My Husband's Wife

 

My Husband's Wife

By Alice Feeney

Book club pick, and I was determined to finish this before everyone gathered because I missed last month. My month has been insanely busy, and I still haven’t had a day off since August 3rd…yes, I’m keeping track. Regardless, I finished most of this book on my flights to and from Charlotte to Lansing, wrapped it up last night, and what can I say?

I have a headache.

One house. One husband. Two women. Someone is lying.

Sounds interesting, right?

The book starts off fast-paced and genuinely thrilling, and I was immediately into it. Eden Fox comes home to find another woman living in her house who claims to be her husband’s wife. From there, the story alternates between Eden and Birdy, a reclusive woman drawn to the same house through a sinister clinic that predicts the date of your death.

And then things get…complicated.

Actually, really complicated.

I spent most of this book confused. Seriously, it felt completely out of control at times. There are twists on top of twists, identity switches, secrets, timelines, and enough deception to make you question pretty much every character, and your own ability to follow along.

Will the real Eden please stand up?

The premise of the clinic predicting your death date was actually the part I found myself thinking about the most. Would you want to know the exact date you were going to die? I honestly don’t know. My instinct is to say no. Why wouldn’t I just live the life I want to live and keep going as normal without knowing? But then I think about the question behind it: If you knew, would you change how you live?

It reminded me of The Measure, which was a book club pick for us that received very mixed reviews but led to a great conversation. I found that premise fascinating too, and I think it’s one of those questions that sticks with you long after you finish the book.

As for My Husband’s Wife…I’m less sure the actual story stuck with me in the same way.

There were too many loopholes and moments that didn’t quite make sense to me. Some of the twists felt more convoluted than shocking, and while I absolutely did not see the ending coming when it came to the whodunit, it was also completely over the top.

I actually think this would make a better movie. The fast pace, unreliable characters, twists, secrets, and “wait…WHAT?” moments would probably work really well on screen.

This book was an absolute roller coaster…confusing, convoluted, twisted, and occasionally exhausting. I will give Alice Feeney credit for one thing: she kept me guessing.

Trying to explain this book would be like trying to explain a family tree after everyone has married, divorced, changed their name, and assumed someone else’s identity.

And based on my track record, I think I’ll rule out ever becoming a detective.

 

Whistler

 

Whistler 

By Ann Patchett

The last book I read by Ann Patchett was Tom Lake. I felt like I might have been the only person who didn't love it. I eventually decided that maybe I should have listened to the audiobook instead…after all, it's narrated by Meryl Streep. I still haven't gone back to give it another chance, but maybe one day.

Whistler was my book club's August selection, and I disappointed myself by not finishing it in time.

Life got in the way.

I've moved...again.

I've moved more times than I care to count, but this one nearly did me in. The condo I bought came furnished…apparently, there was no negotiating that. What I happily focused on instead were the sweeping floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the water. What I conveniently overlooked? It was on the third floor...with no elevator...and I was moving in 95-degree heat.

Several friends and family members gently asked, "Third floor? No elevator? Are you sure?"

I didn't listen.

Now that the dust has settled, though, I've loudly proclaimed that when I eventually sell this place, it's going furnished!

This past Saturday, I finally picked up Whistler and finished it that evening. I couldn't decide if I loved the novel or if I was simply basking in the reading nook Vee created by those beautiful windows overlooking the water. Maybe it was both.

The novel opens with a wonderfully intriguing premise. Imagine walking through the Metropolitan Museum of Art on an ordinary afternoon when an elderly stranger begins following you. What would you do?  I think most people would speed up…maybe head toward security.  Daphne freezes.

The man following her is Eddie Triplett, her stepfather…a man she hasn't seen or spoken to in forty-four years.

Patchett moves effortlessly between present-day New York and a freezing January night in 1980, when nine-year-old Daphne and Eddie survived a car accident that should have killed them both.

This isn't really a story about the accident itself. It's about everything that comes after.

It's about how families rewrite history. How children quietly carry blame that was never theirs. How memory shifts over time. And how love doesn't always fit neatly into the boxes other people expect.

One of my favorite scenes from that snowy night is when Eddie distracts Daphne by telling her the story of a horse named Whistler. The horse stays beside an injured woman stranded in a remote place, refusing to leave her until help arrives. On the surface, it's simply a story to calm a frightened little girl. But it's also a beautiful metaphor for loyalty, hope, and surviving impossible circumstances.

What really happened that night?

Why did the marriage end?

Is it ever too late to understand the people we once loved?

As Daphne searches for answers, we uncover them alongside her, piece by piece.

There was one part of the novel that absolutely floored me.

When everyone finally sits around the table together decades later, no one…not one person…has ever asked Daphne what happened after she left the wreck to find help.

Forty-plus years.

No one asked.

At first, I thought, How is that even possible?

But then I thought about real life.

How often are conversations completely one-sided? How many people talk endlessly about themselves without ever asking a genuine question? How many never remember the things you've shared or follow up on something important in your life?

Suddenly, it didn't seem so unbelievable after all.

In many ways, that realization may have been the most heartbreaking part of the novel.

Whistler is a quietly powerful story about memory, family, forgiveness, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive. It's about the family we're born into, the family we long for, and the family we ultimately choose. It reminds us that every family has hidden histories, misunderstood decisions, and acts of love that often go unnoticed.

And yes...

About that cover.

Who is Whistler? Why the horse?

Trust the journey.

Like so much in this novel, the answer arrives quietly, and it's all the more beautiful because of it.

And one last thing...

I hope Daphne eventually writes that novel for Eddie. After everything they endured together…and everything left unsaid…I think it's a story worth telling.

I'd certainly read it.