What a fun, dark, twisted read! It is classed as a ‘domestic noir’, which I didn’t know was a thing. Where have I been hiding? I read books like this all the time but I’ve only just discovered that they belong to the domestic noir genre. How cool!
This book was quite unique. The pace – especially once the ‘thing that happens’ has happened – is fast, relentless and catches your breath as you want so much for things to work out one way but other things (many other things) keep getting in the way! Poor Sophie (as likeable as she is arrogant and smug) cannot catch a break. Weird that you end up rooting for her (I did anyway – you might not) despite the calamity she has caused and continues to cause. You just want to reach into the book to shake her and tell her to just ‘stop being so bloody stupid!’ The story goes like this (no spoilers, I promise.) Sophie lives an easy life, married to a successful (wealthy) husband in a beautiful house with three children and a dog. One day, she receives a vicious letter in the mail stating that “He’s going to leave you; let’s see how smug you are then, you stupid bitch.” Hmm… Instead of confronting her husband about this, she decides to spy on him and almost like a comedy of errors, ends up creating a whole new world of pain for herself and her family. Oh, and yes, there IS another woman but which one is the one??
Is it her business partner, Melissa or the wife of an ex-business partner, Jessica? Is it even the dog-walking, Belinda? She seems a bit creepy and stalkerish! Or is it one of the ‘other’ women in the book that the title refers to – Sophie’s senile and odd mother, Margot (“don’t call me Mum or Grandma, dear”) or even the mysterious (also odd) nameless woman we met later on in the book? It’s a very clever title as it could apply to any of the above! We also meet Sophie’s au-pair, Imanuela and her cleaner, Mrs. Palmer – both very nosey and opinionated. I’ve only just realised in writing this list that there really are a lot of female characters in the book, all very strong and somewhat quirky or just downright odd! They’re obviously a bit part of the book and I just loved all the eccentric characters and how they all just seem to pop up when you really want Sophie to have time by herself to get her sh*t together!
The ending is, I think, inevitable but a question mark still hovers over it as it’s unclear exactly what will happen next. It’s not a cliff-hanger per se as enough is said and implied that the most ‘I-need-all-the-t’s-crossed-and-i’s-dotted’ amongst us will be satisfied by its’ conclusion. I don’t know if Laura Wilson’s other books are domestic noirs too or as fast paced as this one was but I look forward to finding out. I’ll let you know!
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