Author: Ann Cleeves

The gang are all back in this Vera novel – Vera, Joe, Charlie and Holly.

If you’ve read any of the Vera novels you will be surprised that, while exercising at the pool, Vera finds a dead woman in the steam room. Clues are hard to find, but there are a list of characters that might be suspects. I had my suspicions, but I never would have guessed who the murderer was.

Goodreads Rating * * * * (I recommend it)

Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

This book came from my Goodreads list but I have no idea who recommended it. I picked this book as well as another book by the author on a recent trip to the library.

The premise is the story of nine people trapped in a government office after an earthquake. To keep their minds off their life-and-death situation they each tell a story of “one amazing thing” from their lives.

It took me a long time to get through this short book, but that was only because I was busy doing other things. Otherwise I could probably have finished it in a couple of days; when I did get a chance to read I didn’t want to put it down.

Author: Meg Wolitzer

I have to say I liked The Wife (#1) much better than this version. The story, although a novel, is told as a memoir of the wife of a well-know writer. We see all the things she gave up in order to support her husband’s career. There was one surprise but I had figured it out before we got there. I can certainly see Glenn Close in the central role of this one.

Goodreads Rating * * * (I liked it)

Author: Alafair Burke

Kathryn first told me about this book and I told her about the movie. I was away when the movie came to Powell River; I wanted to borrow the book from the library but they didn’t have it and it was too new a book to get on an inter-library loan. They asked if I wanted them to buy the book so I filled out a form never expecting to hear back from them (I’d followed the same procedure before and nothing happened). I was surprised when I got an e-mail that the book was on hold for me. When I picked it up the women at the counter commented that they were glad they didn’t get the book with the “movie” cover.

I quickly finished the book I was reading and delved right in. It is such a good book; I knew I would have to pace myself if I wanted it to last for the weekend on Texada. As I was reading there were a few things that didn’t seem to add up. I understood the plot to involve a husband and wife and a literary award; nothing like that happening in this book. I kept thinking that Glenn Close was too old to play the character in the book, but perhaps that is ageist?

I finished the book last night and did another search this morning. It turns out there are two books called “The Wife” and I had the one that hasn’t (yet) been made into a movie. That being said, I wasn’t at all disappointed in the book. Angela and her husband appear to be a perfect couple, until Jason is accused of a sexual impropriety. It gets worse when another victim comes forward accusing him of rape. The twists and turns didn’t stop until the book ended.

This afternoon I downloaded the Kindle version of The (other) Wife!

Goodreads Rating * * * * (you should read it)