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How To Be A Good Wife by Emma Chapman

22 replies

FakePlasticLobsters · 21/02/2013 14:03

Anyone else read it? I'm dying to talk about it, but nobody else I know has read it yet. I found it a little odd at first but once I got going I loved it and felt angered and infuriated by it in equal portions. At one point I would have gladly reached into the book and throttled one or two of the characters, so angry did they make me.

Description below for anyone who hasn't heard of it.

Marta and Hector have been married for many years, and Marta has spent those years following the advice of a book, How To Be A Good Wife, which was given to her by her new mother-in-law on her wedding day.

Marta has a troubled and confused past, and can hardly remember a time before her marriage. She relies on medication and Hector believes she is also suffering from empty nest syndrome since their son left home and is recently engaged. Marty believes that Hector is keeping a secret from her, and she is being haunted by visions of a young blonde girl who seems to be trying to tell Marta something she doesn't understand.

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ClaraDeLaNoche · 21/02/2013 15:20

Just started it. Will report back!

Sallystyle · 21/02/2013 15:29

I enjoyed it :)

WorkingtoohardMama · 21/02/2013 15:30

I've just started it too, must admit that I'm not sure I'll like it - I take it from your op it's worth persevering with??

FakePlasticLobsters · 21/02/2013 15:51

I thought it was Working.

I don't know if anyone else realised the turn it would take earlier on in the book that I did, but as I realised what had happened, and worse, what was going to happen, but it all came a little out of the blue for me and I was gripped and furious about it. And I couldn't settle to another book for days because I was so bound up in this one, even after it finished.

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hellocatty · 21/02/2013 16:03

is it on kindle?

WorkingtoohardMama · 21/02/2013 16:04

I am intrigued by it, so will keep going, I'll let you know what I think!

FakePlasticLobsters · 21/02/2013 16:26

Yes it is on Kindle, that's where I read it. I think it cost £6.03 on Amazon, which was more than I said I would pay for a Kindle book, but I'd read a review that really made me want it.

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AnonymousBird · 21/02/2013 17:30

I bought this last week - it dropped to £1.79 for a day (sorry!) and I snapped it up. It's about two or three down my line, I'm really really keen to read it so going to speed through my other books to get to it!

If you don't already, track your books from your Amazon wish list through www.ereaderiq.co.uk and they notify you very quickly when the prices drop... I've had so many bargains that way, and they are nicely stored waiting to be read!

highlandcoo · 21/02/2013 17:31

I read this last month and also met the author, who came to talk at our local library in London.

I quite enjoyed it but if you've read Before I Go To Sleep and Room, it's a bit similar in tone IMO

AnonymousBird · 21/02/2013 17:37

Ah, I have read, and was rather underwhelmed by, both... bugger, I was getting quite excited about this one! Never mind!

FakePlasticLobsters · 21/02/2013 18:31

Typical about the price drop. I always miss the bargains.

Ah well. I did enjoy it and so it was worth it to me. Anonymous I hope you do enjoy it when you get to it.

Highlandcoo, what was the author like? And what did she have to say about the book. Except only tell us if it won't spoil things for people who haven't read it, just in case.

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Portofino · 21/02/2013 18:41

I was gripped by the story but hated the end.

Feenie · 21/02/2013 18:46

Loved it - believed her implicitly, apart from one bit I don't want to spoil!

Portofino · 21/02/2013 18:46

I was gripped by the story but hated the end.

FakePlasticLobsters · 21/02/2013 19:12

I think we were supposed to hate the end though.

That's why I was interested to know what the author had to say. Although I think the scenario in the book was written for the extreme, the rest of it was a fantastic comment on the imbalance in relationships that many woman have experienced in some way.

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FakePlasticLobsters · 21/02/2013 19:13

And I posted too soon.

So I think it was never meant to be a 'happy' or 'likeable' ending, much as I wanted it to be.

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highlandcoo · 21/02/2013 20:13

FPL the author was pretty young and feeling really chuffed about the good reviews the book has had so far.

She read from the book and then talked about why it was set in Scandinavia - she's not from there herself but it's a part of the world she knows .. no other reason than that really.

People spent a good while discussing the end. Not to go into details, but she said it was inevitable that it ended like that and for her it was a positive result. (I don't agree) and that it was always going to end like that. Sorry very vague but I don't want to give too much away ..

I didn't have much to say for once because I wasn't overwhelmed by the book but I obviously didn't want to share that opinion with her!

FakePlasticLobsters · 21/02/2013 20:16

I wouldn't call the ending a positive result either, but it did feel inevitable to me once it happened, that that is the way it would go. Much as I hoped it would be different.

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Portofino · 21/02/2013 20:28

It would have been better if someone believed her.

TabithaMcKitten · 22/02/2013 21:39

I really wanted to love it, but I was mostly irritated by it. The ending made me cross!

FakePlasticLobsters · 23/02/2013 09:50

It made me cross as well, but I think it was supposed to.

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TunipTheVegedude · 23/02/2013 14:33

I hated the end which is fair enough but I also didn't BELIEVE the end, which is not.
The role of the son in bringing about the ending did not convince me.

But I do recommend it - I found it well-written and thought-provoking.

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