Four Wives

Four Wives
Wendy Walker
St. Martin’s Press
ISBN: 978-0-312-36771-8
Fiction, Woman's Fiction
Reviewed by Vianna Renaud

In this excitingly fresh debut novel, Wendy Walker is sure to entertain a wide audience. Telling the tale of four wives and mothers, Wendy Walker brilliantly intertwines their stories against a backdrop of the suburbia lifestyle. Tinted with delicious tidbits of scandal and secret desires set where money sometimes isn’t the biggest problem, she makes her main characters as realistic as some of women I know in real life.
Love Welsh, Marie Passeti, Gayle Beck, and Janie Kirk all seem to be very happy women as they are married to successful men, have happy children, and are privileged to a lifestyle that most people only dream about. However, in their exclusive suburban neighborhood, the cracks underneath the facade are starting to show. As they struggle with infidelity, personal integrity, relationship problems, childhood trauma, self-doubt, prescription drug addiction, amidst a sea of other concerns, they are left wondering if this is all that life has to offer.
I found this book to be exactly what I was looking for: a welcomed escape after a long day of work. Fully taking me to another place and scenario, I found myself unable to stop turning pages as I was caught up in the story from the very first page. I particularly enjoyed how the struggles of the characters were realistic and easy to understand while their determination to overcome was inspiring. A truly entertaining novel; I can not wait to see Ms. Walker’s next work!