February 25, 2021 | No Comments
The Wife Upstairs
by Rachel Hawkins
Date Published: January 5, 2021
Published By: St. Martin’s Press
Page Count: 290
Publisher’s Description:
A delicious twist on a Gothic classic, Rachel Hawkins’s The Wife Upstairs pairs Southern charm with atmospheric domestic suspense, perfect for fans of B.A. Paris and Megan Miranda.
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?
My Star Rating:
My Review:
The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
3.5 stars
Not a whole lot to say about this one. I feel like I was into the story as I was reading it. It was good, but the end was a bit underwhelming and anticlimactic for me. There were pieces of the puzzle still missing, especially about Jane’s own past.
The main character, “Jane,” has a past she’s running from. Maybe she gets a little disillusioned by a prince charming who just lost his wife. She wasn’t impressed with his wealthy neighbors she was dog-walking for, but Eddie was charming and down to earth. Plus, she needed a way out of the roommate situation she was in with a guy from her foster care days who was taking advantage of her. She wouldn’t be the first young woman with no support system or caring adults in her life that made bad choices when it came to men.
The situation between Bea and Blanche was the most interesting thing about this book. The backdrop of this story is that both women were best friends and they both went missing after a day at the lake together, never to be seen or heard from again.
For anyone wanting to know if this one is worth the read, just know this won’t be at the top of my recommendations, especially with the way the end just petered out so wimpily, but it did end on a note that will leave you scratching your head thinking… how???