Note: Text has been lightly edited for clarity and does not match audio exactly.
Dawn Gentle: Hello and welcome, listeners. I'm Audible Editor Dawn Gentle, and I'm delighted to welcome bestselling author Alice Feeney, whose psychological thrillers have become must-listens for suspense lovers worldwide. Known as the Queen of Twists, her novels Sometimes I Lie, Rock Paper Scissors, His & Hers—which has been newly adapted and is now streaming on Netflix—and my all-time favorite, Daisy Darker, have made her a household name in mystery-suspense. Her highly anticipated new novel, My Husband's Wife, is no exception. As a huge fan of your work, Alice, I'm so happy to have you here.
Alice Feeney: Thank you. What a lovely introduction. It all sounds so exciting.
DG: I know. I have so much to unpack. The title My Husband's Wife, that instantly drew me in. The opening twist is shocking as well. A woman returns from a run to find her key doesn't fit, and a stranger claiming to be her answers the door. What inspired this premise and the title?
AF: Oh, I love this title, too. It was such a fun idea when the whole story first happened in my head. We basically live in a very old, thatched cottage in Devon, in the British countryside. It needed a lot of work, so we were renovating a few years ago. I got used to the builders coming here every day, making noise and chaos, and so I would go for a run very early in the morning just to get away from them and just to get a bit out of the way before they were here.
One morning, I came home—and we lived down a lane with no name in the middle of nowhere—and I went to put my key in the door, and the door opened by itself and a stranger was standing in my house. There was no logical reason for how this person was here. I didn't know who they were, I didn't know how they were inside, and I said some very rude words, which I won't repeat now because you seem like very nice people. In real life, it turned out to be an apprentice who had been dropped off by one of the builders at the end of the lane, who had then been let in by my husband, but I had no knowledge of this, so I was properly freaked out.
I guess it was that moment that sparked the idea in my mind. I thought, "What if? What if you come home one day and your key doesn't work, and there's somebody else in your house?” And I took it a stage further and thought, "What if that person then says they're you? And what if, even worse, your husband says they're you, too, and says that you are the stranger and slams the door in your face." So, like with a lot of my other ideas, it was some strange thing that happened in real life that my dark, twisty imagination turned into something else.
DG: Wow, what a story. And that brings me to the house, Spyglass, in the novel. That house feels like a character within itself. It creates the classic Agatha Christie-style, locked-room-thriller atmosphere. What drew you to the setting, and how does the house amplify the mystery?
AF: Oh, I wish that Spyglass was real. I've had so many people already say to me, "Where is it? We want to go and visit." And again, it's one of those things that only exists in my imagination. My brilliant publishers, we often do the illustrations for the physical books, and they said, "What does it look like?" I had to send them multiple pictures of different properties to try and explain it, because it's very much this sort of old house with this strange, tiled roof, which looks like a kind of Gaudí building from Spain or something, but it's built into the actual cliffs overlooking the sweet little fishing village of Hope Falls.
"I remember people thinking, 'You can't do that.' And for me, whenever somebody tells me I can't do something, it just makes me really want to do it more."
So, it's not a real place, but the setting itself, the fishing village, that's a strange combination of lots of real places that have got into a muddle and a mishmash inside my head. It's a few Cornish fishing villages and a few Scottish fishing villages. I guess because I visit these places so often over the last few years, I've got used to visiting in winter when they turn into ghost towns. You can walk down a sleepy lane in one of these beautiful, idyllic fishing villages and all the houses will be locked up because they're holiday homes and nobody is there. I suppose that sparked this idea in my head of this gorgeous, beautiful place that in peak time in the summer would be this busy hive of activity filled with people, but in winter turns into something a bit different. Turns into somewhere that is a bit quieter, somewhere that feels a bit abandoned. The sort of place that looks beautiful, but where strange, dark, unexpected happenings might just occur.
DG: I love that. I love it. And I love your thought process and how this just comes to you and you're just able to build such an incredible story, because Spyglass definitely is one of those houses where the mystery just oozes out of it everywhere.
AF: Oh, and the tunnels! The secret tunnels and the bookcase that slides apart. I so want one of those. I'm scared of having builders back, they were quite traumatic. But wouldn't it be fun? Wouldn't it be fantastic?
DG: Yes. Yes. I love that idea. And that's what makes me love your work so much, because you come up with these places that really bring you in as a listener. That's what makes me wonder, because you started your career in journalism at the BBC before transitioning over to writing mystery-thriller novels, what aspects of investigative reporting inspired this creative transition for you?
