First Line: ‘Flash of metal. Thunder in my ears.’
Blurb: FIRST COMES LOVE. THEN COMES MARRIAGE. THEN COMES MURDER.
When lawyer Lily marries Ed, she’s determined to make a fresh start. To leave the past behind. Even if it means a little white lie or two…
But then she meets a convicted murderer, who reminds her of someone she used to know. But there’s no way she can tell her husband why…
Where does the lying end…and murder begin?
Lily, a defence lawyer, and Ed, an artist, are newly weds who have just come back from their honeymoon. They should be enjoying the bliss of married life with the all the excitement of being at the beginning of their chosen careers – but all is not well between them. Lily then meets convicted murderer, Joe Thomas, a man with an addictive personality who reminds her of someone from her past whose case launches are career. But when Lily and Ed start babysitting for Francesca’s daughter Carla their next door neighbour Lily makes a dreadful mistake which has repercussions for all.
As the story progresses and their lives are intrinsically interlinked yet more secrets are unearthed which will change them forever.
Amazing!
I really enjoyed this story from the start and literally couldn’t put it down. I loved everything about it; the characters, the plot, the twists and turns which made it into an exciting but believable story. The novel starts off with a bang which reveals the crime at the beginning of the novel but then jumps back in the past to chronicle the lies and events which led up to it.
This book is told in two halves. The first part is set 15 years ago and is told from the point of view of Lily chronicling the early years of her marriage and nine-year old Carla who tells the story of her childhood. The second part is set 12 years later again from Lily and Carla who is now a mature adult in charge of her own destiny.
I loved the characters of Lily and Carla and felt so sympathetic to both their plights as they fight their very different battles. Even though I didn’t wholly agree with the decisions they make, I still enjoyed being in both their worlds and could really understand their motivations throughout.
Carla is a strong, wilful but determined young woman who will fit in at all costs. She is bullied at a very young age for a number of reasons when all she wants to do is to fit in and aspires for something better for her mother – and ultimately herself.
Lily is a friendly, helpful and trusting person who spends her life seeking justice for those who cannot do it for themselves as a way to amend for the wrong she did in her past. She also has to deal with the pressures of a successful career, a resentful husband and the mounting tensions within her marriage.
I also absolutely adored the character of Joe Thomas, a very charismatic, shady individual with an addictive personality who really came to life and kept me reading on. He had so much complexity and charisma it was hard not to like him even with all of his faults and actions.
This was a novel which really packed a punch for me and took me on an emotional roller coaster of emotions. I know as I was reading this novel I thought I had it all figured it out but then the author turned everything on its head with yet another twist which I didn’t see coming. It is hard to believe this is a debut author but Jane Corry is definitely an author to watch.
This is an amazing page-turner, full of twists and turns which you will not see coming. I would recommend this to any fans of Liane Moriarty, Clare Mackintosh and C. L. Taylor.
With thanks to Net Galley and Penguin Books UK for my copy of My Husband’s Wife.
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To find out more about Jane Corry follow her on Twitter @JaneCorryAuthor.
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