Published by Random House UK, Vintage Publishing
Publication Date: 12th July 2018
Book Description:
Imogen’s husband is a bad man. His ex-wife and his new mistress might have different perspectives but Imogen thinks she knows the truth. And now he’s given her an ultimatum: get out of the family home in the next fortnight or I’ll fight you for custody of our son.
In a moment of madness, Imogen does something unthinkable: she locks her husband in the cellar. Now she’s in control. But how far will she go to protect her son and punish her husband? And what will happen when his ex and his girlfriend get tangled up in her plans?
My Thoughts:
Also released under the title of The Ex's Revenge this is a tale of narcissism, gaslighting and abuse, both psychological and physical. Imogen is the second unfortunate wife of Phillip Rochester, his first wife Ruby still feels that there could be the chance of rekindling their relationship, especially once she finds out Phillip has asked for a divorce from Imogen. New girlfriend Naomi could well have something to say about that though as she's not backward in voicing her opinion.
The opening chapter is set at Phillip's funeral and it doesn't take many paragraphs to get the general feel of just how much bad feeling there is towards Phillip from the various women who have populated his life. Surprisingly, they're all present at the funeral which kind of spoils the overall story as you know where you're going to end up but that's not to say it's not full of tension and feelings of dread. It most certainly is and there are times when you wonder just how the scenario at the start of the book is going to even happen. The chapters are headed with a timeframe relating to how far ahead of the funeral events happened with a couple of flashback chapters which add to the reader's dislike of Phillip.
The three women involved soon come to realise that they're stronger working together than as individuals despite them being so completely different personality-wise and understandably full of mistrust of one another. Ruby seems quite hippy-ish and 'new age', something Imogen struggles to deal with, and Naomi is much younger but has been through experiences which make her tougher than her years. Imogen is quite average in comparison to them both - something Phillip uses as a put-down (amongst many other things) to make Imogen feel useless and that now he doesn't want her nobody else will either: washed up, middle aged and unwanted. I was delighted to find there was still fire in her belly even if she had to dig deep for it.
By the end of the book I was rooting so strongly for the three women although the author did have me wondering right to the conclusion whether Phillip had persuaded one of the three to take his side or not. Very cleverly written, there is a constant worry as to just who you can trust when life has made you question everyone and everything around you. There was even one part where I had to go back a few pages and check my facts myself!
This book should definitely come with trigger warnings but that said I did find it a very engaging read.
My thanks to the publisher for allowing me access to this title through the NetGalley platform however my review is based on a finalised paperback copy. My apologies to both author and publisher for the delay in reviewing this book.
About the Author:
Jo was the winner of the Friday Night Live 2016 competition at the York Festival of Writing. Born in Cyprus, she worked for many years in the City of London before moving to Cornwall with her husband and twin boys. Find out more at www.jojakeman.com
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