A. S. A. Harrison (1948–2013)

The Silent Wife marks A.S.A.Harrison's fiction debut.

I love psychological thrillers and Harrison has written a doozy. (Don't you love that word!?)

Jodi and Todd are one of 'those' couples. Successful, well to do and leading a seemingly perfect life together. Oh, there are a few little bumps, but this is the life Jodi has created and she likes things just so. And yes, Todd wanted children, but over their twenty year relationship, it's been accepted that there won't be any. Well, yes he show more might cheat once in a while, and Jodi is somewhat aware of it. Todd knows she knows, but it's not spoken of and life goes on.

"At forty-five, Jodi still sees herself as a young woman. She does not have her eye on the future but lives very much in the moment, keeping her focus on the everyday. She assumes, without having thought about it, that things will go on indefinitely in their imperfect yet entirely acceptable way. In other words, she is deeply unaware that her life is now peaking, that her youthful resilience - which her twenty-year marriage to Todd Gilbert has been slowly eroding - is approaching a final stage of disintegration, that her notions about who she is and how she ought to conduct herself are far less stable that she supposes, give that a few short months are all it will take to make a killer out of her."

That's the second paragraph in the book - and I was hooked. Harrison explores this marriage in alternating chapters - Her and Him.

Harrison is a talented wordsmith who skilfully depicts the disintegration of not just a union, but of the individuals as well. Jodi's chapters are eerie and disturbing as she maintains a perfect, cool, calm exterior, keeping to her routines in her spotless home. Just as disturbing is the self centred, pleasure seeking Todd, who can explain away and justify any of his behaviors and actions.

It is one of those actions that starts the beginning of the end......

There is no overt gore or violence in The Silent Wife. Rather there is the slow, building journey to a conclusion I couldn't predict. Along the way, we learn more about Jodi and Todd's childhoods.The Silent Wife is a fascinating exploration of both a damaged relationship and its affected inhabitants. I really enjoyed the building tension as the chapters alternate and the layers and the civility are peeled away. Its impossible not to read just one more chapter...

Sadly, A.S.A. Harrison passed away earlier this year in Toronto, Canada and did not live to see her book release last month. show less

The Silent Wife A.S.A. Harrison

Please don’t read this book if you like happy endings. And don’t read this book if you’re a fan of chick lit and romance. Don’t read this book if you want an injection of feel good factor. But DO read this book if you enjoy a novel superbly written, well constructed, splendidly crafted with attention to necessary detail, a subtly executed plot with some equally subtle twists and turns and a final twist that you kick yourself for not seeing (or maybe you show more DID see) it coming. A novel with every character laid bare, warts and all. A story of controlled and uncontrolled emotion. A story of human frailty and weaknesses, the disintegration of a relationship, the examination of gender priorities and their intrinsic differences. A tale of morality and immorality. It’s told almost clinically but never quite without engagement. Please DO read this book. show less

