The Wife Upstairs

Thank you to Booksparks and St. Martin’s Press for gifting me The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins.

“Meet Jane. Newly arrived to Birmingham, Alabama, Jane is a broke dog-walker in Thornfield Estates––a gated community full of McMansions, shiny SUVs, and bored housewives. The kind of place where no one will notice if Jane lifts the discarded tchotchkes and jewelry off the side tables of her well-heeled clients. Where no one will think to ask if Jane is her real name.

But her luck changes when she meets Eddie Rochester. Recently widowed, Eddie is Thornfield Estates’ most mysterious resident. His wife, Bea, drowned in a boating accident with her best friend, their bodies lost to the deep. Jane can’t help but see an opportunity in Eddie––not only is he rich, brooding, and handsome, he could also offer her the kind of protection she’s always yearned for.

Yet as Jane and Eddie fall for each other, Jane is increasingly haunted by the legend of Bea, an ambitious beauty with a rags-to-riches origin story, who launched a wildly successful southern lifestyle brand. How can she, plain Jane, ever measure up? And can she win Eddie’s heart before her past––or his––catches up to her?”

Y’all, this book had me HOOKED from chapter one. I think I devoured the entire novel in a little under 24 hours while feeling like my heart was going to jump out of my chest. I loved the ties to the South and could picture the entire book playing out in my mind like a movie (hint hint nudge nudge).

I have to admit that I haven’t read Jane Eyre, and while I probably won’t be sitting on the edge of my seat, I am certainly adding it to my list of books to read in 2021. I look forward to seeing the way that Hawkins incorporated the classic novel into The Wife Upstairs.

I sat down to read this book and when I (finally) felt that I needed to get up off the couch to make something of my day, I put in my earbuds and started listening to the audiobook. I highly recommend both versions.

This twisty, gripping, suspense-infused thriller is going to be one I recommend again and again. The Wife Upstairs was published on January 5, 2021, and can be purchased today! Rachel Hawkins is a master story-teller, and I am anxiously awaiting the release of her next book.