"The English Wife"

"The English Wife" by Lauren Willig (a New York Times bestselling author) was featured at my local library and called to me so I started reading it last night.  That was a mistake because I didn't sleep much!  I've been told in the past that you take your age and subtract it from 100 and that's how many pages you read in a book before you decide if you want to finish it or not.  I won't disclose my age but let's just say that there are more books out there than I have time left in my lifetime to read -- and new ones coming out all the time.  Since I don't want to just spend my life reading - although there is nothing wrong with that!--, I sometimes skim a book to find the answer to the mystery.  Having said that, though, I have to admit I do feel guilty when I do that!

This book flashes back from present day New York (1899) to the past in London (1894) and continues to go back and forth to tell the story of Bayard (Bay) Van Duyvil and his bride, Annabelle, who met in London.  We begin with the discovery of Bay's body and the disappearance of Annabelle leaving their twin son and daughter orphaned and the son heir to his father's fortune.  The story is told from the perspective of his younger sister, Janie, who is kept cowed by her mother and a bit intimidated by her cousin, Anne, who Janie envies for the closeness Anne always had to Bay.

In the novel Janie comes into her own defying her mother and seeking the help of a newspaperman, James Burke, to discover the truth about what happened the night her brother was killed -- something her mother wants to hush up.  The papers are saying Bay murdered his wife then killed himself and this is not the memory of their parents that Janie wants their children to have.

As the story unfolds and new discoveries/truths are uncovered in the process, twists and turns lead to a surprising conclusion -- a great read!  pazt