The Wife by Alafair Burke

It seems like there has been a recent glut of “wife” books in the psychological thriller genre, but for this reader, that is not such a bad thing.  Last weekend I cruised through The Wife, the latest novel by Alafair Burke.  Burke, the author of twelve other novels,  is a graduate of Stanford Law and currently a professor of law at Hofstra.  Her legal experience and expertise are definitely valuable to her story line.

Angela meets Jason, an NYU economics professor, while catering a party in East Hampton.  There is an attraction, and Angela finds Jason is just what she and her young son need.  (Genre tip:  these fellows are always billed as too good to be true, so suspect some lies!)  Six years later, they are married and living in Manhattan; Jason has become a superstar in the field of economics.  Angela and her son want for nothing.  When an intern accuses Jason of sexual harassment and a former employee comes forward with her story, the public scrutiny threatens to reveal a past Angela hoped to keep secret, forcing her to choose between her privacy and her husband’s freedom, which goes hand in hand with her current lifestyle.

I found The Wife compulsively readable and entertaining.  Great plot, fast pace, somewhat unreliable narrator which took a few chapters for me to suspect, and a satisfying wrap up at the end.  Worth the read.