Reviewer: Annie
I received a review copy
Summary:
For fans of Liane Moriarty and Jojo Moyes comes a riveting family drama with a dark mystery at its core, from the New York Times bestselling author of The House We Grew Up In.
In the early hours of a summer morning, a young woman steps into the path of an oncoming bus. A tragic accident? Or suicide?
At the center of this puzzle is Adrian Wolfe, a successful architect and grief-stricken widower, who, a year after his third wife’s death, begins to investigate the cause. As Adrian looks back on their brief but seemingly happy marriage, disturbing secrets begin to surface. The divorces from his two previous wives had been amicable, or so it seemed; his children, all five of them, were resilient as ever, or so he thought. But something, or someone, must have pushed Maya over the edge.
With psychological nuance that gets into the heart of its characters, The Third Wife is a gripping story about a man seeking the truth behind his seemingly perfect marriage and the broken pieces left behind.
Review:
I was quite astounded by this story, imagining Adrian’s large extended families seeming to function so normally with one another. You would think that having two ex-wives with five children between them, would somehow make the new wife, Maya feel a bit uncomfortable. But, No! She would babysit for his children at his ex-wife’s home. If you are getting divorced and have children, this is a great way to live. It was really a beautiful thing. But, that is where my loyalties remained. I felt a bit all over the place not being able to attach to any character in particular.
The story opens up with Adrian’s present wife, Maya being hit by a bus and dying upon impact. There were so many questions surrounding the accident; yet, it remained being considered an accident….even when Adrian began looking in to the truth behind it. He was concerned it may have been more than an accident…it could have been a suicide or even a homicide. By the end of the book, you are hoping for an answer.
It was stated in the book that Adrian was “in love with love” and that he “liked being married”. So, I was rather bothered by the lack of emotion regarding what Adrian put his ex-wives through. He did not understand what it is to be in love or married…I mean, you have to make it through even the rough spots, and not keep moving on to the next woman when you feel you have “lost that loving feeling”. (Not to be cheesy, my apologies) But, he would always run. I felt that there was a plot here that could have been more established.
Well, suffice it to say, I fell head over heels for the Bird family in Lisa Jewell’s book “The House We Grew Up In” and really expected to have the same connection…but, that was not the case. I still want to read all of her other books, as her writing is still superb.
3.5 Stars
