“A man who overestimates his intelligence is a man who can be easily manipulated.”

My Review

To be honest I went in blind with this book. No blurbs read, no reviews read. And now I am glad to have picked this book. A very twisted plot with twisted characters that kept me turning the pages.

Karthigha my buddy for the read-along of this book enlightened me to the fact that this is a retelling of the Gothic classic Jane Eyre. Quite a witty and refreshing domestic thriller.

The story is narrated through the perspective of the three central characters. And we are taken back and forth in the timeline between the present-day and the weeks after the accident. This style of storytelling is perfect for thrillers, IMHO. We understand each character's thinking very clearly and are also aware of related events that happened earlier that are relevant to what is happening now.

I loved Jane for the fact that she was kept very raw, very real. The desperation of an orphan looking to deserve the luxuries of life and because of that her dual behavior of faking charm, but thinking bitchy felt appropriate.

Another bit I liked about the book is the twists in the story. We are given one shock in the beginning and made to believe a story and then there’s a 360-degree twist later that had me shook.

Final Verdict

Overall it was a quick and easy read and it deserves all the attention it received. Thank you Karthigha for bearing with my slow pace and silly rant.

I read this book for Book List Queens 2021 reading challenge. Prompt: A summer read.

- Top Quotes from The Wife Upstairs - 

“I’ve been dodging men’s hands since I was twelve, so wishing a man would touch me is a novel experience.”

“There's a trick to spinning lies. You have to embed the truth in there, just a glimmer of it. That's the part that will catch people, and it's what makes the rest of your lies should like truth, too.”

“Gossip is tricky, slippery. Pretend to be too interested, and suddenly you look suspicious”

“That's what you do when people threaten you, Jane. When they try to fuck you over. You don't give in to them, you don't give them what they want, you remind them that you're the one in charge, you're making the rules.”