A gripping historical thriller by the author of Time’s Echo, Pamela Hartshorne.

The Cursed Wife is a page-turning, psychological thriller set in Elizabethan London, by the author of Time’s Echo, Pamela Hartshorne.

Mary is content with her life as wife to Gabriel Thorne, a wealthy merchant in Elizabethan London. She loves her husband and her family, is a kind mistress to the household and is well-respected in the neighbourhood. She does her best to forget that as a small girl she was cursed for causing the death of a vagrant child, a curse that predicts that she will hang. She tells herself that she is safe.

But Mary’s whole life is based on a lie. She is not the woman her husband believes her to be, and when one rainy day she ventures to Cheapside, the past catches up with her and sets her on a path that leads her to the gibbet and the fulfilment of the curse.

Out March, 2018

MY THOUGHTS:

I received this book in exchange for my review.

Nothing is better than when a book exceeds expectations. This book was such a treat to read. As most know, I love and write supernatural thrillers and reading another author’s exceptional work in the same genre is fantastic. Of course, on the flip side, I’m highly critical of books written in my fav genre. This book is about two characters, both women, who live during the Victorian age.

There’s a curse that follows one into adulthood, its existence greatly affecting the MC as she grows from childhood to adulthood.

The curse is the causative agent that propels the characters toward their goals and determines many factors that lead to the ending. I love this concept. The author, with her fantastic writing style, does an amazing job pushing this story forward by building tension, and in turn, providing surprising results formulated from the darker side of human nature.

I found myself holding my breath as a disturbing unease crept its way up my back. The era of the time added to the cryptic feel of life’s cruelty, edged with the feeling of an approaching inevitable darkness that determinedly settles on the mood of the story and you know something terrible is going to happen, but no idea as to what or when… When it does happen, the unease you felt earlier grows to outright disbelief.

This story is not only brilliantly written but done with such a precision that there is no doubt about the author’s talent. I can see this story as a movie. I’d watch it, with all the lights on and in a crowded room lol.

The only thing that bugged me, just a wee bit, was the repetition when the POV changed from one woman to the other. This really wasn’t necessary and affected the pace and transition from one plot moment to the next giving it a jumpy feel at times.

However, I’m willing to overlook this because the book was that good. ( )