The Wives

When I saw the synopsis for this book, I knew I had to immediately read it. It follows “Thursday”, who is in a polygamist relationship with her husband, Seth. Seth has two other wives nicknamed “Monday” and “Tuesday,” and the number one rule is that they cannot meet each other. Monday is Seth's first wife, Tuesday is pregnant, and that is all of the information that “Thursday” knows about them until she finds a doctor's note in Seth's pocket with the name Hannah written on it. Through the rabbit hole of Google and Facebook, she finds the glossy, modelesque Hannah, who lives in a Victorian House with perfectly trimmed hedges.

Thursday prides herself on being the “perfect wife,” who cooks elaborate meals and whose life revolves around her husband; however, upon finding Hannah, she becomes obsessed with learning more about her husband's life outside of their Thursday nights. Due to her curiosity, she strikes up a friendship with Hannah without her knowing that they are married to the same man. As their friendship develops, Hannah starts developing bruises, and instantly Thursday wonders, are those bruises from her seemingly loving husband?

Soon she becomes transfixed on learning more about the other wives and learning more about her husband, which becomes an extreme challenge when Seth finds out about her meeting Hannah and says she is having another mental episode. Thursday is put in a mental health facility, where she tries to dig for more information through her sister on Seth's other wives. However, upon reporting back, her sister lets her know that the Victorian house that Hannah lived in is under “Thursday's” name (as it was inherited after a family member passed away), Hannah has disappeared and may not be a real person, and Seth and Regina (Monday) got divorced years ago. This leads to questions like “Who is Hannah and is she in danger?” “What secrets are Seth hiding?” and more importantly, “Are the wives real or just something that Thursday has made up in her head?”

I wanted to love this book, and I finished it in one sitting, but the ending gut-punched me. It is definitely a book with twists and turns that will leave you on the edge of your seat, but for me, the complex themes in the book seemed to be only used to propel the story forward. While you can easily see the realistic narratives of insecurity and jealousy with the main character, the other more serious topics like gaslighting, miscarriages, child molestation, mental health, and domestic abuse seemed to be downplayed and twisted to meet the narrative. As someone who loves a woman who defeats all odds, this book is not that story, it pits women against women, overplays the narrative that only women are valuable when they have children, and uses mental health as a scapegoat. With this being said, after listening to an interview by her she discusses how she wrote each character in different ages and walks of life, which helped create a multi-faceted plot. She also explains how the book is utilized to showcase misogyny and a different viewpoint of polygamy. Overall, I would say that this is worth the read just to experience it.