AF: I think I've always been obsessed with stories, always. Even as a child I was a big book worm. But I also loved television. I remember watching Cagney & Lacey at a very young age and thinking, "This is so cool. I want to make stories like this." The way life unfolds sometimes takes you in different directions, and sometimes it'll take you in a direction you didn't expect. I didn't feel as though I was the kind of person who could really be an author. When I think about where I grew up and my background, it seemed too far-fetched that somebody like me could do something like that. Even getting into journalism, I remember people thinking, "You can't do that." And for me, whenever somebody tells me I can't do something, it just makes me really want to do it more.
So, I made my way to the BBC, and I worked my way up the ladder in the newsroom, and I loved telling real stories. It was a real thrill and it was a real privilege to work in what was the world's busiest newsroom, doing that every single day, putting the bulletins together. But there was part of me that always couldn't help still dreaming of becoming an author. So, in my spare time, I would be writing on the train to work, I would be writing in my shed at weekends and fibbing to friends, telling them that I had other social plans when really I was just in the shed with my dog, writing away. It took me a very long time to make that transition. It was 10 years of collecting rejection letters. I could not get an agent, I could not get a publisher. Then I wrote a book called Sometimes I Lie, and everything changed for me.
So, although my life has always been about telling stories, it's now gone from telling true stories to made-up stories. Thankfully, the ones I write now are made up. It'd be quite scary if they were true. I think I've been incredibly lucky. I've enjoyed both aspects of both careers, but this is what I really love doing. This is the thing that I get up to do every morning and I get really excited about, and the thing I hope I'll always be doing. I hope I'll always be writing books.
DG: Awesome. We are grateful that you did decide to keep going and keep pushing on being a writer. And I have to mention, His & Hers has been recently adapted into a Netflix series. What's it been like to see your work being adapted to the screen?
AF: It's really hard to actually explain the emotions that have gone through my head. It's been a long time in the making. It's been six years. It's taken us six years to make this show. I remember my first time on set, one of the first people I met when I had just arrived was Jon Bernthal, and he was dressed as Jack Harper, the main character in the book. So, all I could see was Jack. I wasn't really seeing Jon; I was seeing Jack. And in that moment, seeing a character who had lived inside my head for years walking and talking and coming towards me was honestly one of the most surreal experiences of my life. It just blew my mind, the whole situation.
I remember thinking, “How will I remember everybody's names on set?” I thought there might be as many as 20 people, and really there were 500. It was an army. It was an army of people who worked so hard for so long to make something special. Then, when the show finally came out last week—oh, my goodness, the nerves, the excitement, the anticipation, desperately hoping that everyone would love it as much as we all loved it. I'm still pinching myself. We're number one in 58 countries I think, on Netflix. It's the most incredible response. Every time I open my phone, there are more responses to it and people saying that they've enjoyed the show. It just makes me so happy, and I feel so lucky and, honestly, just filled to the brim with gratitude to everyone who helped make the show. Everyone has been so kind about it since it came out.
DG: Yes. And Tessa Thompson, she does a phenomenal job as the reporter.
AF: Wasn't she amazing as Anna? I was so ridiculous on set. The first time I saw her become Anna, I just started weeping. I was just so happy. She was perfect. And she's so lovely in real life. It was my birthday when we were filming, and she took me out for this lovely dinner, to a restaurant filled with books, no less. She chose well, and gave me some gorgeous presents. Honestly, everyone involved in this project, I lucked out. I got the A team, and then some. They're all fantastic.
DG: That brings me back to My Husband's Wife. The main characters, Eden and Birdy, they are described as eerily similar. Without revealing any spoilers, how did you approach writing two characters who mirror each other so that they feel distinct yet connected?
AF: Oh, I love having twists like that, that I can plant early and sow seeds. And when it hopefully gets to the end of the book—can you hear me editing myself, so I don't give anything away? I don't want to do any spoilers here, but I think it's so important, if you write the kind of stories that I write, that the clues are there. Otherwise, it just isn't fair to the reader or to the listener. For these two particular characters, for Eden and for Birdy, they have so much in common and yet they view the world, I think, in very different ways. I felt like it was important to apply a lot of that to their characters, to the personality, to the situations that we're putting them in.
