The Stats
📖 BOOK REVIEW⠀📚
BOOK: The Wife Upstairs
AUTHOR: Rachel Hawkins @ladyhawkins
Publisher: St Martin’s Press @stmartinspress
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Published: January 5, 2020
The Review
The Title/Cover Draw:
- I received this book for review from both Netgalley and Libro. I decided to listen and read along together and that was great. I love the simple design of the cover and the premise of the book. While you think the title tells you the plot, believe me when I say….wait for it.
What I liked:
- How the entire situation was revealed was very well written and caused you to look in different directions, thinking you figured out the twists. This book is told from the different viewpoints of the two Mrs. Rochesters and Eddie (kind of).
What I didn’t like:
- The ending was a little confusing. Almost everything was explained except one thing that could either break the book for you or not. It really depends on how you like your stories wrapped.
The Characters:
- Jane was passably likeable but still a little sketchy. Eddie was neutral for me, almost as if he was this necessary character to propel the story. I didn’t totally care though because everyone in the book was a little shifty. One characters motives though, was still not as ironed out as I would have liked.
The Ending:
- Some of the motives for what happens in this book didn’t totally make sense to me. Maybe I missed a subtle tell and need to go back and read again.
Narrators:
- This was a fantastic group of narrators that were clear and expressive. There are 3 – Emily Shaffer, Kirby Heyborne, and Lauren Fortgang. I could easily identify all the characters (as there were 3 distinct voices).
Consider if you like:
- BA Paris novels.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Received from Netgalley and Libro.
Small Summary:
Meet Jane. Newly arrived to Birmingham, Alabama, Jane is a broke dog-walker in Thornfield Estates––a gated community full of McMansions, shiny SUVs, and bored housewives. The kind of place where no one will notice if Jane lifts the discarded tchotchkes and jewelry off the side tables of her well-heeled clients. Where no one will think to ask if Jane is her real name.
But her luck changes when she meets Eddie Rochester. Recently widowed, Eddie is Thornfield Estates’ most mysterious resident. His wife, Bea, drowned in a boating accident with her best friend, their bodies lost to the deep. Jane can’t help but see an opportunity in Eddie––not only is he rich, brooding, and handsome, he could also offer her the kind of protection she’s always yearned for.
Yet as Jane and Eddie fall for each other, Jane is increasingly haunted by the legend of Bea, an ambitious beauty with a rags-to-riches origin story, who launched a wildly successful southern lifestyle brand. How can she, plain Jane, ever measure up? And can she win Eddie’s heart before her past––or his––catches up to her?
With delicious suspense, incisive wit, and a fresh, feminist sensibility, The Wife Upstairs flips the script on a timeless tale of forbidden romance, ill-advised attraction, and a wife who just won’t stay buried. In this vivid reimagining of one of literature’s most twisted love triangles, which Mrs. Rochester will get her happy ending?