Meet Jane. Newly arrived to Birmingham, Alabama, Jane is a broke dog-walker in Thornfield Estates--a gated community full of McMansions, shiny SUVs, and bored housewives. The kind of place where no one will notice if Jane lifts the discarded tchotchkes and jewelry off the side tables of her well-heeled clients. Where no one will think to ask if Jane is her real name.
But her luck changes when she meets Eddie Rochester. Recently widowed, Eddie is Thornfield Estates' most mysterious resident. His wife, Bea, drowned in a boating accident with her best friend, their bodies lost to the deep. Jane can't help but see an opportunity in Eddie--not only is he rich, brooding, and handsome, he could also offer her the kind of protection she's always yearned for.
Yet as Jane and Eddie fall for each other, Jane is increasingly haunted by the legend of Bea, an ambitious beauty with a rags-to-riches origin story, who launched a wildly successful southern lifestyle brand. How can she, plain Jane, ever measure up? And can she win Eddie's heart before her past--or his--catches up to her?
Title: The wife upstairs
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Publisher: St Martin's Press
Publication date: January 5, 2021
REVIEW
RATING: ⭐⭐⭐
I've never read Jane Eyre (in fact I've never read any of the classics. I know, shame on me!). I don't even know what Jane Eyre is about, so when I read that this was a reimagination of Charlotte Brontë's classic I didn't even bat an eye 😂. I guess now I should read it to see how they compare.
I may have read too many thrillers lately involving husbands, wives and new shady girlfriends so, although I had really high expectations, The Wife Upstairs didn't deliver as I hoped. Don't think me wrong, it is a really entertaining domestic suspense, the writing style made me flew through the pages and kept me interested all throughout, but I feel like there was something missing. The surprises I've come to expect in the genre were not here. With a title as self-explanatory as The Wife Upstairs, the first twist was not such and the rest of them, while not completely predictable, didn't make me gasp either. And let me tell you, when a twist comes I wanna gasp in shock!
All main characters had some unlikeable traits that made them more appealing (you now I'm a sucker for flawed characters), but I would have loved a bit more development in certain characters. I found it hard to fall in love with Eddie as quickly as Jane did based on what we were told about him. Jane's hinted background and secret was not as scandalous as I would have thought based on her fear of it coming to light. I think Bea's character was the better developed one even though she was the one with less "screen" time.
Although I didn't enjoy this as much as I hoped so (it may have been my state of mind these past few days, cause I've been easily distracted), you should definitely give this a go if you're into domestic suspense. I will certainly keep my eye on Rachel Hawkins' new projects.
P.S: I just keep thinking about the ending and there're some details I can't quite fit into the story. I won't go into them here because of spoilers, but I'll be delighted to discuss in private if you want.
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