I remember, for me, when we recorded the audiobook, it's quite a long time by then since I've written it. I was quite shocked by some of the things Birdy was saying. I found myself cackling at points and thinking, "Gosh, she's much funnier than I am." But somehow those things that she said came from my brain. I love them both for different reasons, and I think they're both really interesting characters. For Eden, she's finally got where she wants to be in life. She's finally got this time in her life where their daughter has moved out and she thinks this is her time now. It's her time to finally be who she wants to be and do what she wants to do. She thinks this is going to be a whole new start for their marriage. They've moved to this beautiful quaint town of Hope Falls. They've renovated this property together. She's got this brand-new career as an artist. Everything's going to be great. And for Birdy, she's kind of at the other end. She's coming to the end of something, and she's looking back instead of looking forward, and she's thinking about some changes she might like to make before it's too late.
I enjoyed seeing the world through their eyes, most of the time [laughs]. There are certain things that will happen later in the story where living inside their heads was quite frightening. I think they're both really interesting characters, and I had a really fun time writing them. I think the audio performances are fantastic. Bel Powley did the most incredible job. So, when you're listening to Bel, and when you're listening to all of them, actually—I mean, Richard Armitage, it's like having a cast of 100 people with one man. They all did a fantastic job, and I'm excited for people to listen to it.
DG: That's another point I want to bring up, how incredible the audio is. I got the lucky chance to get an early copy, and I read it first, but then I was also able to get early audio right after. And wow, the book already pulls you in, but listening to it, it's truly so immersive. Richard Armitage, as you mentioned, he's amazing, and he's also been a repeat narrator for your novels' male characters. What is it like collaborating with him, and does hearing his interpretation ever surprise you?
AF: I've always been really excited about the audio side of the process. Even in the very beginning, I remember back in 2016, with Sometimes I Lie, I said to my editor—it was my first book ever being published—"When do we make the audiobook, and can I go along to the studio?" I always remember her looking at me and just saying, "Why?" She was really baffled and flummoxed that I would even want to do that. Back in those days, authors didn't. I went for the first three days of the recording, and it was magnificent. And once again, I cried my eyes out. I sound like I cry all the time. But I did, because I could hear my character coming to life, and it was just incredible, and I loved every second of it.
So, since then, I'm addicted to the audio part of the process. Every year, it's honestly one of the most exciting things when we start to talk about casting and everything else. Richard has narrated four of my books now, and the very first time he narrated one of my books was during the pandemic, and so none of us could go to a studio. He was actually recording it in his bathroom. I'm not joking. It was the pandemic, we did what we had to do, and do you know what? It sounds pretty good, I think. That was His & Hers, the audiobook of His & Hers.
"This is the thing that I get up to do every morning and I get really excited about, and the thing I hope I'll always be doing. I hope I'll always be writing books."
So, Richard has always, since then, been the male narrator for my books, and I just think he's fantastic. His range is fantastic. His ability to understand the story and to get behind the story that I'm trying to tell, which I think is partly because obviously his career involves storytelling as well. He's an author in his own right these days, too, and a very brilliant one. I've read his books. So, having someone like that means, as an author, you feel in really safe hands. You know that your characters are going to be okay, and you know they're going to sound terrific.
Then, this year, adding Bel and Henry, oh my goodness. I remember talking to my publishers about how I thought Carter was in my head, what he looked like, how he sounded, how he behaved, his little quirks, his mannerisms. And then they sent me an audition by Henry and I got goosebumps. I said immediately, "This is the guy. Oh, my goodness, how do you do it?" I get really excited as an author about the audiobooks. It genuinely is one of my most favorite parts of the process, because it's the first time I hear them come to life. And when I do, there's normally a lot of tears, there'll be goosebumps, there'll be squeals of delight, because I do push for sound effects. I know that it's something a lot of my readers enjoy, and I enjoy.
So, the opening of this book, oh, my goodness, there's a bit where she's running and you can hear Eden running, you can hear the sea, you can hear various things as she's coming up the cliffs towards the house. Then you hear the jangle of her key. And then when the door doesn't open for her and it opens by itself and you hear the [makes creaking sounds], I got goose bumps, I was freaked out! And I knew what was coming next! So, I hope readers will love the experience just as much as we all hoped that they would.
DG: Yes, and I know they will for sure. I enjoyed every bit of it. And speaking of Birdy, she gets this life-changing diagnosis and then feels compelled to right some old wrongs. What inspired you to create a character facing mortality, and how does the theme of redemption, or should I say atonement, play into the larger mystery?
