Sight — the literal eye and the metaphorical — plays throughout Dawit N.M.’s exhibition at the Chrysler.
The unreliable narrator can frustrate readers a bit as they try to figure out just whom to believe, but this literary trope also can make for some intriguing novels, as Liv Constantine shows in her third, exciting novel.
Constantine, the pen name of sisters Lynne and Valerie Constantine, again shows a knack for the psychological thriller that they established in their bestselling debut “The Last Mrs. Parrish.” It is easy to overlook the shallow prose when the strong storytelling draws in the reader so strongly.
“‘The Wife Stalker” alternates between two desperate women. Joanna loves her two wonderful children, Evie and Stelli, and believes her marriage to charismatic attorney Leo Drakos is secure and happy. The other, a new resident of Westport, Conn., named
Piper Reynard, has decided she wants Joanna’s family. Piper has opened a rehab and wellness business, immersing herself in the affluent community by joining the yacht club. Piper, who’s changed her name and scrubbed her internet identity, is hoping this move will be permanent as she’s tired of finding “new places to hide,” especially since the rather untimely deaths of her husband and stepdaughter in California.
Joanna knows that Leo has been suffering from depression and believes that his affair with Piper is part of that. She hopes that he will return to her and, most importantl, knows he loves the children. Piper has other ideas as events take a dark turn. Although worried about the safety of Leo and her children, Joanna finds herself alone as both her therapist and emotionally cold mother believe she is just being paranoid. Obviously, they never heard the term gaslight.
The reader’s allegiance often shifts from Joanna to Piper as each narrates, showing a different perspective. Each believable twist draws in the reader as Constantine keeps the suspense high. A clever twist pulls “The Wife Stalker” in a unique direction that readers will savor.