The First Wife

By: Jill Childs

Narrated by: Tamsin Kennard

I moved closer to the little girl, afraid that our voices would be caught by the monitor. "What happened to you, Lucy? Can you tell me?"

When Sophie’s life falls apart, she accepts an invitation from a childhood friend, Caroline, to visit her family’s beautiful beach house, situated at the mouth of an isolated cove, miles from the nearest town. The silence is broken only by the rhythmic crash of the waves against the jagged black rocks below.

But when Sophie arrives, she finds her friend much changed. Caroline - who used to be so warm and confident - is secretive and on-edge, spending long, unexplained hours away from her family. And then there’s Caroline’s little daughter Lucy - who stopped speaking soon after they moved in. Caroline assures Sophie that it’s only a phase, but Sophie thinks Lucy looks a little uncared for, a little afraid....

Then one night Sophie is woken by a scream and runs to find Lucy, out of bed and at the attic window, staring in terror at the view below. When Sophie goes to look, her blood runs cold....

What secrets hide behind closed doors in this isolated house by the sea? A compelling domestic drama from the USA Today best-selling author of Gracie’s Secret. Perfect for fans of Big Little Lies and The Couple Next Door.

©2020 Jill Childs (P)2020 Bookouture

First Wife..slow start but oh boy!

Be try y suspenseful even if a slow starter. Loves the narration. Worth a listen.

Enjoyable, if not predictable, read

This story is verbose, intricately written and very good for the most part. I tend to get impatient when the plot tends to drone on. Overall the plot is good, the writing is good and the performance above average. This was a book I could put down and easily pick up again later. It was worth a credit, but I wish the editor had slashed through a lot of the unnecessary word play.

Intriguing story line

Very good writing. Sometimes the descriptions got too detailed and elongated but great story with some great twists.
Enjoy!!!

Great book

Relatable characters, plot twists, and a very interesting contrast between two women’s lives. Loved it.

Way too much description

Only thing that made this ok is the narrator. Minutiae overly described constantly and the story itself was predictable. I wanted a book that I could listen to while driving so if I didn’t pay total attention it would be ok and this fit the bill.

Excellent writing and narration

I loved this book! it kept my attention throughout and the characters were brought to life so well.

Read it in one day!

I loved everything about this book, it was fast paced and thrilling to read! I highly recommend it

Loved the book

Great read. The twist was a surprise. I purchased as an audible book for driving but found myself with my headphones on when I was alone at home. I highly recommend.

Waste of a credit

I felt like it took so long to get to the plot of the story and the ending didn’t make any sense! Not a fan of this one at all!

Complex and surprising

This is a compelling and complicated tale, told from two different points of view, with lots of surprising twists and turns to the very end. In fact the very last reveal left me uncertain about my feelings about several of the characters. But it is a page turner!