A Book A Week

How well do you know your partner? You love and care for them and commit to spending your lives together, but when you stop to think about it there are large parts of your lives that you have lived apart. It can even seem like you lived a different life before you met them. Your love for them builds trust that helps fill in the gaps for the parts of their life that you didn't experience with them. As the relationship progresses, you learn more and more about the person you love, but there will inevitably be things that simply don't come up. There will always be little unknowns between the two of you. In The Wife Upstairs, the buzzy new thriller that everyone seems to be reading, author Rachel Hawkins draws upon those unknowns to concoct a story of wealth, power, and deceit. 

Jane couldn't be more out of place. Newly residing in Birmingham, Alabama, the penniless young woman has taken a job walking dogs for the residents of Thornfield Estates. Each day, she walks the sidewalks and dreams of the lives of those women who reside within the opulent manors that populate the gated community. Her own life couldn't be further from those of the people she works for. She lives in a rundown apartment with a man who could be described as manipulative at best, abusive at worst. Jane would do anything to switch her life for the life of one of the women she works for. As luck would have it, that very opportunity is about to present itself. 

It wouldn't be accurate to call Eddie Rochester the most eligible bachelor of the neighborhood, but Jane can't help but be drawn to the quiet widower. Eddie's wife Bea, a prominent businesswoman in her own right, died in a tragic boating accident. Bea and her best friend were both lost in the ill-fated trip to the lake, their bodies never recovered after the tragedy. Jane is immediately drawn to Eddie and the potential for a change in lifestyle that he brings. She quickly inserts herself into his life, and the pair become inseparable. But everything isn't as it seems. The details surrounding Bea's death are murky, and Eddie seems more willing to forget about his past and move on than investigate things further. Little does he know that Jane is keeping her past a secret too. Behind the facade of a perfect relationship lies toxicity that is about to come to the forefront. 

I love the kind of book that draws you in from the start and doesn't let go. The Wife Upstairs is exactly that. Rachel Hawkins writes intriguing drama, morally ambiguous characters, and enough twists and turns to keep the plot rolling from start to finish. The novel is a retelling of the classic Jane Eyre, but you don't have to be familiar with that book to enjoy this one. The Bronte book is one of those that I only skimmed through in high school, so I've never actually read it myself. Suffice it to say that The Wife Upstairs has enough intrigue to stand on its own. I won't say that this is the best thriller I've read this year. There are no traditionally likable characters, and the conclusion doesn't quite live up to the mystery that leads up to it. Still, Hawkins has written the kind of compulsively readable novel that begs to be read in one sitting, a fun if a bit flawed thriller. 

For more information visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads. 

(2021, 6)