The Third Wife
by Lisa Jewell
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"The Third Wife is a summer gem. The story is complex...the many characters well drawn... Readers of Donna Tartt and Tana French will recognize Jewell's pacing for what it is: essential." --New York Journal of Books
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of None of This Is True comes a riveting family drama with a dark mystery at its core, perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Jojo Moyes.
In the early hours of a summer morning, a young woman steps into the path of an oncoming bus. A tragic accident? Or suicide?
At the center of this puzzle is Adrian Wolfe, a successful architect and grief-stricken widower, who, a year after his third wife's death, begins to investigate the cause. As Adrian looks back on their brief but seemingly happy marriage, disturbing secrets begin to surface. The divorces from his two previous wives had been amicable, or so it seemed; his children, all five of them, were resilient as ever, or so he thought. But something, or someone, must have pushed Maya over the edge.
"Jewell's last few novels have been a revelation--emotionally sophisticated and complex," says Kirkus Reviews. The Third Wife is "an emotionally intelligent, brilliantly plotted, and beautifully written examination of a very modern family that will keep you gripped to the end" (London Daily Mail).
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Book Details
- ISBN
- 9781476792194
- Binding
- Paperback
- Authors
- Lisa Jewell
- Publisher
- Atria Books
- Published Date
- February 23, 2016
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 336
- Physical Info
- 1 in H x 8.25 in L x 5.31 in W (0.5 lb)

I didn't like this at first but it grew on meI would love to see an Emma Thompson treatment. Looking forward to it.
This was a great family drama/thriller with plenty of red herrings in the whodunnit but I had a hard time enjoying it when I wanted to yell at Adrian constantly. If you don't mind unlikeable characters, you will probably find this to be closer to 4 or 5 stars. I found it hard though, despite the story being compelling, really disliking the main character quite quickly.
It definitely wasn’t my favorite of her books. I kept waiting for something exciting to happen or a big plot twist or something? She’s a great writer but I just got very bored with this one. Just my opinion.
I liked this book very much. Not so much as a thriller but as a great description of human behavior. The characters are very well developed and it is easy to relate to them and to feel for them. The story has a good pace and it kept me interested till the end.
SPOILERISH: I enjoyed this book for the most part but the ending was terrible--no consequences for any of them that were involved in destroying Maya's life. Looked like the dad was just going to keep doing what he always did - jump back with another woman. A better ending would have been him living alone and learning to be by himself instead of his ex-wife being willing to jump back in with him. Maya was hardly even given a second thought. And the way the children treated her was horrible, especially Cat. The idea that Maya was ' in love' with her stepson, to me, was silly. That was more like a crush on his part and 'loneliness' on her part for a younger man.
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