Book Review: The Wives by Tarryn Fisher

 

Photo by Juseph Elas

Genre: Mystery Thriller/Fiction

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Trigger warning: mental health / domestic abuse / violence

This is my second Tarryn Fisher read -- Bad Mommy being the first. This book has made me question whether I read things right; whether my moral judgment would incline me to favor the protagonist or completely reject her line of reasoning. While many in the book community reject the premise of the book including the use of mental health as a plot twist in this story, I find the book giving me whiplash, the right amount of suspense that made me hold my breath until, and solidified my negative stance against polygamous/polyamorous relationships.

The Wives begin with our main protagonist, Thursday, preparing for the arrival of her husband, Seth. Thursday has limited time with Seth and has to make a show -- to make Seth's time with her memorable and worthwhile before the others get their time with him. She has to be better than the others, she thinks so that Seth would favor her and only her in the end.

She knows the existence of Seth's other wives. Two of them. But she does not know their names. Until she found a doctor's appointment receipt in Seth's pocket which ultimately led her to track down Hannah (a.k.a. Monday). She found Hannah pregnant with Seth's child and pretended to be someone else to win her trust. This she must do as more details about Seth--details Thursday didn't know -- are revealed by the circumstances surrounding their unpopular and twisted lifestyle.

As Thursday unravels one information about Seth after the other, she also started to question her sanity, her memory, her recollection of the string of events that led to that twisted ending.

I know many find the use of mental health as the plot in this book problematic. In a way, it is problematic considering it is a sensitive issue. But it is also imperative to look into Thursday and the circumstantial events that led to her declining mental state. She had a miscarriage and wasn't able to properly grieve and process the loss. It didn't help that after her miscarriage she spiraled down into a psychotic episode exacerbated by Seth's decision to leave.

In the book, we get the impression Thursday created an alternative reality to cope with the mental stress. However, the alternative only led to more and more devastation on Thursday's part. I mean, she was right when she said, and I quote: A lot happens in a relationship, probably a lot that you really need to pay attention to, but you're too busy fucking to notice.

I also love how Fisher was able to encapsulate the struggle of women -- and maybe not just women -- in relationships. Love can make someone turn a blind eye and ignore the red flags.

You could give your all to a man, every last thing, and you'd still end up with a bruised ear.

Women are stuck in a cycle of insecurity perpetuated by the way men treat them, and we are constantly fighting to prove to ourselves and everyone else that we are okay.

 

These lines speak much of how much we can ignore the bad things we see from someone we think we love and make excuses for them. We ignore how we are gaslighted, abused, and ignored in the hopes that we can change them. But, as evident in the book, we can't change the person we love to fit our exacting standards or expectations. It could only result in bruised ears. However, I can't really blame Thursday because if we factor in her trauma following the miscarriage and the lack of proper grieving and acknowledgment for what happened, can we really blame her? At least she was aware of the hurt she was feeling.

My hurt is a living thing--sick and swollen, still festering under the surface of my calm. It's personal.

I did like the storytelling in this book despite the pace at which Tarryn Fisher chose to position the plot. If you aren't paying attention, you might just get whiplash from how one point got to the other.

Moreover, I am a reader who does not see the problem in the use of mental health and miscarriages and domestic violence in literature. I view them from the lens with the intent to educate; to raise awareness. Nothing wrong with that. These subjects will forever be taboo because people who want to appear politically correct and quasi-sensitive for the sake of performative say-so exist. I acknowledge there could be other ways Tarryn could have written the book but hey! She wrote it in the best way she knows how and delivered.

In the end, I loved this book so much! It brought me out of my reading slump and it did remind me of Bad Mommy because of how fucked up the presentation of the plot was and the storytelling overall.