Such a Good Wife

Such a Good Wife by Seraphina Nova Glass
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thank you to the publisher, Graydon House, for providing me with an ARC of Such a Good Wife in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Gist

If I could, I probably would have swallowed Glass’ previous novel Someone’s Listening whole. I loved every page of it. So, when I found out Glass had written another book, I could not have gotten my fingers on a copy fast enough.

As some may have already gathered, I am a female of a certain age who decided not to partake in the rather “typical” lifestyle of a female of a certain age. Meaning, I’m in my late thirties and never want to have kids.

I just started a new job that could be promising and having children is the furthest thing from my mind. This makes understanding what stay-at-home mothers go through on a daily basis very difficult. I can’t imagine what their lives are like and the challenges they face. Perhaps sometimes I am even a little judgmental of them as well. Sorry, I’m only human.

Such a Good Wife painted the picture of a stay-at-home mother in a light I never could have imagined. It made me realize that maybe things aren’t always as perfect as I thought they must be for those living this family-bliss type of dream.

The Details

I want to say that the protagonist is naïve and out of touch with reality, but she really isn’t. Thanks to Glass’ impressive creation of Mel, I found myself sympathising with a woman who gave up her career aspirations in order to care for her children.

I see her as someone who made a great sacrifice, who is tired, overwhelmed, feels lost and alone, and feels like she missed part of her life. It explains her actions and I’m hard pressed to blame her for them.

The story itself is well written. The focus is purely on Mel as she navigates through this twisted mystery and messy psychological thriller.

The writing is clear and with enough detail to paint a full picture of a woman who is about to lose everything without getting tangled up in too much extra fluff.

Actually, I wish there had been a little more narration around the affair. I don’t mean any more sex scenes or other explicit content, but more scenes of both of them together to establish the affair as more solid. The affair itself is more told about than shown which kind of works but makes it less concrete.

The Verdict

Such a Good Wife was such a good read. It kept me spellbound until the last page and even beyond.

Overall, I truly appreciated this insight into a woman’s psyche as she navigates the challenges of being a stay-at-home mother and her rising desire to feel once again like a woman.

I would recommend it.

About the Author

Seraphina Nova Glass is a professor and playwright-in-residence at the University of Texas, Arlington, where she teaches film studies and playwriting. She holds an MFA in playwriting from Smith College, and she’s also a screenwriter and award-winning playwright. Seraphina has traveled the world using theatre and film as a teaching tool, living in South Africa, Guam and Kenya as a volunteer teacher, AIDS relief worker, and documentary filmmaker.