Between Husbands and Wives by Susannah Glenn

Between Husbands and Wives by Susannah Glenn is a difficult book to describe. Ostensibly it is about a husband and wife (well, derrr), and about a recent tragedy that’s impacting on Jen to the extent she’s not sleeping, she’s yelling at her son and becoming forgetful. They move away in the hope they can start afresh and it kinda seems like it might work, but Glenn imbues in this something unsettling that keeps readers’ spidey senses tingling. Jon is a doting father and husband, but even Jen is worried about the way he embellishes stories to the extent they’re downright lies. He’s very smooth and confident and we’re told he’s stunningly handsome. And then there’s a sense of possessiveness or control in his behaviour which is exacerbated here as Jen starts to regain some independence.

On a cold, dark night, two cars collide …

Inside the vehicle at fault, Jennifer Ashby survives with barely a scratch. In the wreckage of the second, the occupants are not so lucky. Jennifer's good character helps her escape jail, but she is traumatised by the event.

Desperate for a change, and with her marriage buckling under the stress, she convinces her husband Jon to move to the beautiful but wild Daintree region, far away from family and friends.

As Jon spends long hours at his new job and Jennifer makes plans to absolve her lingering guilt, cracks begin to form in their idyllic new life. Will the shadow of their past continue to haunt them? Will their dark secret be exposed?

I enjoyed this book but the foreshadowing felt a little obvious. Perhaps it’s just because I’ve read similar books or read so many psychological thrillers. It meant I guessed people weren’t who they seemed and was immediately suspicious of others. Similarly Jen – supposedly smitten by her husband and very much under his thumb – becomes suspicious of him very quickly. It seemed strange as she’s not really given us any indication she’s had reason to doubt him before. Of course we readers are on the outside looking in, so it feels a bit obvious. As did the secret they’re desperate to keep.

What I very much enjoyed here was the setting in which Glenn places us (Mossman, Port Douglas and the Daintree) and she does a great job of conveying Queensland’s far north. Its pace, its weather and the dichotomy of its calm serenity and its dangerous wildlife.

I’d definitely recommend this read – it’s well paced so hard to put down – and although I’d guessed much of the outcome of this book I was keen to see the fallout. I should add that Glenn also throws in an interesting twist I didn’t pick, so we also see a different side of Jen.

was published in Australia by Pantera Press and is now available.

I received an electronic copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes.