The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

 

Jane is starting all over again.  Raised in the foster system, she was set loose on the world at eighteen with no help.  Since then she has drifted, working minimum wage jobs and moving from place to place.  This place is Birmingham, Alabama, and Jane is working as a dogwalker to rich people's dogs.  The dogs are fine but Jane is not as impressed with the people.  The women are smug and condescending to her and the men watch her with lustful eyes.  She is starting to think about moving on again when she meets Eddie.

Eddie and Trip are the ones the women love to gossip about.  Their wives were lost a year ago, presumed dead.  Eddie was married to Bea, the woman who created a multimillion dollar company selling style to Southern women and those who aspired to the Southern life.  Trip was married to her best friend, the two women having been friends since their school days.  One weekend the women went to Bea's lake house and out on the boat at night.  Something happened and they were never seen again.

Eddie Rochester is gorgeous, rich and charming, the kind of man who never notices plain Jane. But Eddie does notice her and before she knows it, is pursuing her.  Soon Jane has moved in and the women who snubbed her now cluster around her.  All is wonderful except for the questions Jane can't help but wonder about.  What really happened that night?  Were Eddie and Bea's marriage the fairy tale everyone thinks?  And what is that noise she keeps hearing?

I listened to this novel.  There were three narrators, one for Jane, one for Bea and one for Eddie.  Each of them added depth and interest to the story although I liked the Jane narrator the best and she was the one featured the most.  

This is a modern retelling of Jane Eyre and those who have read it will pick up lots of references to that wonderful novel.  But those who have never read it will enjoy this title as a modern day thriller with lots of twists and turns that redefine the story from page to page.  No one is exactly as they appear and some are very far from their public persona.  This book is recommended for thriller readers.