Two wives. One husband. A deadly secret…
My daughter’s latest drawing lies on the kitchen island and I smile as I see the three stick figures under the words My family. My husband Oliver left for work early, so it’s just me and my precious daughter at home. Until I hear the sound of a removals van pulling up to the house next door.
Sneaking a peek through the blinds, my heart catches in my throat as I come face to face with my new neighbour – the one person I wished to never see again. Oliver’s ex-wife, Carla, stares back at me, and the slight curl of her lip proves that she isn’t here to make friends.
Oliver owns the house next door, so why did he let her move so close to us? And why didn’t he tell me? What other secrets has he been keeping from me?
When I try to talk to Oliver that evening, he quickly shuts me down, telling me I’m worrying over nothing. But I know him well enough to see the worried look on his face as he gazes towards Carla’s house…
Oliver is up to something. And so is Carla. But they don’t know I have secrets of my own, and I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to keep them.
And, days later, when police race to our house one evening, you might think you know what’s happened, but you’d be wrong. After all, nothing is what it seems behind closed doors…
An absolutely pulse-pounding psychological thriller, which is perfect for fans of The Housemaid, The Perfect Marriage and You, Me, Her.
Two Wives by Helen H. Durrant centers on three principal characters: Eve, Carla, and Jane. Eve is married to Oliver, and together they have a four-year-old daughter, Maisie. When Jane is hired as Maisie’s nanny, it quickly becomes apparent that she may have had an ulterior motive for taking the job.
That suspicion grows as Jane’s backstory unfolds. Not only does she have no prior nanny experience, but she also shares a past with Oliver. Adding to the tension is Carla, Oliver’s ex-wife, who moves in next doorr and clearly has her own agenda. And then there is Oliver himself, a thoroughly unlikable character who comes across as despicable almost from the very first scene.
As a nana who spends a great deal of time with her grandchildren, I struggled with Maisie’s portrayal. She seemed far too sophisticated for a four-year-old, which made her character feel inauthentic. I might have connected with her role more had I listened to the audiobook, but on the page, it felt off.
This is a character-driven domestic thriller that raised several questions for me early on: Why would an ex-wife choose to live next door to her former husband and his new family? Who exactly was Jane, and how pivotal would her role become? And, ultimately, which character was I meant to root for? While Jane’s motives were intriguing, Carla’s role proved equally compelling, and it was interesting to see how the three women were connected.
Athough this wasn’t a story I loved, it was a quick read with enough twists to keep me engaged, culminating in a shocking conclusion that will likely surprise many readers.
