The Silent Wife by A.S.A Harrison

I usually try to stay clear of books by authors who have initials in their names. There is just something about them that I find so pretentious. Of course, like everything in life, there are exceptions to this rule, J.K Rowling being one of them (just so you know The Casual Vacancy is in the pile to be read). So one day, I can't remember how far back now, I picked by The Silent Wife. The cover just reeked that this was one of those thrillers for the female audience The almost silhouette of the woman on the cover indicated this heavily, but as I said in my first post, I'm not one to judge a book by a cover. This myth was further undone by reading the blurb on the back of the book, stating how the book was told through both the male and female voice in a relationship. There was something about it that made me add it to the bottom of the never ending pile.

Judge a book by its cover?

Once it surfaced at the top of the stack of books, I couldn't wait to pick it up. I did a little research on it before I began, like I do with most of the books. Not to ruin it just to say, I'm not one of those idiots who reads the last page first. It was merely to gain some background knowledge on the general feel for the book by the critics, as well as the back catalogue of the author. I was saddened to learn how the author had sadly passed away and that the book that was rattling about in my bag was the only fiction book that she had ever had published. With the knowledge of this, it helped me to be able to enjoy it more, knowing that this would be all I would get.

Harrison leaps straight into the drama on the first page, immediately setting out how the not so silent wife of the book title will turn out to be a killer. This already gives us an impending sense of dread from chapter one that just keeps building and building. The constant switch of voice from chapter to chapter, that slowly details each brick that falls from Todd and Jodi's marriage, whilst nothing original, truly allows us to see how each character thinks and acts as the disaster continues.

Harrison's background of psychology shines through Jodi, as we see her pick apart her own decisions and her family background that has led to her current coldness and sterile nature. I was not surprised to see that Nicole Kidman is in the running to play Jodi in a feature film. She has the perfect icy qualities that Harrison instills in Jodi. And boy does she do it with vigour.

Nicole Kidman is in line to play Jodi

Something that is quite rare within fiction is where an author doesn't allow us to sympathise with a character but Harrison achieves it with such style you barely notice it. The deep psychological prowess in her writing draws you in and it is hard to stop turning the pages. It is hard to appreciate Todd's weakness for alcohol, sex and stubbornness, or Jodi's obliviousness to Todd's actions or how her life has fallen into an almost Groundhog Day- like routine are both hard to appreciate. There is an attempt by Harrison to push Jodi into the psychopathic female, especially where Jodi spikes Todd's drink with sleeping pills, but this is quickly retracted when Jodi immediately regrets it. And something else rare that Harrison achieves is to only use Jodi and Todd's viewpoints throughout. Never do we hear from Natasha, Todd's clingy (and stereotypical bunny boiler) mistress. We only hear Jodi or Todd's opinion of what is said by others. This just adds more to the deeply psychological feeling throughout, and that what the split has done to both of them is the only thing that matters.

The sense of dread continues until the very last page of the novel, but Harrison is sure not to go overboard. I think the most terrifying and deeply psychological feeling of the whole book is the lack of action. It is simply the thoughts and actions of the two in the relationship, in the end the only two opinions matter that come to the make or break moments in a relationship. There is a very real feeling throughout the writing, you can almost feel yourself in the situation. This sense of a lack of action is not something to fault the novel though, it keeps it real.

One downside to the novel is Todd's eventual demise. It all goes off a little too smoothly for my liking. But then anything more dramatic would only take away from Harrison's understated and devastating psychological writing.

A.S.A Harrison

Overall, this was a fantastic read. From the constant switch of viewpoint taking us deeper and deeper into the minds of our two main characters, to the immediate and never-let-you-go style of sense of impending doom for both of them, it just never relents. The only thing I could think by the end of the book was how sad I was that Harrison never got to see the critical praise that The Silent Wife met on release, on top of the fact she will never have another book. To know that I won't be writing another review of one of her novels on here is a great shame. But she left us with a novel that is so dark and so darn understated that it makes it so darn real, she can rest in peace knowing she wrote good in this sometimes dark and depressing world.

Until the last page turns... xoxo

The Silent Wife is published by Headline in the UK, available now online and in stores.