AF: Well, a couple of years ago, I went through a bit of a horrible health scare. Touch wood, I'm fine now, but at the time it was really quite frightening. So, Birdy was a character who had lived inside my head for years, actually, just waiting for the right story to come along. As I was going through these quite unpleasant hospital shenanigans, one day I was inside an MRI scanner, and she just came to life in my head. I think because I was scared of what I was going through, she almost took over, and so instead I imagined what Birdy would be thinking or what Birdy would be saying. Or if the nurse was being a bit irritating, I'd imagine what Birdy would have to say about that. Somehow, imagining her reaction to everything helped keep me calm enough to get through what I was going through.
Again, in real life, I'm fine now, but at the time, it was a really scary time for me. All sorts of things were going on, and I was being told various scary things by doctors, and I didn't know what was going to happen to me. So, of course, I kept having these dark thoughts about “what if?” I couldn't help thinking, if I did know what was about to happen in the next few months, and if I did know the outcome, and if I could know the outcome, would I want to? So, because I was going through that in real life, it turned into something in my head, which again turned into something much darker and much more sinister in the book than everything that was happening in reality. But it's what sparked the idea. It made me realize that so many people go through things in secret. I'm very private. I don't tend to talk about things like that. In fact, at the time, nobody knew what was happening to me, but it bled into the writing.
I think what I write is absolutely 100 percent fiction, but it is not possible, doing what I do, to not let some of yourself slip into the story. I think there are always tiny little nuggets of me hidden between the pages, and so it came from that. Even though the outcome in real life was a happy one, in the book, as I so often do, things took a turn for the darker. But I will say that things that happened in real life did actually influence the ending in some ways. I guess there were certain aspects to the story where I felt like I wanted some hope. We're living in a very dark time, I feel like. I remember my nana saying that when I was little and thinking, "You're just saying that because you're old," and now I wonder, “Am I old and is that why I think it?” But I do think we're living in exceptionally dark times. You only have to take a look at the news to know that is true. So, I felt like with the ending, without any spoilers, I wanted something resembling hope, because I feel like we're all missing out on sufficient hope at the moment. So, even though I write dark and twisty stories, and even though sometimes my endings can leave people feeling a certain way, there were certain aspects where I wanted there to be a lighter side to things.
DG: Thank you so much, Alice, for sharing that personal health scare that you had yourself. I'm glad that you made it through that.
AF: Thank you. I think it's important that even though these stories are dark, twisty thrillers, there have to be parts of the story in there that mean something to people. There has to be something that can reflect their own lives and something that can make a difference, and something that can remind us that even though sometimes we feel very alone and we're going through very dark, scary things on our own, other people have gone through those things, too. That's what I love about books, the way that they can bring us together, the way that sometimes they can be like mirrors so that we can see that these things are happening to other people. And maybe if these other people are going to be okay, maybe I'm going to be okay, too. I hope that anyone reading the book who has been through a health scare can also hopefully take some comfort in it, and be more Birdy, because Birdy doesn't let anything stop her. Birdy just carries on, regardless.
DG: Yes, she does. As you mentioned before, too, about just the concept of the clinic in the story, being able to predict someone's death date is so fascinating, but also it was very chilling. What research or inspiration led you to that idea?
AF: I remember reading a news story years ago about a company that was claiming they would be able to do this. It got into my head in a way that I couldn't stop thinking about it. Every now and again, I would think again, “Would I want to know?” Many years ago, before I worked at the BBC, I worked in a care home for the elderly. And so death was very much part of my job. It was something that we were very aware of every single day. I would look at these people and I would understand that they were just like me. I always think that we underestimate older people. We forget that they were us one day and that they still are. Inside, they're exactly the same. Their thoughts and their fears were something that I've never been able to forget. The way they viewed death when they thought death was so close, it was fascinating. I think several of my characters go through similar emotions and experiences in that way, where it's this thing that's coming for all of us one day, one way or another.
"I'm so proud of this one. I love the twist in this book and I love that, so far, people have not been guessing the twist."
So, in terms of research, it's quite scary if you Google it. There are companies that genuinely think they're on the brink of being able to tell us the day that we will die based on various things. Personally, no, I don't want to know. I don't want to know something like that. I want to live life to the full. I want to try and enjoy every day as though it might be my last without it hopefully being my last. That's how I feel about it, having thought a lot about it, especially when writing this book. So, no, I don't think it's a good thing to know. I'm going to carry on celebrating my birthday and forget about that other day. Leave that for another time. We'll deal with that one later, I think.
