The Stranger’s Wife by Anna-Lou Weatherley
The Stranger’s Wife by Anna-Lou Weatherley
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and a half!!!
Publication date - 16th January 2020
Publisher - @bookouture
This is a story about two very different women.
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One is wealthy and having an affair with a man who gives her the kind of love that her cold, detached husband does not.
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One is living hand to mouth, suffering at the hands of a violent partner who would rather see her dead than leave him.
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You may think you know these women already and how their lives will unfold.
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Beth will live happily ever after with her little girl and her soulmate.
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Cath will go back to her abusive husband.
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And these two women will never cross paths.
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But you will be wrong.
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On the 3.15pm train from London to Bristol, Beth and Cath are about to meet and discover they share one shocking thing in common.
This book definitely doesn't hold back on the punches! It's bam, bam, bam (read the last three words as in the style of Motsi from Strictly) at the start of the book with all the action that takes place!
Nanny missing!
Beth wants a divorce!
Accusations of child abuse!
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The characters of Beth and Cath have a lot of similarities - vulnerability, violent partners, having to deal with loss, a child to protect. They are both complex women, Beth probably more so. But both have to suffer from domestic violence - whether that be physical violence or emotional control.
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It really is spine-chilling having to read some of the pages and that is good as it gets the message across. It shouldn't happen and won't be tolerated. Now don't get me wrong, don't do what the characters do, but speak out and inform the police if you are suffering from this situation.
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I felt this was a book of two halves. The tension from the first half disappears after the train meeting. I could work out at this point how the story would progress. However, it is in the later section you really understand how much of a d&ck Evan was and how this affected those around him.
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The only reason I didn't give it a full five stars is because of the ’list’ part of the story. The plot without this would have been horrific enough in its tale. But I can maybe see it is setting the story up for the next in the series.
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This is a compelling page-turner of a book full of spine-tingling details which show the horror of domestic violence. An intrictly plotted book full of twists and turns. Get it on your TBR pile asap!
