I wasn’t sure about this story to begin with but persevered and began to enjoy the different characters. Zuzu is a mixed raced pretty girl who sets her sites upon Cash, a fellow law student. She befriends Agnes, also a fellow student and the two become close, so close in fact that they eventually marry. However, she is still in close contact with Chad altho he is now married to Molly! Relationships all becomes a little tangled and I was hoping it would eventually all end happily ever after! However, my initial reluctance to persevere came back to haunt me - without any warning the words ‘achnowledgements’ appeared and I was none the wiser for my efforts! Very disappointing!

A beautifully written story. I enjoyed how raw and flawed the characters were - I could feel the frustration that Zuzu and Agnes had for each other. The flashback chapters were a great way to understand the dynamics between the relationships and friendships between the characters. A reflective, character-driven read about second chances; overall a lovely book!

Thank you NetGalley for the early copy!

Zuzu is having a mid-life crisis. Her wife, Agnes, lives her busy lawyer life and Zuzu is pretty much left out, looking after all the domestic chores and their son, Gideon. I would have liked to have known who the birth mother was. Cash is Zuzu's long term friend, the one that got away. She still has feelings for him, and talks to him more than she talks to Agnes. They eventually have an affair. The ending is ambiguous. I found the style of writing hard to get into at first, especially as it is full of American references and phrases which I did not understand.

I enjoyed the writing from Jackie, it was very easy to read and to understand her character's motivations. Susan is very well written in the way she is very flawed, she's someone who feels underappreciated by her wife and misses the feeling of being desired and wanted. Initially I felt like I wasn't going to like Susan because I dislike cheating but as the story progressed, I felt like Susan could be with someone who appreciated her contributions more. I felt like Susan and her wife Agnes were incompatible by being very opposite in what they want and do in their marriage. I found the ending unsatisfactory and anti climax. I think maybe because I was hoping for her to have an epiphany or maybe realise she and Agnes need to either work on their marriage and communication. Or perhaps they just break up and be their own person. I think the ending is still sufficient because at the end of the day, I think Susan truly does love Agnes and she wants to make it work for Agnes and their son Gideon and I think she decided I want this, it's not perfect but I still want it. I think because of that, the ending is a realistic end for the book.

I don't think I would read this again but I really did enjoy reading about someone I could relate to in terms of unrequited love.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for granting me the opportunity to have an ARC and share my honest opinion.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Other Wife as I tend to gravitate toward character-driven narratives rather than plot-driven ones. This novel beautifully captures the difficult and often uncomfortable realities of marriage, love, relationships, and intimacy, all while offering a deep and poignant exploration of self-reflection and regret.

At the heart of the story is Zuzu, a woman nearing 40 who, on the surface, appears to have it all: a stable career, a partner, and a child. Yet, beneath this façade, she is emotionally adrift, struggling with a profound sense of dissatisfaction. Jackie Thomas-Kennedy uses Zuzu’s voice to pull readers into her world, drawing us closer with each passing chapter. The first-person narration is an effective choice that makes Zuzu feel like a confidante—someone we can empathize with and, at times, even want to comfort. Her internal turmoil is palpable, as she navigates a complex and, at times, fraught relationship with her wife, Agnes, and grapples with personal and familial expectations.

Thomas-Kennedy's writing is stunning, marked by its vivid imagery and delicate attention to sensory details. The author often weaves food into the narrative, using it as a motif to delve deeper into Zuzu's past, and it enhances the emotional resonance of her journey. The writing is captivating, keeping the reader engaged, and the short, sharply focused chapters make the pacing quick and compelling.