DG: Same. I feel the same. I don't know how I would feel knowing the day that I would die. I would probably be just like Birdy, maybe trying to right wrongs, do all these things—
AF: I want to imagine that I would be like Birdy. I want to imagine I'd go around righting wrongs. But honestly, I'd be worried about whether the house was tidy enough. I'd be thinking, “People are going to be coming in here. They're going to find things I might not want them to. I better tidy up my underwear drawer.” All these crazy things are the kind of things I would be wasting my final moments doing. So, it's honestly best I don't know. Don't you agree? I should not know these things.
DG: Yes. [laughs] I totally feel the same exact way. I totally agree. And wow, just seeing how it all unfolded, once she went on that journey of doing all she could before her death date, it brings you to the shocking ending, which, Alice, with all your novels, when you think you got it figured out, "Okay, I know how this is probably going to end…" you continuously deliver us a shocking finale. It hits you and you never expect it.
AF: Thank you. My work here is done. That's it [laughs].
DG: Yes, and it's countless novels that you've done this with, for the record. It makes me wonder, do you know the ending when you start your writing, or does it just organically evolve as you write?
AF: I normally know the ending. I tend to fall in love with characters and then they just look in my head and will just be whispering away in the background. And the twist, I confess, is the thing that gets me most excited. I remember with His & Hers, and honestly, the twists don't happen that often in my head. It's like once or twice a year I'll have this idea, and I'll know this is a great idea. I remember with His & Hers, I was at the top of a hill really far from home when it happened. It felt like a genuine eureka moment, and I was giddy with joy. I ran all the way home, and we're talking a few miles, with my dog. My poor dog was like, "Oh, my God, why are we running?" Because I couldn't wait to get back to the shed and I couldn't wait to get to writing it. I had to write it all down. I was really excited.
The twist for My Husband's Wife, I can hear the glee in my own voice. I'm so sorry. I'm so proud of this one. I love the twist in this book and I love that, so far, people have not been guessing the twist, and they haven't seen it coming, but the clues are there, I promise you. What I love reading and listening to and watching are stories where I think I've guessed it. Those stories where you think, "Oh, no, I've guessed already on page 3, how very disappointing." And then you carry on and you carry on, you think, "Oh, no, hang on, it might be this. It's definitely one of these things. I've definitely sort of guessed it." And then at the end, when it's something completely different, oh, my goodness, that's my favorite kind of story. And so those are the stories I like trying to tell.
DG: Yeah, and again, that's what makes me such a huge fan, because I'm a mystery lover at heart. I love the process of guessing, trying to be a detective in my head, like “Okay, I know who this is. I know ..." And when you get those titles, like Daisy Darker or His & Hers, because even that ending, you think you know, and same with My Husband's Wife. That ending twist just be like, "Wow, how did I forget that?” You start playing back those clues in your head and you're like, "Wow." Every time, at the end of your novels, I always end up with the word "Wow. She did it again." I love that about your work, and I look forward to it every time you come out with something.
So, I always love to hear what authors are reading or listening to that also helps maybe inspire. Are there any books or audiobooks that you're most looking forward to maybe this year? Because there's so many coming out this month alone for the mystery-thriller genre.
AF: Tell me about it [laughs].
DG: I know. And are there any must-reads maybe even in the past that you recommend to fans of your work?
AF: I really like Lisa Jewell's books, and I look forward to them every year. I'm lucky that I normally get an early version of that, which feels like a real job perk for me. That’s always really thrilling. My favorite book so far this year isn't actually a thriller. It's called The Correspondent, and it probably came out last year. I don't know if you've read that one or listened to that one. It's just perfection. And my favorite book last year was Broken Country, which, again, I just thought was perfection on the page. I wish I'd written that one. I think we're living in the kind of golden times, really, of stories. There are so many brilliant books coming out every single month, which makes me extra grateful to the people who are kind enough to read and listen to mine.
DG: Yeah, Lisa Jewell, if you're out there listening, we love you, too. And as we wrap up, just one last question that I have for you. What would you like listeners and readers to feel when they leave Spyglass?
AF: Every time I'm writing a story, I'm inviting my listeners to take a rollercoaster ride with me. There might be some highs, there might be some lows, we might do some twists and turns and go through some dark places together, but by the end, I just really hope they will have enjoyed the ride.
DG: Thank you so much. And a ride they will definitely be on, because it will take you, like you mentioned, on a rollercoaster. I just want to thank you so much, Alice. It was so, so great speaking with you today. And for our listeners, please check out His & Hers, now streaming on Netflix, and also be sure to pre-order My Husband's Wife, because it's definitely a must-listen.
AF: Thank you so much for having me. It's been great talking to you.
