious from almost the beginning. At a time when domestic abuse is in the spotlight, it is impossible to misconstrue any clues about its existence.
The most unnecessary part of the story comes in the Epilogue. There was no need for that twist, if you can all it a twist. It just emphasized the feeling that the writers were trying too hard. Sometimes, it is ok to leave a few stories untold, a few ends untied. After all, that’s what happens in real life. It sounds too good to be true to have all your demons laid to rest in one go.
Overall, I like the book even though there wasn’t anything different about it. I liked the way the authors have dealt with domestic abuse and its aftermath. A domestic abuse victim can never want another person to go through the same experience, no matter how desperate they are. A good one time read.