by Lily Tuck
First published 2017
The narrator has married a man who was once married to someone else. She lives with her new husband and his two teenage children in a house where the first wife's presence feels inescapable. The narrator knows this woman only as "she" but thinks about her constantly. She wonders how the first wife spends her days, what she thinks, whether she possesses an intelligence the narrator lacks. The marriage began with betrayal, and that betrayal sits between the narrator and her husband like an unwelcome guest. Meanwhile, her husband and his first wife share secrets that exclude the narrator entirely. She moves through her daily routine haunted by questions she cannot answer and comparisons she cannot stop making. The tension builds as the narrator's fixation deepens, leading to a conclusion that reveals the true nature of her obsession and the marriage she thought she understood.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, psychological-thriller, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
156 pages · Hardcover · Atlantic Monthly Press
Content warnings: emotional-abuse