Category: Book Club

You’ve never met the other wives. None of you know each other, and because of this unconventional arrangement, you can see your husband only one day a week. But you love him so much you don’t care. Or at least that’s what you’ve told yourself.

But one day, while you’re doing laundry, you find a scrap of paper in his pocket-an appointment reminder for a woman named Hannah, and you just know it’s another one of the wives.

You thought you were fine with your arrangement, but you can’t help yourself: you track her down, and, under false pretences, you strike up a friendship. Hannah has no idea who you are. Then Hannah starts showing up to your coffee dates with telltale bruises, and you realize she’s being abused by her husband. Who, of course, is also your husband. But you’ve never known him to be violent, ever.

Who exactly is your husband, na dhow far would you go to find the truth? Would you risk your own life? And who is his mysterious third wife?

As an overall work, this novel was spectacular if you are into suspenseful thrillers, but a particular point of strength was the author’s narrator. And more specifically, how this narrator evolved and changed throughout the course of this novel.

Our protagonist – who we come to know is actually named Thursday – was somehow both exceedingly likeable and incredibly unreliable.

Ultimately, it was the unreliability that made this story shine. It created a situation in which the reader feels unable to find solid footing, leaving you constantly on edge and unsure of what the next page will bring.

This unreliability, like so much in this novel, came as a total surprise. At the start, Thursday seemed like a trustworthy, likeable woman caught up in a bad situation.

She seemed totally normal – albeit understandably damaged. 

I trusted her. I felt bad for her. But, as the book went one it became more and more clear that this chick was not the type who should be trusted. 

This discovery left me feeling wronged in all the right ways.

Bottom line – I couldn’t put it down. It was twisted in so many ways, which made the whole book so unpredictable.