Every month, we like to pick one book to recommend. We select books that have characters, themes, settings, and cultural relevance to people in their 20s. This month, that book is The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins.
The Wife Upstairs Summary
The Wife Upstairs centers on our main character, Jane, as she attempts to settle herself as a dog walker for the wealthy residents of Thornfield Estates, a posh neighborhood in Birmingham. Jane, a 20-something girl with a mysterious background and a tendency toward kleptomania, soon meets Eddie Rochester, a recently widowed member of the community. Jane and Eddie fall for each other quickly, and it seems like a fairy tale.
But there’s the matter of Eddie’s recently deceased wife, the founder of a successful lifestyle brand. Bea, who drowned in a boating accident with a friend, seems to hover in every corner of their new lives together. Each person brings their own secrets and motives to the relationship, and with the pressure of time and the community, they must navigate their way. However, as they will soon discover, those secrets come out eventually, and some are darker than others.
The Wife Upstairs Review + Rating
Jane Eyre meets Rebecca in a modern story by Rachel Hawkins? Yes, please! This is what you get in The Wife Upstairs, a fantastic psychological thriller that will have you on the edge of your seats. For this reason, I have to give it a 5/5!
From the start, this book grabbed my attention. While I’ve never read the original Jane Eyre, I immediately got Rebecca vibes from this, and I loved that Hawkins incorporated the modern day South. There’s nothing quite so effortlessly Gothic, and her incorporation of a Southern lifestyle brand was brilliant.
Review
This book was fast paced with perfect voice, perfect storytelling, and a perfect setting. Rachel Hawkins has been a favorite author of mine since I was in middle school. In every story she writes, she manages to incorporate fantastic personality, plot, and character development.
To prove that further, I once read a book that she wrote under a pen name (Go Hex Yourself). As I read, I thought to myself, Wow, this really sounds like Rachel Hawkins. Sure enough, when I googled the author, it turned out to be her under a different name.
That kind of narrative voice is something that’s not entirely common in books, and she does a fantastic job of holistically representing 20-somethings. Jane is young, but she’s mature inside. We get glimpses into the past that she’s trying to run away from, see little bits of her dark side, and watch it grow throughout the story. The same goes for Eddie and his (deceased) wife Bea. Although it’s told primarily from Jane’s perspective, we focus on Eddie and Bea’s dysfunctional relationship, their pasts, and the secrets that they held with each other. Nobody is particularly likeable, but everyone is interesting and offers us a unique view and addition to the story.
My favorite part had to be the setting. Hawkins couldn’t have picked a better place to place this book and to modernize it. While Jane does have an interesting background that gives her story some depth, it is a fantastic look at life in the McMansions and life for those who serve the people in the McMansions. This, if anything, was what I enjoyed most, especially as someone who has worked for people like Jane did. The inclusion of Bea’s Southern lifestyle brand was also so on-point, and those two details made it feel so real.
The story has enough twists, turns, surprises, and drama to keep you intrigued. Especially if you’re not into gory suspense and enjoy the more domestic, mind-game type stories, this will appeal to you. While The Wife Upstairs primarily gave me Rebecca vibes, it also reminded me a lot of Gone Girl, which I absolutely loved. The entire unreliable narrator/unlikeable characters/suspense connect well, albeit a bit fluffier. If either of those two books are up your alley, this is a must-read.
Recommended For People Who Like
- Contemporary fiction
- Suspense
- Psychological Thrillers
- Retellings
- Gothic literature
- Fantastic narrative voice
- Books with 20-somethings
A Final Word
If you’re looking for a breezy, suspenseful summer read, The Wife Upstairs is for you. With its gothic Southern setting, page turning cliffhangers, and twists, it will capture your attention and allow you to fly through it in a single setting. It’s a pleasant surprise for a book, and with a cover like this one, there’s no way that you can resist it!
