She Treads Softly: The Wives

Thursday, December 12, 2019

The Wives

The Wives by Tarryn Fisher
Graydon House Books: 12/30/19
eBook review copy; 336 pages
ISBN-13: 9781525809781

The Wives by Tarryn Fisher is a very highly recommended psychological thriller.

"Thursday’s husband, Seth, has two other wives. She’s never met them, and she doesn’t know anything about them. She agreed to this unusual arrangement because she’s so crazy about him.
But one day, she finds something. Something that tells a very different—and horrifying—story about the man she married. What follows is one of the most twisted, shocking thrillers you’ll ever read."

This is one twisty twisted thriller. Just when you think you know what's going on, you'll discover that you are wrong - repeatedly. And you're going to be riveted to the pages the entire time, thinking you know all the secrets, before you find out you actually don't have a clue. And after you are done reading it, you're going to ask yourself, "What just happened?" It is true that you'll want to go into this thriller not knowing too much. Allow Thursday to tell you her story, and follow her through the fast-paced plot.

The Wives was my first novel by Tarryn Fisher and I was impressed. The writing is quite good and Fisher does an excellent job allowing just enough details to be revealed along the way, until things change and change again. You will feel empathy for Thursday although doubts about her reliability as a narrator will start to creep in as she tells her story. Things become a bit surreal during the second half of the novel, but keep reading. 4.5 stars rounded up and I'll be looking for more Tarryn Fisher novels.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Graydon House Books.

No comments:

Post a Comment

John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.