The Wife Between Us/The Last Mrs. Parrish

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After the success of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, there has been a glut of these psychological suspense-thriller books. The Wife Between Us and The Last Mrs. Parrish are both part of this brigade - bestsellers with 'shocking twists' and 'dark secrets' - frankly, the only shocking thing for me was how alike these books are!!

'Assume nothing' - warns the tag line!! The book starts with Nellie, counting down the days to her wedding with the suave Richard. And then we meet Vanessa, presumably Richard's ex-wife - reeling after the breakup of her marriage, drowning her sorrows with alcohol, struggling to find her feet and in her free time, stalking Richard's new fiancee. A standard love triangle - well, assume nothing!! Nellie is a pre-school teacher, but it is soon hinted that she is fleeing from a deep, dark secret in her past. Her chance meeting with Richard takes her from her free-spirited life with her best friend, Samantha, to the isolation of a suburban mansion. On a parallel time track, we see the slow unravelling of Vanessa's marriage - her almost desperate longing for a child, her paranoia and her slow descent into insanity. Still not assuming anything, liking the suspense - when unexpectedly, the author has the big reveal - smack-dab in the middle of the book! And then Emma comes into the picture. So who's the wife? And the ex-wife? There are still a few twists and turns to come, but these come across as contrived and the plot really goes downhill - I really wish the author had held onto the Nellie/Vanessa suspense a little longer. 

Image courtesy: Goodreads

And then we come to The Last Mrs. Parrish. Amber Patterson and Daphne Parrish bond over a common tragedy - both have sisters that suffered from and succumbed to cystic fibrosis. The two women are like chalk and cheese - Daphne is at the center of a glittering, social circle in the exclusive Bishops Town, Connecticut. She and her husband, Jackson, are the perfect couple, and their life is a fairytale come to life. Amber, on the other hand, is a nobody - with dark secrets in her past, and nefarious intentions for the future. Skilfully playing upon Daphne's feelings for her deceased sister, Amber worms her way into the heart of the Parrish family - first family dinners, then birthday parties and vacations, and finally a job as Jackson's assistant. But Amber is no ordinary social climber - she has her eye on the big prize, the title of Mrs. Parrish - and she sets out to undermine Daphne at every turn. Will Daphne keep turning a blind eye to Amber's schemes? Or will she fight for her picture-perfect life? Or is there more to the story than meets the eye?

The similarities are hard to ignore - both the books explore dark corners of relationships, the ugly truths behind beautiful facades, the broken realities of seemingly perfect marriages. Prince Charming husbands who turn into monsters behind closed doors. Wives who are prisoners in their marriages, and who turn to guile to escape their gaoler husbands. Glittering public lives, devastating skeletons in the closet. Yes, the similarities are impossible to ignore. One more thing in common? Both these books did not appeal to me in the least bit. I am a huge fan of thrillers - but there is no redemption in either of these books. Even the wronged wives - I understand that they were desperate to get away - but their methods? At the end of the day, I'm old school - even through shades of grey, good must always triumph over evil. And that is where these books fall short. This genre is definitely not my favorite at the moment! I wish I could end with my usual 'Happy Reading' - but I have to be honest, 'happy' is not where these books will take you!