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The Wife Upstairs

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The Wife Upstairs

By: Rachel Hawkins, Lauren Fortgang
Narrated by: Emily Shaffer, Kirby Heyborne, Lauren Fortgang
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About this listen

The Top 10 New York Times bestseller

A girl looking for love…
When Jane, a broke dog-walker newly arrived in town, meets Eddie Rochester, she can’t believe her luck. Eddie is handsome, rich and lives alone in a beautiful mansion since the tragic death of his beloved wife a year ago.

A man who seems perfect…
Eddie can give Jane everything she’s always wanted: stability, acceptance, and a picture-perfect life.

A wife who just won’t stay buried…
But what Jane doesn’t know is that Eddie is keeping a secret – a big secret. And when the truth comes out, the consequences are far more deadly than anyone could ever have imagined…

A delicious twist on a Gothic classic, The Wife Upstairs is perfect for fans of Lucy Foley, Ruth Ware and Shari Lapena.

‘Really fun update of Jane Eyre that’s also deeply satisfying’ Stylist

‘Lightening paced, twisty, and great fun’ Jessica Knoll, bestselling author of Luckiest Girl Alive

‘I couldn’t put this book down! Read it in a day!'

‘The Wife Upstairs has set the standard for this year's thrillers'

‘This was a definite page turner of a novel'

‘Will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final page'

‘A must read book full of OMG moments'

‘I felt for sure that I was going to bite my nails off while reading this'

‘Escapism at its finest. A five star read'

©2021 Rachel Hawkins (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Genre Fiction International Mystery & Crime Mystery Psychological Romantic Suspense Thriller & Suspense Women's Fiction Suspense Fiction Marriage

Critic reviews

"I was completely blown away by The Wife Upstairs. This is a compulsive, irresistible retelling of Jane Eyre with a modern, noir twist - and wow, does it work." (Samantha Downing, best-selling author of My Lovely Wife)

"A sharp, fresh twist on a classic in this darkly funny, suspenseful story of murder, ambition and love. Creepy and fast-paced...kept me on the edge of my seat from the first page to the very last." (Best-selling author Megan Miranda)

"The Wife Upstairs is everything I’d hoped - sharp, smart, tricky and fast-paced." (Kelly Harms, author of The Overdue Life of Amy Byler)
All stars
Most relevant
full of intrigue a classic from Paula Hawkins her best yet great character descriptions I really felt as if I knew the area too. my favourite quirk is her compulsion to steal.

gripping

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Great performance and a good try at adapting the original. It was such a courageous decision from author to write a remake - I usually love bringing classics into modern.

Intriguing

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Loved the storyline. Good characters. Unfortunately I did not the very strong language.far to frequently used.

Thé Wife Upstairs

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I loved "Reckless Girls" and adored "The Villa" and was so sorry when I came to the end of the latter I started looking for more Rachel Hawkins thrillers and was initially put off when I found this modern day Jane Eyre retelling but as I only remembered the bare bones of the original gothic novel, I decided to give it a go.

I was so delighted I did as I really enjoyed it - though the narrator of Jane made the character very unlikeable as sounded firstly far too old for the character and strangely robotic at times complete with tinny reverb. The other narrators were really lovely but "Jane" was really hard going and I have no idea why such an unsuitable narrator was cast for this, the most important role.

It is testament to the great writing and wonderful storytelling that despite Robo-Jane, I really enjoyed this down to the very last drop, though if "Jane" had not been so abrasive to listen too it would have been 6 stars all around, even though all the characters were rather unpleasant in their own ways.

Kudos for at last having a character adopt a rescue dog as opposed to "buying while shelter dogs die" and giving Adele a happy ever after.

All in all I really enjoyed it and longing for the next Rachel Hawkins thriller with baited breath.

Thrilling treat with a delicious twist on the OG

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I really enjoyed this, it was a nice take on Jane Eyre and I enjoyed all the nods to the Bronte novel. I really liked the narration, the main narrator has the ‘mean girls’ inflection down perfectly and she made me laugh out loud more than once just with her tone of voice. Entertaining and enjoyable.

Really like it

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