What a deliciously odd debut novel, reminiscent of Patricia Highsmith’s work for how it places a neurotic outsider at the heart of an unlikely murder investigation. George March is a popular author whose latest novel stars Johanna, a prostitute so ugly that men feel sorry for her and can’t bear to sleep with her. Meanwhile, the news cycle is consumed with the strangling of a young woman named Sylvia Gibbler in Gentry, Maine, where George goes on hunting trips with his editor. Mrs. March takes two misconceptions – that George modeled Johanna on her, and that he was somehow involved in Sylvia’s death because he kept newspaper clippings about it on his desk – and runs with them, to catastrophic effect.

Mrs. March’s usual milieu is the New York City apartment she shares with George and their son, Jonathan. Martha, the housekeeper, keeps the daily details under control, leaving Mrs. March with little to do. She doesn’t seem very interested in her son, and resents George. Each morning she walks to the bakery to buy olive bread. Every so often she’ll host an extravagant dinner party. But there is plenty of time in between to fill with flashbacks to shameful memories and hallucinations. She decides to travel to Maine herself to investigate Sylvia’s death; it’s not what she finds there but what she returns to that changes things forever.

There are so many intriguing factors. One is the nebulous time period: what with Mrs. March’s fur coat and head scarf, the train cars and payphone calls, it could be the 1950s; but then there are more modern references (a washing machine, holiday flights) that made me inclined to point to the 1980s. It couldn’t be the present day unless Feito is deliberately setting the story in an alternative world without much tech. As in Highsmith, we get mistaken identity and disguises. Feito really ramps up the psychological elements, interrogating how trauma, paranoia and extreme body issues may have led to dissociation in her protagonist. Mrs. March is both obsessed with and repulsed by bodily realities. It’s only through other characters’ reactions, though, that we see just how mentally disturbed she is. Worryingly, patterns seem to be repeating with her son, who is suspended for ‘doing something’ to a girl.

I can see how this would be a divisive read: the characters are thoroughly unlikable and it can be difficult to decide what is real and what is not. Incidents I took at face value may well be symbolic, or psychological manifestations of trauma. But I found it morbidly fascinating. I never knew what was going to happen next.

The book was archived before our group could download it. We are sure that we would have enjoyed the book judging from the reviews it has received.

I love being given the opportunity to update our school library which is a unique space for both senior students and staff to access high quality literature. This is definitely a must-buy. It kept me absolutely gripped from cover to cover and is exactly the kind of read that just flies off the shelves. It has exactly the right combination of credible characters and a compelling plot thatI just could not put down. This is a great read that I couldn't stop thinking about and it made for a hugely satisfying read. I'm definitely going to order a copy and think it will immediately become a popular addition to our fiction shelves. 10/10 would absolutely recommend.

Mrs March is happy with her life - taking care of house and home while her author husband George March finds success within his writing career and their young son Jonathan appears a happy little boy. But Mrs March's world is turned upside down when a local shopkeeper remarks that a character in George's new book, reminds him of Mrs March and she can't escape it. As reality and imagination blur together, Mrs March begins to suspect her husband of horrid crimes and wonders if she ever really knew him at all.

This was an interesting, quite gripping tale as we follow a woman whose grip on reality begins to unravel the further we venture into the story. We learn a lot about Mrs March, except her first name, from the type of strange child she was, her early relationship with her husband and the distant wife she has become centered on appearances. I found Mrs March as a character focus truly fascinating - how she reacts to others, and always how she focuses on herself as well and makes every little thing about her and how people must think about her.

There was an element of murder mystery in this book too, and I quite enjoyed the 'what if?' part of the book - even though Mrs March is starting to lose it a little bit, some of what she is thinking about George and Sylvia almost does sound plausible at times, and I was almost ready for a twist that it would actually be true. I found myself fascinated in a way someone can be in something tragic as we followed Mrs March on her solitary journey to discover more, and the sad, lonely, desperate figure she was (morphing more and more into Johanna in many ways I guess).

