The English Wife: A Novel

The English Wife is a new novel by Lauren Willig that takes us back in time to 1899. Annabelle Van Duyuil and her husband, Bayard (Bay) are holding a Twelfth Night Ball at their newly finished home Illyria. Later that evening, Bay is found stabbed to death in the folly and his sister, Janie catches a glimpse of Annabelle in the river. It is believed that Bay pushed Annabelle into the river and then killed himself. Annabelle’s body, though, is not found. There had been rumors swirling around society that Annabelle had been having an affair with the architect of Illyria. Janie does not believe the rumors and wants to discover what really happened that night at the ball. She knows that her mother would never hire a detective, so Janie seeks out assistance from reporter, James Burke. The pair delve into Annabelle and Bay’s lives seeking answers. The more Janie learns, the more she realizes how little she knew about her brother and his wife. Did one of their secrets get them killed? And why did Bay die with saying the name George? The English Wife sounded like such a great book. A Gilded Age story with scandals, secrets and murder. The final product, though, was like being stuck in rush hour traffic. You move forward very, very slowly. The pace was slow, and the dialogue was awkward. There were a couple of good sections, but they were few (and did not make up for the rest of the book). There are numerous characters (with very similar names) and background stories on each of them. The book is written with one chapter in present time and the next chapter takes you back when Bay met Georgie. There are detailed descriptions of homes (inside and out), clothing, art, and plays (many discussions on Shakespeare plays). The author did capture the lifestyle of the rich living in 1899. The only likeable character is the reporter, James Burke. I quickly tired of Janie (whiny) and her overbearing, dominating mother. The author should have given Janie a strong backbone and a curious nature. Instead, she retreats into the wallpaper (very much the wallflower). There is a lot of repetition in the book. The mystery plays out slowly over the course of the novel and the reveal is anticlimactic. The identity of the killer was no surprise. The ending was disappointing with many threads left dangling. The author was attempting to capture the era with the writing style, but it comes across as contrived. The connections to the play Twelfth Night are apparent (for those who have read or seen Shakespeare’s play). The English Wife had potential, but it was not achieved. I found it a tedious book to read and I want the hours I spent reading it back.

The English Wife is a perfect blend of love, betrayal, and murder. Mr. and Mrs. Bayard Van Duyvil lived a quiet life in New York. Bayard was a wealthy businessman, and Annabelle was a refined woman from England. The mystery began when Bayard was found stabbed at his mother’s home. Law enforcement was leaning towards a double murder crime investigation. The rumor was that Annabelle was having an affair, with the architect. The same architect whom Bayard had hired, to build Annabelle her dream house. All the facts were not in, but most people were of the opinion that Bayard had murdered his wife in a jealous rage, and then turned the knife on himself. Although Annabelle’s body had not yet been found, evidence suggests, that she might have been drowned. Bayard’s sister, Janie, however, could not fathom the thought of her brother killing anyone, including himself. Either Janie truly didn’t know her brother at all, or something was seriously amiss. Janie was determined to uncover the truth about her brother’s death. And, if she had to make a deal with the devil to untangle the lies and discover the true facts of what happened, then so be it. The English Wife is a complex mystery with numerous surprises. There are many twisted players in this book, with their true natures, and intentions, well-hidden. Although this book is compelling and intriguing, I did find it confusing at times. All in all, though, it’s a great read. Thank you, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley, for my advanced review copy.

A story set in the luxe time of the Gilded age: the story is set in a mansion on the banks of the Hudson River, Illyria. Bayard is the son of an old, established Knickerbocker family, his wife Annabelle is English, having grown up in an old Tudor home. Together they are a couple deeply in love with young twins and a place guaranteed in society. A Twelfth Night ball ends with Bayard dead with a knife in his chest, his wife missing. Murder? Suicide? Both? Told in two perspectives: Annabelle in flashbacks and Bayard’s sister Jane in the present time of 1899, clues, twists, motives and more are unearthed as Jane pairs up with a reporter to uncover the murderer and bring some closure. Back and forth the story moves, twists and turns galore. Every character in this story has secrets: some are uncovered quickly, others come with more surprise: twists are surprising with the occasional reveal being predictable if well-placed. Much like my introduction to Willig’s writing, the story had moments of brightness and beauty, but there was something missing for me. Not utterly captivating due to the slow pacing and a tendency to have multiple elements introduced that don’t ever really connect to the story or help it move forward, the story is compelling in that ‘travel to a different time and see how many secrets you can guess before the reveal” sort of way. I will say, however, that the read was an easy one if I ignored the overuse of ‘belied’ and didn’t overthink the dialogue when it moved to trite and heavy-handed: this is a story that almost feels like an escapist’s dream of the time and the mysteries that surround it. Escapism is the word for this title – easy to follow along and engaging well enough to overcome some planning and dialogue difficulties. I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.