Sisters by Lily Tuck

 

In this short novel, Tuck describes the thoughts of a second wife.  This woman had met her husband while he was still married and started an affair with him.  It led to divorce and her marriage to that man.  He had two teenage children.  The second wife spends a lot of time thinking about the first wife, what her life is now and who is better off.

At first the second wife feels that she is the winner, that she has taken what the other woman cherished.  But as her sense of victory diminishes and her desire for her husband wanes, she begins to fantasize that the other woman has been the ultimate victor and that she has won freedom to live her life as she wants with no one to interfere.  

Lily Tuck was born in Paris and writes novels that delve into the psychological makeup of her subjects.  One of her novels was a National Book Award winner.  In this study, the second wife goes from feeling like a victor to a loser and her marriage which seemed like a glittering prize now is tarnished and worth little.  The genesis of the book was the former common practice of a man whose wife died marrying her sister and how that plays out in our modern life where divorce is common and women must form some type of relationship with their predecessor, especially if children are involved.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.