"It had been twelve years since a police officer last asked me a direct question, but my first instinct was still to lie."
Gripping, manipulative and shocking, The Wife is an amazing psychological thriller + legal drama that doesn't let go and keeps you wondering from beginning to end on what is true and what is a lie. Once you have all the answers, you will be left speechless.PLOT
The name of the book reminded me of the TV Series The Good Wife, and as I began reading the first pages, I could actually mark some similarities.
Legal drama, check.
Husband facing scandal, check.
Devoted wife, check.
Wife having to deal with her personal life + husband's scandal, check.
Apparently submissive wife willing to believe her husband and support him through everything, check, check, check.
The novel begins with a flashforward, with statements that later resonate in our minds not as a gong but as a gunshot, In an instant, I became the woman they assumed I’d been all along: the wife who lied to protect her husband.
Angela Powell is questioned by police officer Corrine Duncan about her husband's whereabouts the night before Kerry Lynch disappeared. It is clear her husband is facing a very controversial trial which leads Angela to lie blatantly to the police officer to help her husband out.
We go back in time, and it is revealed that Kerry Lynch disappearing is just the tip of the iceberg. Prior to this, Angela's husband, Jason Powell had been accused of inappropriate conduct with an intern in one of his offices. Jason is a famous writer and his business are successful, but scandal starts interfering with his skyrocketing career. Angela is worried, not only because her fancy life thanks to Jason's work might be at stake, but because she hates spotlight given her own dark past.
Angela is worried that people will find out that she was a victim of an abduction several years ago, from the hands of Charles Frankling, who kept her locked along with her son and another girl. She decided to keep the secret to avoid being an outcast, because people would judge her for what happened to her rather than pity her. But there is even more to this: her son, Spencer, is the fruit of her abduction. Angela fears that her husband's downfall will finally expose the secrets she has fought so hard to keep buried.
The accusations against Jason are extremely polarizing. One is led to understand both sides, as if it was a misunderstanding, or if it was actual harassment. Angela seems to be devoted to believe in her husband, but many facts prove that he may not be as innocent as she believed as more and more intimacies come to the surface.
The novel's pace is unrelenting, moving from one accusation to another, from believing Jason innocent to prove that he is not. It's a constant roller-coaster of emotions that makes us ponder on what is really consensual and what could be seen as a improper conduct that deserves a punishment.
The third act and grand jury scene (Part IV Angela, Chapter 60) proves us the true nature and final destination of the novel. It does not matter either Jason is innocent or not. His story is only an excuse to unmask Angela and unleash her ghosts of the past. It is up to the reader to judge or understand her. One statement from the novel sums everything up: You make the best decisions you can make in the time you have to make them, and you move on. It’s instinct. It’s survival.
STRUCTURE
The novel begins with a flashforward that sets the pace of the novel. By the third part of the novel, we go back to the initial interview with Angela exposing the context on what happened the day Angela lied to protect her husband.
There are many flashbacks about Angela's kidnap and early life that are presented as the story moves forward.
It is a very technical novel with evident knowledge of the law, it's no surprise that the author is a professor of law and expert on the topic. It has specific lexicon from lawyers and prosecutors, luckily, I had some background to understand what was happening. Others may not.
THEMES
Sexual misconduct is a very layered and complex theme in the novel. We are presented to different angles, all with point of views that are different to one another. In an era of the #MeToo movement, it's a very contemporary work.
Angela's kidnapping is another way of talking about victims of abduction and the consequences to the psyche of the person.
ABOUT THE ENDING:
I knew that I was going to face three possibilities with this novel: Jason was guilty of all the crimes, I would be left in the dark not knowing what had truly happened or an unexpected murderer would show up. So, it was not surprising to me that it was Angela and her mother that had killed Kerry Lynch and covered up her murder. What was truly shocking was the revelation that it was Trisha who Charles Franklin abducted, all because of Angela. It all makes sense that she will do everything to protect, first herself (at that time) and her son (after realizing Kerry Lynch knew her story and would leak it out of scorn).
The fact that the ending mirrors the opening of the novel is always pleasing for me.
CHARACTER: 10/10
PLOT DEVELOPMENT: 10/10
THEMES: 10/10
GRADE: Must-Read
What are your thoughts on this book? Did you see the plot twists coming?
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