The Wife Between Us is told in dual perspective: we hear from Vanessa, the wife in question who comes between “us.” Vanessa is seemingly obsessed with her ex-husband Richard’s new fiance, and spends most of her chapters reflecting on her time spent with Richard – how good things had been, how happy she’d felt with him. She wants to warn this new woman away from him, wants to get rid of her. We figure that if Vanessa can’t have him, nobody can. Her replacement is slimmer, younger, healthier in every way. She is absolutely gorgeous, and it makes Vanessa sick – she’s not eating, she’s not sleeping, she’s barely able to keep her retail job. She is a shell of a woman, and we pity her, but also don’t want her anywhere near this poor fiance of Richard’s.
Our other perspective is from Nelly, the fiancee in question. Nelly is a preschool teacher, obsessed with healthy eating and in love with her job teaching 3 year olds and waitressing in her spare time. Nelly lives in a tiny, cramped apartment with her best friend Sam and can’t believe her luck that Richard loves her – her! – and that he’s bought them a house in the suburbs to move to, and her a new cell phone, all-new everything. She’ll never have to work again. It’s the most magical setup in the world and she feels like a princess. But she also feels as if she’s being watched …
Never forget, appearances can be deceiving.
The Bottom Line
I want to gush about this book further, but the fact of the matter is that the more I say, the more it’ll ruin this one for you. I will say this much: the audiobook narrator is fantastic, and really draws you in. The two narrators have distinct, different voices, and one speaks in first person, the other in third – there is no issue telling apart who is who. Let it just suffice for me to tell you that I absolutely adored this book, and anything these two ladies put out again in the future will be on my insta-buy list. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Vanessa, Nelly and Richard – I hope you do, too.
Our other perspective is from Nelly, the fiancee in question. Nelly is a preschool teacher, obsessed with healthy eating and in love with her job teaching 3 year olds and waitressing in her spare time. Nelly lives in a tiny, cramped apartment with her best friend Sam and can’t believe her luck that Richard loves her – her! – and that he’s bought them a house in the suburbs to move to, and her a new cell phone, all-new everything. She’ll never have to work again. It’s the most magical setup in the world and she feels like a princess. But she also feels as if she’s being watched …
Never forget, appearances can be deceiving.
The Bottom Line
I want to gush about this book further, but the fact of the matter is that the more I say, the more it’ll ruin this one for you. I will say this much: the audiobook narrator is fantastic, and really draws you in. The two narrators have distinct, different voices, and one speaks in first person, the other in third – there is no issue telling apart who is who. Let it just suffice for me to tell you that I absolutely adored this book, and anything these two ladies put out again in the future will be on my insta-buy list. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Vanessa, Nelly and Richard – I hope you do, too.