What do you think?
The Difficult Wife
A Haunting Tale of Love, Art, and Madness
Are you captivated by stories of psychological suspense? Do you find yourself drawn to historical settings with a touch of the supernatural? "The Difficult Wife" by Tim Robinson delivers a thrilling narrative that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
About This BookIntriguing Follow painter Lucy Lake as she navigates the complexities of her marriage to Morten Andersen, a man haunted by his past.Gothic Immerse yourself in the dark, remote rural house where Lucy battles unseen forces and her own sanity.Psychological Explore themes of mental illness, grief, and the struggles of a female artist in a male-dominated world.Historical Experience the vibrant art scene of Paris juxtaposed with the eerie isolation of the countryside.Supernatural Question reality as Lucy feels the ghostly presence of her husband’s first wife closing in on her.Emotional Witness Lucy’s fight to maintain her artistic integrity and her sanity against overwhelming odds.Will Lucy overcome the shadows of the past, or will she become another "difficult wife" lost to madness?
Discover the answers in this compelling Gothic historical thriller.
Buy "The Difficult Wife" now and dive into a world where art, love, and sanity intertwine in the most haunting ways.
Are you captivated by stories of psychological suspense? Do you find yourself drawn to historical settings with a touch of the supernatural? "The Difficult Wife" by Tim Robinson delivers a thrilling narrative that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
About This BookIntriguing Follow painter Lucy Lake as she navigates the complexities of her marriage to Morten Andersen, a man haunted by his past.Gothic Immerse yourself in the dark, remote rural house where Lucy battles unseen forces and her own sanity.Psychological Explore themes of mental illness, grief, and the struggles of a female artist in a male-dominated world.Historical Experience the vibrant art scene of Paris juxtaposed with the eerie isolation of the countryside.Supernatural Question reality as Lucy feels the ghostly presence of her husband’s first wife closing in on her.Emotional Witness Lucy’s fight to maintain her artistic integrity and her sanity against overwhelming odds.Will Lucy overcome the shadows of the past, or will she become another "difficult wife" lost to madness?
Discover the answers in this compelling Gothic historical thriller.
Buy "The Difficult Wife" now and dive into a world where art, love, and sanity intertwine in the most haunting ways.
315 pages, Paperback
Published May 3, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 27, 2024
The Difficult Wife by Tim Robinson
Whilst in Paris, Lucy Lake viewed Picasso’s Le Bordel d’Avignon for the first time and had an epiphany. She had never seen art like it before and it changed her world. There, at the same time is an English gentleman, who, unlike Lucy was not at all impressed with the work and aired his negative views. Strikingly handsome, she did not take to him and his contemptuous manner.
Later, meeting up with her ex-pat cousin, Freddy, she discusses the painting and how her free spending parents had left her the poor relation, when the man from Picasso’s studio appears and greets her cousin. Once he leaves, Lucy explains their encounter and Freddy warns her against him. His wife, who had been ‘difficult’ had committed suicide by throwing herself down the stairs.
Lucy travels south to visit her Bohemian artist friend Dorothy, who has taken to living in a commune with her unfaithful husband Francois. After a happy couple of weeks, Lucy would love to have stayed but admitted that with funds so low, she had to return to England and look for work. There was little hope of getting any help from Rich old Aunt Ada.
Things turn around when Aunt Ada, who had been taken ill, dies. Unexpectedly, she has left her fortune to Lucy, in its entirety, meaning Lucy can stay. She decides to rent a nearby cottage and starts painting with intent, expressing and exploring her new feelings. Having resisted Francois’s advances previously, she is persuaded by Dorothy, that if they were to engage in a menage a trois, which would be acceptable and discovering her sexuality becomes part of Lucy’s education. At the point where things had begun to fizzle out, Lucy realises that she must return to England to sort out her estate.
On the ferry back, she has the misfortune to meet the handsome man, Morton Andersen. During the voyage, the ferry is involved in a collision. Lucy could have been swept overboard had Morton not pulled her to safety. The boat limped home and the passengers long delayed had to find rooms for the night. Lucy and Morton managed to bag the last room in the hotel by claiming she could not sleep in the reception as she was pregnant. Thus, they were forced to share a bed and the inevitable happened. Unlike Francois, Morton did not take precautions although he assured her, he was unable to have children. This turned out not to be the case and discovering she was to have a child, she contacted Morton who gets his doctor friend to examine her and confirm the situation. To the concern of Freddy, they were married. Overnight, Lucy is transformed from a wealthy woman living a bohemian life, to a wife, running an enormous and grim looking home in Yorkshire. Morton behaved in the way one would expect of a respectable country gentleman and spent many an hour with his ‘Bro’, the local Doctor, Richard. They were always punching and joshing each. To the reader, one immediately wants to shout: “He’s gay!” but times were different then. Her cousin, Freddy, could only be ‘out’ because of his life in Paris.