I love love love this book so much.

Never really knowing what's happening with an unreliable narrator kept me on the edge of my seat

Mrs March is a book that seemed to span a few genres to me. A dash of literary fiction, a splash of psychological thriller, and a smidge of dark humour, Mrs March introduced me to a rather quirky, uptight housewife from the Upper East Side. Appearance is everything and when her husband writes a book where a character is unflatteringly based on her, Mrs March’s perfectly ordered world begins to crumble. As she becomes increasingly paranoid, control starts to pour through her grasp like sand though a timer, whilst the reader is carried with her towards the climax. The character was unlikeable to me but that’s not necessarily a bad thing in a book. It reminded me very loosely of Lilian Boxfish Takes A Walk but with chaotic behaviour. I found it poignant too as Mrs March descends further away from her sense of normality, and reality becomes illusion with this unreliable narrator. It was a cleverly written novel and one whose protagonist pops into my mind more often than I thought she would. I’m definitely interested in reading more by this author.

I finished this book, purely to find out what all the strange things meant. And I am still confused with no answers.

There is no explanation for any of the story, a predictable ending and no likeable characters.

I found this hard to read and grew bored very quickly, I kept reading in hope of an explosive ending which never comes.

I didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did, because I came out of the reading process loving it!
Main character hooked me early and I NEED to see her cast well if this comes to the screen. Excellent tale, was totally hooked.

Mrs March

After being asked in a bakery if the main character of her husband's latest book is based on her, Mrs March life starts to spiral.

In this tightly woven thriller, paranoia and suspicion take over her life, trapping her within the confines of her life, her circle becoming smaller and smaller as she distances herself from the people who care. There is also a distance between Mrs March and the reader, we're kept at arm's length, details being revealed by other characters on her background and her strange behaviour, which reminded me of The Bell Jar and the way the reader watches only seeing from a viewpoint that isn't always reliable.

Something isn't right and everyone around her is oblivious so it's down to her to work out why this unease has settled.

I wasn't expecting such a tense, dark and intriguing novel. I should have picked this book up sooner!

Thank you to @netgalley for the original ebook version.

This one was a little too intense for me. I did struggle with it - maybe my mindset was not in the right place. It took me a while to get through it.

A strange book: one that I didn’t enjoy reading, but I also can think of a number of friends to recommend it to. Imagine a grotesque, Manhattan-set Mrs Dalloway and you still wouldn’t be halfway there. Grotesque but oddly compelling.

Unfortunately, I have been locked out of my netgalley account for a few months and was not able to see which books I had on my list or even know to check if they downloaded properly, in order to properly read and review. I do apologize and am doing a 3 for neutral. Will update once I’m able to obtain a copy and read!

I liked the synopsis which is why I read Mrs March. I thought it sounded like a book I would enjoy. But I am in two minds about this book, because although I can see why it has received such a lot of praise and 5 star reviews I really did not enjoy reading it. It is a remarkable character study, taking the reader right inside Mrs March’s head as she descends into paranoia and madness. The whole book is seen solely from her perspective, which makes it the most uncomfortable experience – but that is down to the brilliance of Feito’s writing.

It begins well and I was immediately reminded of Mrs Dalloway and also of the unnamed wife in Rebecca and I wondered if her real name would be revealed. Throughout the book she is called ‘Mrs March’ even when referring to her as a child. It’s as if she is only a person identified by her marital status. Her life seems to have no meaning other than being married to Mr March. There really is very little evidence for Mrs March’s belief that her husband has based the character of a prostitute in his book on her. But her conviction that this is how he sees her is devastating to her. It’s as though her whole existence is threatened.

It’s been a while since I finished reading it as I’ve been wondering what to write about it. There is so much in it to take in and whilst my reading is mostly for enjoyment I don’t think I can dismiss a book simply because I didn’t ‘enjoy’ it. But neither can I ignore that fact. How can you ‘like’ the portrayal of the breakdown of a personality, or a person? It’s beautifully written, but so tragic. I couldn’t like any of the characters, but they got under my skin as I read and I wanted it to end differently – of course, it couldn’t.