The novel delves into some deeply relevant themes—love, identity, race, and regret—though, at times, it seems to shy away from fully exploring these ideas in greater depth. The relationship dynamics, especially the one between Zuzu and Agnes, are beautifully complicated, revealing cracks in their communication and the way they have drifted apart over the years. Zuzu’s frustration is mirrored in her lack of agency, a trait that frustrates some readers but is undeniably true to life. Her inability to make decisions or express herself fully creates a tension that drives the narrative forward, even if it doesn’t lead to dramatic resolutions or breakthroughs. This, however, may leave some readers feeling unsatisfied, as the novel doesn’t offer the resolution or catharsis one might expect from a more plot-driven story.

What The Other Wife does offer is a nuanced portrayal of a character in the throes of personal crisis, trying to make sense of a life that hasn’t turned out the way she imagined. Her relationship with her family, particularly with her parents, is fragile and often strained, providing an additional layer of complexity to the narrative. The themes of desire and identity are carefully examined, with Zuzu’s introspective journey offering valuable insight into how our past choices shape our present and future.

While some may find the slow pace and lack of a traditional plot arc to be a drawback, those who appreciate quiet, introspective character studies will find much to admire in this novel. Zuzu is a fascinating, if frustrating, character—her emotional complexity is what makes her so real, even if it also makes her hard to fully connect with at times.

In sum, The Other Wife is a deeply reflective and thoughtfully written novel. It’s a story about the intersections of love, regret, and self-discovery, one that lingers long after the final page is turned. Fans of character-driven fiction and those who enjoy contemplative, slow-burn stories will find this book to be a rewarding experience.

Jackie Taylor-Kennedy’s The Other Wife is a well-written story of love, betrayal and resilience. The story centres around two women who have a shared connection to one man. With vivid prose, Taylor-Kennedy delves into themes of identity, trust and the lengths we go to for love.

The author doesn’t shy away from showing human relationships' raw, messy realities. The alternating perspectives and flashbacks to the past allow readers to empathise with both women, despite their conflicting roles.

While the pace slows in the middle a bit, the tension and twists quickly draw you back in.

The Other Wife is compelling for anyone who loves stories about strong, flawed women navigating love and life.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

The other woman

This book is essentially about how Zuzu is unhappy with her relationship with her wife of 10 years, along with her career and other relationships. Agnes is married to her job, and Zuzu picks up all the life admin, combined with Zuzu and Agnes having little to any meaningful or positive communication with each other, leading to relationship challenges. Her family dynamics are also complicated and fragile, with most conversations involving being passive aggressive. It’s easy to see why Zuzu is so unhappy with her life, yet I felt a lot of it was on her in the way she communicates.

Honestly I really wanted to enjoy this book but it just felt lacklustre to me overall .There didn’t seem to be any injection of energy into the storyline other than someone that is unhappy and unable to make decisions or communicate positivity, which in the end made me a bit frustrated with the character.

“You are the most passive person I’ve met in my life”

Don’t get me wrong, the writing style is very easy to read but I just felt like something was missing. I really don’t like writing negative reviews, but I have to honest with my experience. Regardless I am grateful to @netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to review this ARC copy. And please don’t let this review put you off, everyone enjoys books differently, for me this one just didn’t land.

An all-too-relatable story of getting to the middle of life and questioning where you are, who you're with, and what you're doing. Looking back at the choices and the people in your life, and wondering if you made the right choices; what things could or would have been if things had turned out differently.

3.5 stars

At almost 40, Zuzu seems to have it all - a career, a wife, a child - but she can’t shake the feeling that her life isn’t what it should be. When an unexpected loss brings her back to her hometown, Zuzu is forced to confront her regrets and the choices that have shaped her life.

This is definitely a book for fans of character-driven stories. The writing is vivid, and Jackie Thomas-Kennedy does a fantastic job making Zuzu’s frustration and inner turmoil feel real. That said, Zuzu herself was a frustrating character at times, which I think was intentional but still made it hard for me to fully connect with her.

While I appreciated the exploration of race, class, love, and regret, the slow pace and lack of a strong plot left me feeling a bit uninvested. Not much happens in terms of action-it’s more of a quiet, introspective journey-which won’t be for everyone. The ending, while thought-provoking, didn’t feel as resolved or rewarding as I’d hoped.

