I Should Read That

Book review

It was meant to be an evening to honour and celebrate Evelyn Caldwell’s award-winning, career-making scientific research – but Evelyn has things on her mind.

Things like Nathan, her husband, who has left her for a younger, better, newer woman. A woman who is now pregnant – but shouldn’t be – and is strikingly familiar. Too familiar to be a coincidence.

A woman who shouldn’t exist.

I’ve recently mentioned reading and loving two Sarah Gailey books for the Trans Rights Readathon – The first was Just Like Home – and I think The Echo Wife is just as good, if not better. The Echo Wife is a whip-smart domestic thriller that explores women’s ambitions and autonomy in a fantastic, compelling way. It’s The Stepford Wives meets Ex Machina wrapped in a commentary on women’s choices and sacrifices.

Having your two main characters be essentially stereotypes of two different kinds of women, one who is acceptable by society’s standards and the other who is not, is a bold choice that Gailey pulls of so well. Evelyn is the cold and ambitious career woman who will sacrifice everything (including her marriage to Nathan) to get what she wants. Martine is everything Evelyn is not. She’s warm, maternal, and obedient to a fault – the perfect wife Nathan has always wanted. I love the way Gailey writes both of these women, especially when they have to work together. Seeing Martine from Evelyn’s point of view is especially interesting, as you’ll see when you read the book. Both women’s choices, autonomy, and defined place in society play a central role to this thriller and it’s a fantastic read.

I was totally drawn in to the world of The Echo Wife. It is read by the same audiobook narrator as Just Like Home, who again does a really wonderful job. I cannot recommend this book more highly to readers of female-focused thrillers.