My thanks to the publishers for a review copy via NetGalley.

Brilliant. I didn’t know what to expect when I started this one but I wasn’t disappointed.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access this book in exchange for my feedback.

A really interesting concept. This book basically looks at the cognitive dissonance that occurs when your view of yourself clashes violently with how someone close to you sees you. And then from there it’s all down hill. Exquisitely crafted though the book is, I can’t say I actually enjoyed the reading experience. I suspect it might have been a wrong book wrong time scenario. While I found the story engaging, Mrs March herself was exhausting. But if you’re looking for a literary satire on derangement and ‘karen’ syndrome, this might well be your cup of tea.

Reputation is everything to Mrs March, so when she feels hers is sullied paranoia and madness sets in . . . What hooked me into reading this book was the premise. The sense of betrayal when Mrs March thinks her husband based a pathetic character on her in his recent bestseller is something the reader feels keenly alongside her. After this, though, I struggled to really get into the book and feel enough momentum to propel me through the pages. As the reviews noted Mrs March was ‘nastily good fun’ and compared to My Sister the Serial Killer, I think it gave me a different set of expectations going into the read - as I thought there would be much more dark humour and pace in the story. As I read on I found that the book was a little slow moving, could be quite depressing at times and the ending seemed inevitable rather than unpredictable. While this story wasn’t quite for me, I would recommend this book to readers who don’t mind a slow burner and enjoy a descent into madness story with a complex, unreliable narrator. The author can certainly write brilliantly and create a compelling premise, so I’d be interested in what she writes next time. Huge thanks to the author, Virginia Feto, and publisher, 4th Estate, for this advance review copy. Views my own. 3*

Mrs March has to be amongst the most unnerving, chilling characters I’ve read about. I’m terrible for not reading the synopsis of books. I tend to go by the cover and/ or the last paragraph of bloggers and reviewers reviews (I tend to read the first and last couple of sentences. I’m sorry, I hang my head in shame 😔). Nine times out of ten this approach works for me - and boy did it work well with Mrs March!

I was captivated by the writing in this novel. It’s like the horror movie where you hold your hands over your face whilst continuing to watch between your fingers, because you just can’t stop watching.

This is a descent into paranoia and madness, and I feared for the safety of her husband and son, as well as Mrs March’s. On the outside, she seems to be completely calm and in control.

Mrs March’s husband is a successful novelist, and his latest novel is causing something of a stir. When a shopkeeper suggests that the main character is based on Mrs March, it sends her in to a tailspin. This character, after all, is a prostitute! Is this what people think of her?!

The tension builds and builds until it’s almost unbearable. I couldn’t put it down though, and was left breathless at the end. This isn’t a book for the faint of heart - and boy did I enjoy it!

I was sent a copy of Mrs March by Virginia Feito to read and review by NetGalley. This is a quite a different kind of novel. Told from the viewpoint of protagonist Mrs March it is obvious from early on that she is not a completely rational narrator! The author has been very clever in evoking an indiscernible time frame, with the traditions of the household and family seeming further in the past than the ‘outside world’ would suggest. While I wouldn’t say that I found any of the characters particularly likeable I did feel for Mrs March as I followed her descent into paranoia and madness. A very cleverly written novel which I think will leave reader’s opinions divided.

I thought i would enjoy this debut and thought it would be deliciously dark. However the more I read, the more tedious the book became. I was quite enjoying it in the beginning but felt it got too weird for me later on.
the story was witty and had well-structured plot however it wasnt for me.

This is an unusual story - disturbing at times and funny at others. Like other readers, I struggled to work out when the story was set - I pictured a 1950s Mrs Maisel in my head but I’m not sure that was right. I did enjoy it but it was a quick read and I was quite pleased about that! 3.5 stars