Overall, The Other Wife is beautifully written and will appeal to readers who enjoy introspection and character studies. If you’re looking for a plot-driven story, this might not be the right fit. Thank you to Penguin/Viking and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thanks netgalley for this book. I thought it was beautifully written and I really felt the frustration of the characters. There is some amazing language “you could love your son to the point of worship and you could still find yourself gasping for air among the dirty plates”. The what ifs, the dissatisfaction. It was all frustrating and real.
My biggest complaint was the unclear ending!

Zuzu's life has been one of significant choices, and in this, her fortieth year, she fears that she has chosen wrongly every time. Zuzu narrates the story of her failing marriage, her damaged family and career and attempts to figure everything out, and see if maybe this time she can make some right choices.

I found this book frustrating because Zuzu doesn't talk to her wife, Agnes and Agnes doesn't talk to Zuzu. Zuzu talks to her friend, Cash, who might be the one that got away, but only in a type of frustrating shorthand where neither of them say what they want, and so it goes on. Zuzu is accused at one point of being too passive and I found myself nodding hard. None of the characters in the book are particularly likeable and nobody really speaks unless it's to drag up the past and old grievances in particular. I thought it was very well observed and really well written, but the plot, such as it is, is more like a slice of life ongoing and I found myself thinking by the end that perhaps the author was also too passive to decide what was going to happen to anyone.

This woman appears to have become a lesbian by accident. If I was her wife I would have binned her off years ago. She doesn’t seem that affected by her father’s death and when she gets a memento of him she’s been apparently waiting to get back for years, she discards it in a hotel lobby. The writing is pretty good, but wasted on these unloveable characters. As a middle-aged woman with bisexual tendencies, you’d think I’d be into this book, but I didn't find it a rewarding read.

At almost 40, Zuzu is evaluating her life. She's married to a very successful lawyer, Agnes, has a beautiful house and a lovely child. Yet something seems missing. The connection between her and Agnes is lessening all the time and Agnes is becoming more and more distant. She reflects on her on-off and very one-sided relationship with Cash and this all comes to a head when Zuzu's father dies suddenly.

I enjoyed this book. Zuzu is a somewhat exasperating character, consumed with wanting to be desired but always feeling she isn't really wanted (except by the very peripheral character of Noel who does want her, a lot. Unfortunately she doesn't want him). The ending was a little disappointing as it was so unresolved. I'm not a fan of everything being tied up neatly but this was a bit too loose for me. A solid 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Thanks to the publisher and NetGally for the ARC.

This was a good book and the right length with a strong flow. I feel like there wasn't much resolution at the end which I would have liked.
Some very real issues addressed in a well rounded way.
I look forward to see what the author writes next.

This is the story of a woman up to around ten years into her marriage to another woman, when their life is complicated and it's hard to see the love anymore. She reflects on her life and past relationships and unresolved issues. The writing is good and the story is interesting. However it left me frustrated and bitter, as the characters don't really evolve throughout the book. The main character is incapable of making choices and expressing herself, which is something we're told on the first page and then shown for the rest of the book, with no evolution or resolution whatsoever. Interesting topics are touched, racial issues, family issues, but not with any depth. It feels like a far too long introduction to a good story. Maybe too much like real life when we get dragged into things and relationships and after years we look around and think "how on earth have I let this happen?".

Zuzu has the life she’s always dreamed of – or thought she dreamed of - a beautiful house, a child (a son, Gideon), and a very successful partner. But Zusu's relationship with her wife, Agnes, is cold and somewhat remote. Zuzu spends quite a lot of the book reflecting on the relationship she had - and the possibility of a slightly different relationship altogether - with her best male friend, Cash.

