By Leslie Lindsay
Spectacular, mind-bending, romantic thriller about all sides of a marriage, infidelity, betrayal, and more.
When a copy of THE WIFE BETWEEN US (forthcoming, January 9 2018 from St. Martin’s Press) landed on my doorstep, I was immediately intrigued. It’s co-authored (Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen), which lends well to the ‘wife between us’ concept; that is, there’s always more than meets the eye when it comes to complex relationships like marriage.
What calls to mind with THE WIFE BETWEEN US is a smart, edgy psychological thriller in the vein of THE LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE meets Gillian Flynn’s earlier work (SHARP OBJECTS), meets DEAR DAUGHTER (Elizabeth Little), a subtle twist in vein of HER (Harriet Lane) with a flavor of GIRL ON THE TRAIN (Paula Hawkins); but it’s probably not what you’re expecting.
Vanessa’s seemingly perfect husband, Richard abruptly leaves her. She’s forced out of their four-bedroom Colonial and into her aunt’s apartment. She drinks. She worries after her aging aunt. She reluctantly takes a job as a sales associate at Saks. She keeps a close eye on her “replacement,” the new, young assistant Richard is now engaged to marry. 
But it’s not just about a jealous ex-wife. It’s not even about her being lonely and worried. It might not even be about the new woman.
There’s definitely a twist with THE WIFE BETWEEN US, and I guarantee you’ll be flipping the pages frantically to discover the truth, which will reveal itself by the end.
Please join me in welcoming Greer Henricks and Sarah Pekkannen to the blog.
Leslie Lindsay: Greer and Sarah, it’s such an honor to have you! I understand you have worked together in the past—but not as co-authors. Can you talk a bit about how you came to collaborate on THE WIFE BETWEEN US? And what was the instigating moment for this particular title?
Sarah: After working together on seven novels as an author-editor team, we knew we had a unique relationship. Not only do we share strikingly similar narrative instincts and approaches to storytelling, but we get along beautifully as friends. When we discovered we were both itching to write a psychological page-turner – one as twisty, complex, and fresh as possible – it almost seemed predestined.
Greer: We both studied journalism and psychology, which makes us curious students of human nature. In THE WIFE BETWEEN US, we wanted to explore how memories are colored by the lenses through which we view our worlds – and how people can share an experience but carry away markedly different perspectives and emotions. Little did we know that it would take every ounce of our collective brain power to keep track of the literary kaleidoscope we wanted to create.
L.L.: In watching your YouTube video, I can see that your working chemistry is so natural. It really seems like you had fun with this title. Were there any challenges co-authoring?
Greer: Our biggest challenge is technology. Because we write every word together we rely on google docs and google hangouts. Most of the time these tools work beautifully, but when they don’t it’s incredibly frustrating.
Sarah: Aside from technological glitches, we did have a lot of fun!
“THE WIFE BETWEEN US delivers a whip smart, twisty plot in a taut, pacy narrative. It’s terrific and troubling. This is one scary love triangle where you won’t know who to trust. I loved it.”
—Gilly Macmillan, New York Times bestselling author of What She Knew
L.L.: As for the story, my read was that a complex relationship like a marriage is so very multifaceted it’s hard to tell where one truth begins and another ends. It’s not just marriage; those lines can be blurred in just about any romantic entanglement. Can you elaborate on that, please?
Greer: There are three sides to every marriage: the husband’s, the wife’s and the truth. This is true for any relationship.
Sarah: One of our hopes was that THE WIFE BETWEEN US would cause readers to reevaluate their own perceptions.
L.L.: I have to admit, my mind was reeling as I read THE WIFE BETWEEN US. I had to read ‘very carefully,’ for fear I might miss something. I had lots of theories. I can only imagine you did, too. Did you ever write yourself into a corner, and if so, how did you back out?
Greer: We have two words for you: Cake Topper.
Sarah: We definitely backed ourselves into a corner with that one. It only took about 80 hours of conversation before we figured out a way to fix it!
L.L.: I understand THE WIFE BETWEEN US is to become a major motion picture. From the producers of THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, no less! How thrilling! What can you tell us about the process and when might it be in theaters?
Sarah: We spent a day talking to various producers who were interested in our manuscript, and signed a contract with Amblin Entertainment, which is Steven Spielberg’s production company. They are currently working with a screenwriter to create the script based on our book!
L.L.: Are you collaborating on something new?
Greer: Yes, our next novel is also a psychological thriller, tentatively titled You’re Invited. It features twists and turns, of course, as well as strong female protagonists.
L.L: What’s keeping you awake at night? And let’s hope it’s not a faulty alarm system.
Greer: The plot of our new novel is as twisty and complicated as our first book and I think we are both becoming quite obsessed with all the potential twists and turns. We often email each other in the middle of the night with random ideas. Most of the time they still make sense in the morning.
L.L.: Is there anything I forgot to ask, but should have?
Sarah: Please check out our website for more information on our book – and hopefully we’ll get to meet a lot of readers on tour!
L.L.: Ladies, it’s been a pleasure. Thank you so much for being here today. Happy New Year!
Greer and Sarah: Thanks for having us!
For more information, to connect with the authors, or to get a copy of THE WIFE BETWEEN US, please see: Greer:- Website
- Twitter: @greerkh
- GoodReads
- Website
- Twitter: @sarahpekkanen
- GoodReads
- Amazon
- Barnes & Noble
- BAM!
- IndieBound
ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Sarah Pekkanen is the internationally and USA Today bestselling author of seven previous novels. A former investigative journalist and feature writer, she has published work in The Washington Post, USA Today, and many others. She is the mother of three sons and lives just outside Washington, D.C.
Greer Hendricks spent over two decades as an editor at Simon & Schuster. Prior to her tenure in publishing, she worked at Allure magazine and obtained her Master’s in Journalism from Columbia University. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times and Publishers Weekly. Greer lives in Manhattan with her husband and two children. THE WIFE BETWEEN US is her first novel.
You can connect with me, Leslie Lindsay, via these social media sites:- GoodReads
- Facebook: LeslieLindsayWriter
- Twitter: @LeslieLindsay1
- Email: [email protected]
- Amazon
[Cover and author image courtesy of St. Martin’s Press and used with permission. Image of split wedding couple retrieved from, frustrated writer image from, unboxing image from L.Lindsay’s personal archives, all on 1.5.18]
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