Leah
Written on Apr 17, 2016
My Husband's Wife tells two stories - the story of Lily, who has just gotten married to her husband, Ed, and she's a lawyer just starting to take on her own cases, and then we have the story of the young Carla, who lives with her Italian mother, in an apartment, with a fella named Larry who comes around occasionally to dance. They live in the same apartment building, and Lily and Ed end up taking care of Carla on occasion when her mother has to work. I wondered for ages what the purpose of Carla was. I understood Lily's story - it was the story of the book, and I was achingly curious as to why we were learning about Carla, what she had to do with everything, since she was a kid. The first part of the novel focuses on the early days of Ed and Lily's marriage, and Carla as a kid, until it jumps to 12 years later.
It's a very intricate story, with so many nuances and characters who become important. Joe, in particular, was intriguing. A lot of this book has to do with him, he's an ever-present character, brought into proceedings after Lily represents his appeal after his girlfriend died. He was one of those characters you felt you never knew. You were never sure of the truth, either. His relationship with Lily was so intriguing, the way it was done, and I actually kind of liked it, because Lily never seemed enthusiastic about Ed, but with Joe there was just this spark and it was so confusing, and even after finishing the novel I am still not sure I knew anything true about Joe. I could honestly discuss the plot all day, because there was so much to the novel. There was Joe, there was Carla, there was Ed and Lily, there was everything that happens 12 years later that was just insane, to really understand this story you need to read the book.
I really, really enjoyed My Husband's Wife. It has so many different storylines, different threads, different bits and pieces, the characters were baffling at times, but always intriguing. There was honestly so much going on that it felt like my head would explode at times, but it was so good to try and keep up, to try and realise where the book was headed and I'm not ashamed to admit, I had no idea who was guilty, who would end up dead, who would survive, what the truth was about Joe, Lily, Carla, all of them. Jane Corry has written a stonkingly good debut thriller, and this better not be her last because it was insanely good. Just read it.