In the meantime we're also introduced to Noel, the guy at school she tried to avoid and her slightly strained relationship with her now divorced parents, one white, one black. Zuzu has at times obviously been uncomfortable with her black heritage and she also reflects on this, her response to Noel over the years, what she's felt about Cash over the years, the decisions she's made - and whether they were in fact the wrong ones.

The story is very reflective - not a great deal happens and, although I zipped through it, I didn't really care about any of the characters - Zuzu's relationship with Cash in particular shows her to be entirely passive - she clearly wanted more from him and their relationship but did nothing to make it happen. Although she's looking back on her life so far, it was something of a mystery to me that she managed to marry Agnes - I didn't get any sense of how they managed to get together in the first place and since Zuzu is so passive throughout (whereas Agnes really is not), I couldn't quite make sense of the fact that it was Zuzu who asked Agnes to marry her. One of the instances that baffled me was that, regularly in the course of the book, Zuzu is wishing to find a sweatshirt that she used to have that was her father's - she thinks it's in a storage unit belonging to her and Agnes. Eventually the actual sweatshirt appears - and then Zuzu just leaves it behind (deliberately) despite its apparently importance to her throughout at least the first half of the book. I rather felt that if she was too passive to care about what she did and what happened, I couldn't be bothered either ...

A book about missed chances ... I would recommend it but only to people who like books which are reflective on relationships but where not much actually happens.

Thank you net galley for this copy. Full review at https://readreviewandreflect.wordpress.com/
A debut novel, Thomas-Kennedy’s writing style is flawless and captivating. The imagery used was strong and precise and she used food continually throughout the chapters delving into the past to engage our senses, and making me very hungry.
I really enjoyed reading The Other Wife as I felt I was growing closer and closer to Zuzu, the main character, after every chapter. Thomas-Kennedy has written this character very well, choosing a first person narration was a good choice as I felt like she was one of my closest friends, telling me all of her secrets during a wine-fueled catch up.
I particularly liked how short the chapters were, with names rather than numbers, which increased the pace at which I read, almost devouring it in days.
Zuzu is a complex character for me. I loved her immensely. In fact, multiple points throughout this novel I wanted to just reach in and give her a long, soothing hug as I just felt for her. However, she is morally quite grey, making terrible decisions constantly.
James ‘Cash’ Cashel and Zuzu’s relationship is confusing and complex. As college students, Zuzu’s love for Cash is, again, consuming. Sadly, that hasn’t changed much for present day Zuzu who is married with a child.
This is a very enjoyable novel, told by the main character using snippets of her past to paint a very clear picture of her current circumstances. I would heavily recommend this novel to those that enjoy character driven narratives and thought-provoking women’s fiction with themes of self-discovery. However, this could be labelled one of those stories where “nothing really happens” and so if you prefer a more plot-driven story, this may not be for you.

Firstly, I’d like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with this stunning work of fiction.

‘The Other Wife’ follows the story of Susan (or Zuzu, as she’s so often called) as she narrates the portrait of her life. She does so in a way that’s easy to follow with each chapter adding a new piece to the puzzle. As readers, we get to immerse ourselves in both her past and present, which highlights a key theme of the book - what could have been.

As we uncover feelings and desires buried deep within Susan’s mind, we see the complexity of human behavior and how we ultimately fall victim to our own emotions. The themes we see most are those of love, desire, identity and resilience. In other words, we witness something very raw and very human.

I enjoyed accompanying Zuzu along her journey and I believe that she would be a nice companion to many a reader. I know that I’ll be carrying the feelings this book left within me for a while still. It’s not often that we see such a consistent and sincere portrayal of a character’s inner world and I would like to applaud the author for that.

Thankyou net galley for this arc copy, I really enjoyed this book as it showcased the main character trying to navigate through the decisions she made in life as a means of being a easier life, I loved the flashbacks and seeing the dynamic of her relationship with her childhood best friend. This book is a really good thought provoking book that showcasing the true meaning of this book sometimes comfortable isn’t always the right way to go