Leah
Written on May 20, 2010
I have to admit that I only came across Susy McPhee’s books after Chloe reviewed her debut novel Husbands & Lies. I wasn’t totally sure if it was a book that appealed to me but when I saw it in the book swop I decided to pick it up and give it a go. I then received Susy’s second book from her publishers for review and both books have sat on my shelf for at least 6 months. I kept remembering the opening line from Husbands & Lies and thought it was probably time to try Susy McPhee’s debut novel.
As I said, it was the opening line of the book that really drew me in. “My mother taught me to lie,” is how the book begins and from then on I was hooked. The book isn’t an easy read, far from it, but the way in which it’s written doesn’t let the sad stuff bog the book down. Instead it feels lighter than it actually is. It’s certainly not your average chick lit book; there’s no main character who thinks she’s fat or is worried about her job et al, instead it’s a bit grittier and the story is probably more true to life than most chick lit books despite Alison’s rather strange request. The entire book hinges on Alison’s, Fran’s terminally ill friend, asking Fran to go online to find her husband a new wife after she dies. Which may sound morbid when read like that but the way in which Alison, and Fran, deals with the request makes it seem not so morbid after all.
After Alison’s rather shocking request Fran does as she’s told and that’s where everything takes off. Because whilst browsing the dating website, Fran comes across an all-too-familiar photograph in the shape of her husband Max who is masquerading as ‘Footloose’. It sends Fran into an expected tailspin at the thought that Max, her husband of 12 years, could be so callous as to set himself up on a dating site despite the fact he’s very married and has a young child. For me, that was the best part of the book; Fran’s reaction to Max’s proposed betrayal. It’s written in a very real style and I could see why Fran was so distressed. Susy McPhee portrays all of Fran’s emotions incredibly well which just makes the story all the better. After Fran finds out about Max she decides to pose as another member on the dating site – “Sassy” – and see if he’ll meet up with her so she can catch him red-handed. Again, it’s another clever twist to the tale and the unfolding of the entire plot was great to read because there are a lot of questions to be answered.
Susy McPhee is really great at crafting her characters. As I said, Fran was a fantastic leading female character. Because of everything that’s happening to her – her best friend dying, her husband being a possible love rat – Fran could have just sat in a corner and cried and been well within her rights to do so. But she didn’t; she was strong and although sometimes the things happening do get her down, the majority of the time she manages to hold it all in. I liked that, I appreciate a strong female lead and Fran carried the story beautifully. Max, Fran’s husband, is surprisingly absent through the majority of the book and only pops up every now and again. That does, of course, is like fuel to the fire in regards of whether or not he is a cheat. Alison, Fran’s ill best friend, is a central character to the book and I actually thought she was fantastic. Much like Fran, she doesn’t let her problems get her down and was strong even with her diagnosis. We also see a little of Fran’s family, her mother and sister, but not too much as there’s definitely some bad feeling there, which is explained throughout the book. The final character in the story who is of any importance is Greg, a work colleague and friend of Fran’s. Again, he was another great character.
Susy’s writing is also rather gripping. I finished the book in under 4 hours because once I was sucked in, I just wanted to know how it was going to pan out. There are lots of twists and turns throughout the book, some more surprising than others. I suppose that’s the only fault I can pick with the book; all of the twists and turns weren’t surprising for me. I had guessed every single one coming. None of them had the shock factor that I would have expected. The ending was, surprisingly, quite sad in many ways but it really worked.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading Husbands and Lies. It’s certainly not what I expected and I’m pleased for that. It’s also certainly not like most chick lit on the market and definitely has a grittier soul to it. The cover is totally wrong for the book – it makes the book seem lighter than it truly is, despite the way it’s written. I hugely recommend Husbands and Lies, it really was a great read. My only minor disappointment being I had guessed all of the twists. Although it could be that I was supposed to guess them, in which case, Susy wins!