Review: How to be a Good Wife, Emma Chapman

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book on Netgalley from the publisher in return for an honest review*

Marta and Hector have been married for a long time. Through the good and bad; through raising a son and sending him off to life after university. So long, in fact, that Marta finds it difficult to remember her life before Hector. He has always taken care of her, and she has always done everything she can to be a good wife—as advised by a dog-eared manual given to her by Hector’s aloof mother on their wedding day.
But now, something is changing. Small things seem off. A flash of movement in the corner of her eye, elapsed moments that she can’t recall. Visions of a blonde girl in the darkness that only Marta can see. Perhaps she is starting to remember—or perhaps her mind is playing tricks on her. As Marta’s visions persist and her reality grows more disjointed, it’s unclear if the danger lies in the world around her, or in Marta herself. The girl is growing more real every day, and she wants something.

Emma Chapman was born in 1985 and grew up in Manchester. She studied English Literature at Edinburgh University, followed by a Masters in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London. After university, she travelled in Scandinavia, and she currently lives in Perth, Western Australia.

It was a bit difficult to get into the story. It is told from Marta's point of view and it is clear that there are some things going on in her head that do not make sense. I was really wondering where the whole thing was going to take me though so I kept on reading and I am glad I did. Slowly you start to understand why Marta is thinking certain things and what is going on and as the story unravels you drop from he one NO WAY situation into another. It is not a very explosive story though it slowly crawls under your skin making you feel very uneasy. At the end there were a lot of questions unanswered which I did not like so much.
Character wise it is hard to connect to one. Marta is a bit mixed up and not comfortable with herself and her surrounding. This made me nervous. Though Hector seems to want good things for her I got an itchy feeling with him immediately too. Kylan is obviously trying his best to stay away from all of it though I did feel he betrayed his mum.

How to be a Good Wife
Author: Emma Chapman
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 288
Format: eGalley
ISBN-10: 1250018196
ISBN-13: 9781250018199
St. Martin's Press: various

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