The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen is a psychological thriller that lets you know from the beginning that the reader should not be assuming anything about what they read.
The story begins in the voice of Vanessa, the ex-wife of Richard, a successful business man. Through her we learn about the circumstances of the divorce and that he is now about to marry another woman, whom Vanessa has been following, phoning, and generally plotting against in an effort to stop the upcoming wedding.
Vanessa is not coping with life very well. She is staying with an aunt, haunted by an event that happened while she was at college, her failure at being Richard’s wife, while trying to support herself with a job at Saks. She spends her days in a drunken haze, which causes her aunt to worry, and Vanessa to miss work and to imagine all sorts of things about Richard’s new fiancée.
Richard is concerned about Vanessa and her behaviour. He asks her to leave his new fiancée alone, offers Vanessa money to get help, protects his new love. He is always there for his new love, just as he was for Vanessa when they were married.
With this information, we are lead through the maze of what reality is and what has actually happened. Everyone has something to hide and everyone has someone who knows what they’re hiding and everyone who knows is using that against everyone who doesn’t.
This is a page turner that keeps you guessing until the very last page. A must read!
Helen Varga is a library technician at the Steveston Branch of the Richmond Public Library.
For other popular reading suggestions check out Richmond Public Library's Web site at www.yourlibrary.ca/goodbooks/.
