The Silent Wife PDF
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Praise for The Silent Wife “A. S. A. Harrison knocks it out of the park with her first novel, The Silent Wife. With a spare, elegant, and deft hand, she paints two dueling psychological portraits of longtime live-in lovers who become putative killer and hapless victim in a tale that no one is likely to forget anytime soon. I couldn’t put this book down.” —Elizabeth George, New York Times bestselling author of Believing the Lie “What a deliciously wicked pleasure The Silent Wife was to read. I love books where I can’t guess the outcome, although I was rooting for Jodi all the way. A very clever, very funny comedy of manners spliced with a domestic thriller.” —Kate Atkinson, New York Times bestselling author of Life After Life and Case Histories “Beautifully written and deeply unsettling, this darkly funny examination of what happens when you’ve got nothing left to lose is also brilliantly addictive. It left me almost breathless as I raced toward the devastating finale.” —S. J. Watson, New York Times bestselling author of Before I Go to Sleep “SUPERB . . . As a novel about the dark side of marriage and relationships, it’s better than Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl. A must read for anyone who is occasionally ruthless, reckless, or psychologically weird—and anyone who loves clever books with depth and heart.” —Sophie Hannah, author of The Other Woman’s House “Like a tiny crack in the windshield of destiny, The Silent Wife examines the ultimate shattering of a perfectly civilized marriage. Intense, hypnotic, and thoroughly absorbing, Harrison challenges her characters to venture beyond their comfort zones, into a world where anything is possible, even murder.” —Elizabeth Brundage, author of A Stranger Like You and The Doctor’s Wife “This is an utterly compelling story, gorgeously written and with so many shocks and surprises that I raced through it to find out what happens next. My highest recommendation.” —Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of Gravity “A chilling portrait of a relationship gone terribly awry. Harrison takes the reader down a wickedly twisted path that has us at once rooting for and wary of the protagonists. A breathtaking story that will keep you reading well into the night and wide awake long after the final page.” —Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author of The Weight of Silence “A gripping story of deception, denial, and double-edged revenge. The Silent Wife combines taut pacing and psychological nuance to haunting and memorable effect.” —Nancy Richler, author of The Imposter Bride PENGUIN BOOKS THE SILENT WIFE A. S. A. Harrison is the author of four nonfiction books. The Silent Wife is her debut novel and she was at work on a new psychological thriller when she died in 2013. Harrison was married to the visual artist John Massey and lived in Toronto. THE SILENT WIFE A Novel A. S. A. Harrison PENGUIN BOOKS PENGUIN BOOKS Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA USA | Canada | UK | Ireland | Australia | New Zealand | India | South Africa | China Penguin Books Ltd, USA | Canada | UK | Ireland | Australia | New Zealand | India | South Africa | China Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England For more information about the Penguin Group visit penguin.com First published in Penguin Books 2013 Copyright © A.S.A. Harrison, 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this product may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions. ISBN 978-1-10160806-7 CIP data available PUBLISHER’S NOTE This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. To Jonathan ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My gratitude goes to John Massey for traveling the road with me; to Beth Kapusta, my first and best reader; to psychotherapists Diane Scally and Elly Roselle for sharing their knowledge and insights across lifetimes; to Margaret Dragu for showing me the inside of club life; and to Bruce Bailey for generously loaning his domiciles. For dedicated location scouting I’m grateful to Lisa Harrison, Chelsea Nash-Wolfe, Barb Webb, Steve Reinke, and Philip von Zweck. No one deserves thanks more than my agents, Samantha Haywood and Kimberly Witherspoon, and William Callahan is also to be acknowledged. As well, my appreciation goes to my editors, Tara Singh, Adrienne Kerr, and Marion Donaldson, and to copy editor Sheila Moody. Last but not least, I’m indebted to Karyn Marcus for the edit that changed everything.
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