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The Wives

Review

The Wives

In this clever and twisty psychological thriller from Tarryn Fisher, we learn about the life of Thursday, which is the day of the week she gets to see her husband, Seth, who has two other "wives." Thursday insists she is Seth’s legal wife and explains that each wife gets to see him one day a week. Thursday lives in Seattle, while the other two are in Portland, and they don't know each other.

Because this is a terribly embarrassing situation, Thursday doesn't tell the truth to any of her family members or friends. In fact, she spends a lot of time alone when she's not working as a nurse. But doing so leads her to wonder quite a bit about the life she has chosen and about the other women in Seth's life. After finding a piece of paper in his pants pocket with a name and an address on it, she investigates and determines the identity of Monday, one of the other wives.

"Twists, surprises and characters who are not what they appear to be make THE WIVES a quick and enjoyable read."

When Thursday acts on her impulse and arranges a meeting with Monday, she sees bruises on the pregnant woman’s arms. Is Seth abusing her? Thursday wants to know. She also would like to find Seth's first wife, Tuesday, who is a lawyer. And slowly she uncovers information about both wives. As she learns more about them, her feelings for Seth seem to change. She is desperate to find out the truth about him.

Throughout the first part of the story, Thursday obliquely refers to the fact that she was once pregnant. We know something happened, and now she has no hope of ever having a child. This apparently caused Seth to look for his third wife, Monday. We gradually find out more about Seth's background and Thursday's life.

What we have no way of knowing is how much of what Thursday is telling us is the truth. She is relying on what Seth tells her. Is Seth telling the truth? What should we believe? It's hard to know what the truth is when it keeps changing.

Twists, surprises and characters who are not what they appear to be make THE WIVES a quick and enjoyable read. The situation is so unusual, and so distasteful to most of us, that we really want to know how it all ends.

Reviewed by Pamela Kramer on January 10, 2020

The Wives
by Tarryn Fisher