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Summary
Summary
How to Be a Good Wife is a haunting and unforgettable literary thriller about the 'perfect marriage', by Emma Chapman.
Marta has been married to Hector for longer than she can remember. She has always tried hard to be a good wife.
But now Hector has come home with a secret. And Marta is beginning to imagine - or revisit - a terrifying truth . . .
'The unnamed Scandinavian setting has all the familiar elements of contemporary northern lights noir . . . a ruthless examination of the many layers of marriage, and a woman's opaque role with it.' - Guardian
Author Notes
Emma Chapman was born in 1985 and grew up in Manchester. She studied English Literature at Edinburgh University, followed by a Masters in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London. After university, she travelled in Scandinavia, which inspired the setting for How To Be a Good Wife .
Reviews (1)
Library Journal Review
After 25 years of marriage, Marta Bjornstad has gone off her meds. She can quote passages with ease from How To Be a Good Wife (a wedding present from her mother-in-law) but is increasingly unable to operate in the world. She's either the traumatized victim of a brutal act in the past, or she's descending into psychosis, but which is it? Since Marta is telling her own story, it's hard to decide. Susan Lyons as reader is a near-perfect choice. All characters are rendered skillfully, but with the inner voice of Marta, Lyons strikes just the right notes of hesitation, desperation, and despair. VERDICT Highly recommended. ["[T]his confident and compelling debut novel is a chilling and very creepy tale of deception and distrust," read the starred review of the St. Martin's hc, LJ Xpress Reviews, 9/20/13.]-Kristen L. Smith, Loras Coll. Lib., Dubuque, IA (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.