‘The Next Wife’ by Liz Lawler is a psychological thriller about the one thing that always manages to shock people, unless they are victims or perpetrators, Domestic Violence. Physical, sexual, mental and emotional, each one is as bad as the other and in this book Liz has made sure she has got every small detail correct, while wrapping it up in a thriller.
Tess, a nurse, has been swept off her feet by a respected surgeon, Daniel, he is everything she could ever want and need. They have a whirlwind romance and are married in months. Tess is still on cloud nine and everything is going so well that they chose to move out of London and to Bath for a quieter life. At the same time as the move, Tess begins to realise Daniel has began to show controlling behaviour in some things. Tess remembers an old neighbour they had in London, Martha King, an older lady. She told Tess to ask Daniel about his first wife and what happened to her. Daniel begins to take his controlling a step further and treats Tess as a child, he controls her phone bank account and even tells her which clothes to wear or not to wear! Then Daniel makes a bad mistake and allows Tess to take the blame, now Tess realises this is not the man she married at all…and she is in a situation she does not want.
This is an excellent domestic-based thriller, I was captivated, horrified and heartbroken at the same time watching a grown woman being reduced to a shell of her former self. The mental and emotional abuse is what really wears you down and this shows in the book. I must admit, this book brought up things for me that I would rather have kept in my little box like normal, but it touched me too. Tess gets to the point of knowing she has made a massive mistake and is stuck knowing she may just get admonished by family and friends.
A story that had just the right pace for me and was full of twists and turns to keep you wondering whether Tess can get away or if Daniel will let her die trying.
Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the copy of the book for my review today.
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