What Am I Reading...Weekend! (6/12/2016)
Behold, the promised What Am I Reading "Weekend" post!
Title: The Silent Wife
Author: A.S.A. Harrison
First Reading: Yes.
Initial Impression: Hell hath no fury like a...well, you know.
Today's book is "The Silent Wife", by A.S.A. Harrison. Told from both POV's of Jodi Brett and Todd Gilbert, a couple with a twenty-year common law marriage and a dream lifestyle. There's just one problem, Todd has broken the unspoken "rules" of their relationship, and Jodi is not happy about it.
As I always say, this is a SPOILER FREE zone. With that in mind, there are two particular topics I wanted to cover for this novel.
Topic #1: The "Gone Girl" Comparison
It's a well-known sales tactic of publishers to compare an up-and-coming book to a "similar" predecessor. The problem with this though, is that you can end up with dozens of books being touted as the next "X-example bestseller", when they actually have very little in common.
"The Silent Wife" is one of the many novels published post-"Gone Girl" that got lumped into that category of thriller. I shall now list for you all of the similarities, in all their gory detail, between these two novels:
1) Told from both the husband and wife's POV.
2) Categorized in the Suspense/Thriller genre.
3) ...um, that's pretty much it.
There are no character similarities between Jodi and Todd and the characters of "Gone Girl". Their personalities are completely different, their motives are completely different, Jodi and Todd aren't even "technically" married like Nick and Amy.
Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed "Gone Girl" when I read it. I'm just not a fan of the obscure "next best thing, but actually the same thing" comparison that publishers like to throw out.
Plot Point: I will say one plot similarity between "The Silent Wife" and "Gone Girl" is the ever-present vein of open interpretation. While I find that allowing readers to draw their own conclusions with certain outcome points in a book can be a useful tool, and have most definitely used it myself, there's a happy medium with this technique that can be hard to achieve. For me, "The Silent Wife" tips slightly over that happy place, and I encourage anyone else who's read it to share their take on this!
Topic #2: The Upcoming Movie
I'm interested to see how the movie gets interpreted, if they're going to keep to the tone of the novel itself or try to model it, again, after the "Gone Girl" film, considering how well that movie did when it came out.
While there isn't a release date scheduled yet for the film, word around town is Nicole Kidman is slated to play Jodi Brett. I could see Kidman in this role, her features match the mental image I had of the character pretty closely.
About the Author:
I'd like to talk a little bit now about A.S.A. Harrison. "The Silent Wife" was her debut fiction novel and, unfortunately, her only novel before she passed away in 2013. She did have another psychological thriller in progress, but it remains unfinished as of now.
I'm sad to say I wasn't aware of Harrison's death until this past week, after I'd finished the book and began looking up her biographical information. This was one of those novels I stumbled upon after following a random Amazon rabbit hole, and I'm very glad I did.
You can find more information about Harrison, as well as the memorial tributes left for her by her friends and family, on her website HERE.
**Disclaimer: The "What Am I Reading Wednesday" posts are my personal opinion and not to be taken as "professional" literary reviews. I just love to share books I've enjoyed!**
Title: The Silent Wife
Author: A.S.A. Harrison
First Reading: Yes.
Initial Impression: Hell hath no fury like a...well, you know.
 |
| Kindle Edition Cover |
Today's book is "The Silent Wife", by A.S.A. Harrison. Told from both POV's of Jodi Brett and Todd Gilbert, a couple with a twenty-year common law marriage and a dream lifestyle. There's just one problem, Todd has broken the unspoken "rules" of their relationship, and Jodi is not happy about it.
As I always say, this is a SPOILER FREE zone. With that in mind, there are two particular topics I wanted to cover for this novel.
Topic #1: The "Gone Girl" Comparison
It's a well-known sales tactic of publishers to compare an up-and-coming book to a "similar" predecessor. The problem with this though, is that you can end up with dozens of books being touted as the next "X-example bestseller", when they actually have very little in common.
"The Silent Wife" is one of the many novels published post-"Gone Girl" that got lumped into that category of thriller. I shall now list for you all of the similarities, in all their gory detail, between these two novels:
1) Told from both the husband and wife's POV.
2) Categorized in the Suspense/Thriller genre.
3) ...um, that's pretty much it.
There are no character similarities between Jodi and Todd and the characters of "Gone Girl". Their personalities are completely different, their motives are completely different, Jodi and Todd aren't even "technically" married like Nick and Amy.
Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed "Gone Girl" when I read it. I'm just not a fan of the obscure "next best thing, but actually the same thing" comparison that publishers like to throw out.
Plot Point: I will say one plot similarity between "The Silent Wife" and "Gone Girl" is the ever-present vein of open interpretation. While I find that allowing readers to draw their own conclusions with certain outcome points in a book can be a useful tool, and have most definitely used it myself, there's a happy medium with this technique that can be hard to achieve. For me, "The Silent Wife" tips slightly over that happy place, and I encourage anyone else who's read it to share their take on this!
Topic #2: The Upcoming Movie
I'm interested to see how the movie gets interpreted, if they're going to keep to the tone of the novel itself or try to model it, again, after the "Gone Girl" film, considering how well that movie did when it came out.
While there isn't a release date scheduled yet for the film, word around town is Nicole Kidman is slated to play Jodi Brett. I could see Kidman in this role, her features match the mental image I had of the character pretty closely.
About the Author:
 |
| A.S.A. Harrison Photo Credit: http://asaharrison.com/bio/ |
I'd like to talk a little bit now about A.S.A. Harrison. "The Silent Wife" was her debut fiction novel and, unfortunately, her only novel before she passed away in 2013. She did have another psychological thriller in progress, but it remains unfinished as of now.
I'm sad to say I wasn't aware of Harrison's death until this past week, after I'd finished the book and began looking up her biographical information. This was one of those novels I stumbled upon after following a random Amazon rabbit hole, and I'm very glad I did.
You can find more information about Harrison, as well as the memorial tributes left for her by her friends and family, on her website HERE.
**Disclaimer: The "What Am I Reading Wednesday" posts are my personal opinion and not to be taken as "professional" literary reviews. I just love to share books I've enjoyed!**
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