Book Review & Bonus Questions for Your Book Club
The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen
About the Authors
This is Greer’s debut novel. Before becoming an author she spent over two decades as an editor at Simon $ Schuster. She obtained her master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University, and her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Allure and Publisher’s Weekly. She lives in Manhatten with her husband and two children.
Sarah is the mother of three boys, which explains why she wrote part of her debut novel at Chuck E. Cheese. She penned her first book at the age of ten. When publishers failed to jump upon this literary masterpiece, Sarah followed up by sending them a sternly-worded letter on Raggedy Ann stationery. She still has that letter and carries it to New York every time she has meetings with her publisher, as a reminder that dreams do come true.
The Synopsis of the Book
When you read this book, you will make many assumptions.
You will assume you are reading about a jealous ex-wife.
You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement – a beautiful, younger woman who is about to marry the man they both love.
You will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle.
Assume nothing.
Twisted and deliciously chilling, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen’s The Wife Between Us exposes the secret complexities of an enviable marriage – and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love.
Read between the lies.
Our Review
There were mixed feelings about this book during our discussion. We all agreed it was confusing at times and prevented us from getting fully engaged in the story. A twisted tale involving an ex-wife, a mistress and soon to be the wife of the wealthy ex-husband, Richard. Vanessa who has been tormented by her husband, Richard throughout their entire marriage, comes up with a brilliant way to end their marriage. But unraveling the plot is confusing for the reader and once the marriage is over she then becomes obsessed with warning the mistress, Nellie about Richard, which I personally found strange.
Many of the readers in the group loved the roller-coaster rides of plots and surprises and the unexpected ending. For me, the first part of the book was extremely hard to get into because I was too busy trying to figure out who was who and what was going on but I didn’t give up and finished the book. I was hoping, Richards sister, Maureen would have played a bigger part and we all agreed that we didn’t like it when we were left hanging when it came to the dog Rover. It ended up being a good read with an ending that I would never have guessed, so I’m glad I didn’t give up, but I almost did.
One reader was unable to finish the book. She just didn’t like it and quit reading in chapter five.
Our Overall Rating
COVER DESIGN – 5 STARS – A well-designed cover showing the same person in different profiles. Now that I’ve read the book it makes sense why they wanted the same person for both profiles.
CHARACTERIZATION – 3 STARS – The characters came across as shallow with not much history and lacked personalities.
STORY & PLOT 4 STARS – Great storyline and plot but confusing at times.
OVERALL RATING – 4 STARS – Overall we gave this book 4 stars
Questions to ask at your book club
Click on the link below for questions created by the author, Greer Hendricks for questions to ask at your book club.
Book Club Discussion – The Wife Between Us
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Beautiful written and so riveting! Can’t wait for the next one! – Miki
The book was very well written. The story paints a true to life story of the struggles that women endure when they are young and naïve – trying to have a good life, but choosing the wrong paths. I highly recommend. Dyana Hulgan
After reading a few pages, I could not put this book down!
Wonderful first effort.
Looking forward to her next book. – Tracy P.