NOVEL ABOUT MY WIFE

by Emily Perkins, Allen & Unwin.

This sad and lovely book is written from the perspective of a husband who is piecing together recollections of various stages of his life. These include the memory of his relationship with his wife during her first pregnancy, as they both stumbled into the unknown and unexpected. I loved the book’s idea that we are constantly coming in and out of view of each other in a relationship and uncovering mysteries. It’s an uncomfortable psychological investigation into intimacy and the things you learn about each other – the strangeness of another person, the piecing together of who they are and where they come from and the endless shifting of how much you know and don’t know. There are wonderful scenes of cleaning the kitchen and sitting in the bath, and I loved these because they are so profoundly familiar.