5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
strong character study, March 17, 2010
This review is from: A Lost Wife's Tale: A Novel (Paperback)
Edith Lutz has run away. She obtains work as a housekeeper to publisher Adam Davenport by lying about her background. However, Edith seems to always look back as if she expects someone to come up to her and say gotcha.
As Edith and Adam become better acquainted they are attracted to one another. However, though she wants more, Edith never stays around for relationships of the heart as she learned as a child they always lead to misery. Still she wants to stay as Adam loves her, but her lies are catching up to her as her past has too, which means it is time to run again before she is hurt if he unmasks the real Edith.
Edith holds the tale together as the viewpoints are mostly seen through her eyes and the story line rotates between her present and her past. She is a fascinating protagonist though in spite of her abusive childhood never fully garners reader empathy and loses that when a relative arrives searching for her. Interestingly the other key cast members even to a degree Adam in the present but especially her family in the past are predominantly seen through Edith's filter so the latter cannot "defend" themselves. Readers who relish a strong character study will want to understand Edie's tale.
Harriet Klausner
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing, intelligent read, April 30, 2010
This review is from: A Lost Wife's Tale: A Novel (Paperback)
First of all, I'm shocked by the 1-star review. Normally I don't read anyone else's reviews before writing my own so as not to be influenced, but I nearly fell out of my chair that anyone would give this book a one-star I had to see why. I completely disagree with the statement that it needs an editor or that the writing is in anyway sub-par. In fact, I liked the book so much that we named it a top pick for Book End Babes national book club for April. The author is an incredible writer.
Yes, Edith is a complicated character and the story is dark. It's women's fiction at its finest, nuanced with all kinds of emotions. We aren't sure we like Edith yet we desperately want to know her secrets. We may not agree with her decisions, but to me this makes it all the more "real." People are complicated and the author does deliver on staying true to the character throughout.
I LOVED IT AND HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS READ.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding! exceptional mixture of women's fiction, suspense, and literary fiction all in one, March 25, 2010
This review is from: A Lost Wife's Tale: A Novel (Paperback)
A woman creates a false identity, leaving her past behind. Once Agnes, she becomes the widow Edith Lutz. Edith takes a job as a housekeeper for Adam Davenport, a wealthy divorced publisher. Adam knows nothing of her past and yet he finds himself attracted to Edith. Without even trying, Edith insinuates herself into Adam's life and yet, the closer they become, the more her past threatens to catch up with her. And what about Adam's past? At first, his divorce seems a distant reality but the status stated in the job interview changes. Will the stories Edith makes up about her identity catch up with her? Will Adam find out the truth about her? What about the husband Frank whom she claims died? With so many lies behind her, what are Edith's intentions? When the world outside Edith and Adam's isolated domestic bliss comes crashing into their lives, Edith's past comes back in a way she never could have imagined.
Marion McGilvary's debut novel A LOST WIFE'S TALE is page-turning suspense with an emotional, psychological richness that builds alongside the action. Gradually revealing the psychology hiding behind Edith's cover identity, Marion McGilvray uses the literary form of the narrative to give additional insights into Edith. From the beginning, the reader knows Edith's identity is false. Her motives are suspect, her actions odd and her character untrustworthy and even unlikable. Narratives of her past break into the present first person narrative, creating even more mystery. As Edith's romance with Adam grows, however, the reader's perspective changes. One hopes with her that somehow against all odds the happy domestic scene will become permanent yet in the back of one's mind, a reader waits for past to catch up with Edith and the odd, almost fairy tale romance to come to an end. Even knowing a twist awaits, several surprises await the reader as the past comes into focus with shocking truth upon dark truth. Layer by layer, the narrative moves from the surface of Edith's cover identity to an inner vision of the character. As Edith tells her story, the reader moves from outsider to insider. The story itself changes Edith.
A LOST WIFE'S TALE works on multiple levels. As pure story, the suspense mesmerizes. The more I read, the more I wanted to read. The more I thought I knew, the less I knew. Yet by the end, the reader's vision becomes fuller than plot alone. How exciting for a fiction and suspense lover! I expected a kind of dark twist on FATAL ATTRACTION and/or REBECCA, but what I got was different and much richer for that, not only in terms of the story but how the author uses the form of the narrative to move the reader, changing one's expectations alongside the narrator's. A LOST WIFE'S TALE is an exceptional mixture of women's fiction, suspense, and literary fiction all in one. Brilliant!
Courtesy of Book Illuminations
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