Good Reads / Community Library Notes
The Wife Between Us
Sarah Pekkanan and Greer Hendricks
Review by Priscilla Comen
The Wife Between Us
Sarah Pekkanan and Greer Hendricks
Review by Priscilla Comen
The Wife Between Us is by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanan, both best selling authors and publishers. In this joint venture, they have created two women, one the ex-wife, the other the future wife. Nellie is the ex-wife, who works as a pre-school teacher and a waitress at night. Richard, a wealthy investment banker, is the man in the middle of this triangle. He has bought a fabulous house for Nellie before their marriage. She gets nothing after their divorce.
Written from the point of view of Nellie, the authors show us Manhattan from the standing room only on the subway to the cramped apartment Nellie shares with Samantha, her best friend. All her friends have minimum wage jobs, and she doesn’t want to flash her three karat diamond ring or tell them about the mansion Richard has bought for her. Although the reader doesn’t see the future wife until later, we have a hint that something serious will happen to her. Nellie wants to save her. After her marriage ends, Nellie goes to live with her aunt Charlotte. They are as close as mother and daughter. Nellie’s mother was mentally challenged, addicted to pain- killers and alcohol. Aunt Charlotte is different, a loving woman, an artist. But Nellie sees that she is going blind.
In Part II, Richard comes to see Nellie, to tell her she should seek help. We finally meet Emma, the future wife. Many things happen in this psychological drama: Nellie reveals a young sorority sister who drowned on pledge hazing night because Nellie left her on the beach; she recalls losing her beloved German Shepherd dog, Duke, believing Richard had killed it; she is determined to save Emma from him.
Jason, the brother of the drowned sorority sister, still haunts her, saying “You killed her.” The authors are masters at forming questions in readers’ minds: who is Vanessa? Who is Emma? Who is Richard? At the end all questions are answered. Find this mystery about identities and love on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.
Written from the point of view of Nellie, the authors show us Manhattan from the standing room only on the subway to the cramped apartment Nellie shares with Samantha, her best friend. All her friends have minimum wage jobs, and she doesn’t want to flash her three karat diamond ring or tell them about the mansion Richard has bought for her. Although the reader doesn’t see the future wife until later, we have a hint that something serious will happen to her. Nellie wants to save her. After her marriage ends, Nellie goes to live with her aunt Charlotte. They are as close as mother and daughter. Nellie’s mother was mentally challenged, addicted to pain- killers and alcohol. Aunt Charlotte is different, a loving woman, an artist. But Nellie sees that she is going blind.
In Part II, Richard comes to see Nellie, to tell her she should seek help. We finally meet Emma, the future wife. Many things happen in this psychological drama: Nellie reveals a young sorority sister who drowned on pledge hazing night because Nellie left her on the beach; she recalls losing her beloved German Shepherd dog, Duke, believing Richard had killed it; she is determined to save Emma from him.
Jason, the brother of the drowned sorority sister, still haunts her, saying “You killed her.” The authors are masters at forming questions in readers’ minds: who is Vanessa? Who is Emma? Who is Richard? At the end all questions are answered. Find this mystery about identities and love on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.