I really enjoyed this book mainly because it took me to the edges of my feelings. Any book that takes me to the edge, good or bad, is a good book to me. The author did their job of sucking me in and then forced me to react emotionally.
The story is divided between HER story and HIS story. I didn’t really like the characters, who are all flawed, though I understood Jodi the best. Jodi is the HER, Todd is the HIS and Natasha is the younger woman between them. Jodi, though she is a show more psychotherapist, lives in a bad cocktail of denial and reliance on her man. Everything is in Todd’s name and he pays all the expenses. She knows he sometimes cheats on her but she looks the other way believing that what they have is flawed but stable. She knows that he won’t leave her. He never has. Todd has a lot of issues from his childhood. He cheats on Jodi believing she doesn’t know, (though I believe deep down he knows she, at the very least, suspects). He is depressed and these affairs help him feel young and wanted. He doesn’t mind paying the bills and finds some measure of comfort in the boredom and routine of his home life. He has a best friend, Dean, who was aware of everything and also cheated on his wife before her death. Dean raised a daughter, Natasha, on his own. When Todd is waiting for Dean at the bar he is surprised to see Natasha is no longer a little girl. Despite his friendship and with full knowledge of the disapproval his friend will express, Todd begins an affair with Natasha. I think he believed she would be like the others. However, Natasha isn’t like his other women. She wants him to be hers. So much so she is willing to call both her father and Jodi to tell them of the affair. She is a spoiled and controlling person in my opinion. All of this just kept me turning pages. As much as I didn’t like the characters, I could see how they were realistically created. I know many young girls today who behave in Natasha’s fashion. The same holds true for older people who, I know, are much like both Jodi and Todd. When things start unwinding, bad decisions turn into worse ones. I know a lot of people are going to say no way are they realistic. “Jodi is like a 1950 housewife. That doesn’t happen today!” Oh really? What about the women from the reality shows so many watch? The stay at home wives of the rich who look the other way is still happening and not only among the rich. I know plenty of woman from middle class, and even among the poor, who live this way. The man who is content to have the wife at home taking care of things while he pays for everything...and has a side chick. Nothing has changed there. I think what has changed is the younger woman. Many of today’s younger women expect more and are less likely to stay quietly in the shadows. What I can’t fathom is why they would marry a man who cheated on his wife. A man who cheated to be with you is a man who will cheat on you. I don’t care what you think you are going to have, the truth is a man who cheated will have no problem cheating again. No matter how much you say you trust him, the truth is, in your heart you know you will always be worried and suspicious. There is rarely a happy ending. I haven’t seen one yet.
I have some more thoughts but to go into them will be getting too much into the story and I’ll end up spoiling it for you. So get the book and read it. If you have doubts about your enjoyment, use the library or the sample. I’m eager for the next book. show less

“In asserting that people don't change, what she means is that they don't change for the better. Whereas changing for the worse, that goes without saying.”
― A.S.A. Harrison, The Silent Wife

Of all the "compared to Gone Girl" books out there, I think this is the closest one to that although they really are two different books.

The Silent Wife is yet another book I reread recently. I am as impressed now as I was years ago when I read it. It's a great character study.

There is Jodie. And show more there is Todd. They have, perhaps one of the most dysfunctional relationships I've ever read about. But it works for them.

But it will not work for long. Jody, a soft spoken and reserved Therapist, lives with Todd. As the book opens we are given a glimpse of Jody. We are also told that this calm and placid woman has no idea that within a short time, she will be reduced to a woman capable of murder.

This is not a spoiler. It is at the beginning of the book. And wow..is that a powerful hook.

Silent Wife is such a great book. This is so much more then a mystery. Actually I am not sure I would even label it a mystery. It does become one but it is really a profile of a loveless couple's relationship.

Who should read this book?

Anyone who likes a slow burn or are fans of a short but deeply intense book that shows how a relationship can develop into a human tragedy. And yes mystery fans as well!

These two flawed people make so many mistakes and wrong decisions but that is not the power of the book. The power is, first off, in the pacing. As the book sweeps along, we as readers feel an all encompassing feeling of dread. The book does eventually become a mystery of sorts but also a tragic cautionary tale. It would not be good if I said anymore.

The other aspect of the book that is so powerful are the depth of characterizations. This book is bold. I loved that Jodie is a psychologist. She and Todd are two of the most self destructive s people I have ever read about. But more than that, they both have such so little self awareness. And THAT is what the writer does best. She puts us in the heads of these two people and though it is not a pleasant place to be, man is it interesting.

The story takes place in Chicago.. I loved the description of the Luxury Chicago High Rise the two live in. I do not even like High Rises but I liked this one.

And I found this book impossible to put down.

OK..Spoilers:

My thoughts on the ending? Well I figure it was most likely Jody's people who killed Todd. I often wonder what became of Jody. She was such an empty character yet she did not have to be.

Todd..well what to say about him? Clueless. And defines the meaning of the word self absorbed. I could not stand Natasha either. Wouldn't it be something if SHE had him killed?

I like the abstract way it ends although that is not usually my thing. It just seems to fit here. and I found this to be an intelligent, very smartly written book about two very damaged people. Highly recommended. show less