For the first time in over
four years of book reviewing, I am about to give an in-between rating. I’m not going to make a habit of doing this,
but this particular novel did not deserve to be rounded up or down to either
whole number. So A.S.A. Harrison…your
newest book forced me to do something against my blog rules!
First, do not for one
minute listen to those people who are comparing this to Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl. That does not continue to be a bestselling
phenomenon just for the heck of it; it’s an extremely well-written tale of a
marriage gone horribly wrong and gave me a cloying sense of claustrophobia
while reading it. As I stated in my
December 2012 review, “I strongly suggest to Ms. Flynn that
she lock herself in a room with puppies, rainbows, apple pie, and other happy
things.” I am not in any way comparing the
writing of Flynn and Harrison, as they are both very strong. However, Flynn knew when her trainwreck (in
the best possible way) of a story was done; Harrison fills her tale with needless
psychobabble, a pointless delve into the main character’s past, and an ending
that just won’t quit (in a not-so-good way).
The Silent Wife
is told in two viewpoints, HIM (being Todd) and HER (being Jodi). Todd and Jodi have been together for decades, never marrying
or having kids, until Todd begins to have an affair with his friend’s
daughter. When he learns that he is
going to be a father, he “leaves” Jodi, coming back once or twice for the night
only when he misses her. The final straw
is when he sends her an eviction notice, forcing Jodi to think about her
future. Even though Jodi is “The Silent
Wife”, not standing up for herself until Todd leaves, the reader learns that
she is actually astonishingly calculating.
Her emotionless, horrifying actions made my blood run cold.
I couldn’t put The Silent Wife down…until I could. Harrison would have earned a solid 4 if not
for filling her pages with things that didn’t need to be there. This book would have been excellent if
Harrison whittled things down about 25 pages.
