Novel About My Wife by Emily Perkins

Never Know What I'm Getting!!!

Once in a while, I go shopping in an Asian supermarket, where I can't read the signs and hardly know what I'm looking at! The produce are totally different from what I'm used to seeing in my local grocery store, so it's a real adventure. On rare occasion, when I'm feeling daring, I'll pick up "mystery" package of food, and try to eat it without having the faintest idea what I'm consuming. (Thank god
I haven't stumbled into eating mothballs just yet!)

 Cover that Caught My Eye

Anyhow...Last Tuesday, I spent an good half hour at my local library simply browsing the stacks, and I came across a novel with that intrigued me. First thing, the title caught my eye: Novel About My Wife. Not "A Novel", but simply Novel. I found it a big jarring. That was followed by the fact that the authors name was clearly Emily Perkins, not Emile or Edward. I picked it off the shelf and gave it a quick peak. Cool cover: a gaunt looking redhead standing ascu wearing a simple cotton slip.

I had to open it and see what it was about. The first sentence is probably one of the best first lines I have ever read: "If I could build her again using words, I would: starting at her long, painted feet and working up, shading in every cell and gap and space for breath until her pulse couldn't help but kick back into life." Very clever writing. I could only wish to write a line as beautiful as that!

Well, I was sold. I had judged a book by its cover, and I decided that I would give this one a try. I laughed to myself, because it was like a package of Chinese dried goods...I had no idea what I was getting myself into!

Here's a quick summary courtesy of Goodreads.com:

"From one of Britain’s most exciting young writers comes the story of a couple’s emotional and complicated relationship … from the husband’s perspective. Novel About My Wife is narrated by Tom Stone as he searches through the mysteries his wife has left him with. The reader is left to discover what dark thing has come between him and his beloved partner.  

Tom Stone is, as well as being cheerfully neurotic, madly in love with his wife Ann, an Australian in self-imposed exile in London. Pushing forty and newly pregnant, they buy their first house in Hackney. It seems they are moving into a settled future, despite spiralling money troubles. But Ann is dogged by a local homeless man whose constant presence comes to feel like a terrible omen. As her pregnancy progresses Ann finds solace in her new friendship with Kate, a woman Tom is both repelled by and peculiarly drawn to. Their home is beset with vermin, smells and strange noises. Is this normal for London, or is the measure of normality in this city actually mad?"

I really enjoyed this novel. It was well paced, and I was drawn to keep reading. The protagonist is a bit frustrating, as he's a bit of a lame duck writer who needs to get a steady paying job. (God bless my solid husband!) He has a good heart though tries to help his wife who is struggling to hold onto her sanity.

I would try another of Perkins' novels...It was a pleasant surprise!

(Emily Perkins and I are born in 1970. She's from New Zealand and currently lives there with her family. I'm from Canada...and the winter feels like it may never end!)