Things take a turn for the worse as Lucy loses the baby, which Morton would have loved. Lonely and moody, furiously painting images which Morton finds disturbing, he persuades her that she needs medication, Morphine, which Richard supplies. Rapidly, she slips into dependency, with her only Allie, Mrs Greenwood, the housekeeper, to turn to. Like the drug she is being fed, Lucy becomes equally dependent on Mrs Greenwood, in spite of the fact that she has begun to harbour doubts about her intentions. She gets lucy to keep secrets from her husband and to lock her studio door. Richard and Morton have taken care to warn her of the dangers of the moors and its hidden bogs but Lucy goes there to escape and to avoid the prying eyes of the villagers. There she discovers a beautiful boy living in a cottage but Richard and Morton tell her that it is a fantasy. A family live there, that’s all. Her friend Dorothy turns up for a visit, against Morton’s wishes and it does not end well. On leaving, Lucy writes to Dorothy and never hears back. Freddy doesn’t reply to her either.
The story darkens. Although her morphine is reduced, she is encouraged to start a new and forbidding treatment. As the story unravels, it is hard to know how it will end. Does Lucy meet the same fate as the first Mrs Andersen? Will Lucy be recognised for her modern art? Will Richard and Morton end up with her fortune and have a secret life together? Is Mrs Greenwood a saviour, or is she yet another malevolent person with wicked designs on Lucy? I won’t spoil the ending for you but you are kept guessing right up to the end.
Tim Robinson is an author of great originality and I look forward to his next novel. One thing that amused me. In Robinson’s last novel, Hatham Hall, a huge ugly home also features. Is a creepy home going to be a regular presence in Robinson’s work, akin to Hitchcock’s appearances in his own films, as a kind of signature? We will have to wait and see.
Whilst in Paris, Lucy Lake viewed Picasso’s Le Bordel d’Avignon for the first time and had an epiphany. She had never seen art like it before and it changed her world. There, at the same time is an English gentleman, who, unlike Lucy was not at all impressed with the work and aired his negative views. Strikingly handsome, she did not take to him and his contemptuous manner.
Later, meeting up with her ex-pat cousin, Freddy, she discusses the painting and how her free spending parents had left her the poor relation, when the man from Picasso’s studio appears and greets her cousin. Once he leaves, Lucy explains their encounter and Freddy warns her against him. His wife, who had been ‘difficult’ had committed suicide by throwing herself down the stairs.
Lucy travels south to visit her Bohemian artist friend Dorothy, who has taken to living in a commune with her unfaithful husband Francois. After a happy couple of weeks, Lucy would love to have stayed but admitted that with funds so low, she had to return to England and look for work. There was little hope of getting any help from Rich old Aunt Ada.
Things turn around when Aunt Ada, who had been taken ill, dies. Unexpectedly, she has left her fortune to Lucy, in its entirety, meaning Lucy can stay. She decides to rent a nearby cottage and starts painting with intent, expressing and exploring her new feelings. Having resisted Francois’s advances previously, she is persuaded by Dorothy, that if they were to engage in a menage a trois, which would be acceptable and discovering her sexuality becomes part of Lucy’s education. At the point where things had begun to fizzle out, Lucy realises that she must return to England to sort out her estate.
On the ferry back, she has the misfortune to meet the handsome man, Morton Andersen. During the voyage, the ferry is involved in a collision. Lucy could have been swept overboard had Morton not pulled her to safety. The boat limped home and the passengers long delayed had to find rooms for the night. Lucy and Morton managed to bag the last room in the hotel by claiming she could not sleep in the reception as she was pregnant. Thus, they were forced to share a bed and the inevitable happened. Unlike Francois, Morton did not take precautions although he assured her, he was unable to have children. This turned out not to be the case and discovering she was to have a child, she contacted Morton who gets his doctor friend to examine her and confirm the situation. To the concern of Freddy, they were married. Overnight, Lucy is transformed from a wealthy woman living a bohemian life, to a wife, running an enormous and grim looking home in Yorkshire. Morton behaved in the way one would expect of a respectable country gentleman and spent many an hour with his ‘Bro’, the local Doctor, Richard. They were always punching and joshing each. To the reader, one immediately wants to shout: “He’s gay!” but times were different then. Her cousin, Freddy, could only be ‘out’ because of his life in Paris.
Things take a turn for the worse as Lucy loses the baby, which Morton would have loved. Lonely and moody, furiously painting images which Morton finds disturbing, he persuades her that she needs medication, Morphine, which Richard supplies. Rapidly, she slips into dependency, with her only Allie, Mrs Greenwood, the housekeeper, to turn to. Like the drug she is being fed, Lucy becomes equally dependent on Mrs Greenwood, in spite of the fact that she has begun to harbour doubts about her intentions. She gets lucy to keep secrets from her husband and to lock her studio door. Richard and Morton have taken care to warn her of the dangers of the moors and its hidden bogs but Lucy goes there to escape and to avoid the prying eyes of the villagers. There she discovers a beautiful boy living in a cottage but Richard and Morton tell her that it is a fantasy. A family live there, that’s all. Her friend Dorothy turns up for a visit, against Morton’s wishes and it does not end well. On leaving, Lucy writes to Dorothy and never hears back. Freddy doesn’t reply to her either.
The story darkens. Although her morphine is reduced, she is encouraged to start a new and forbidding treatment. As the story unravels, it is hard to know how it will end. Does Lucy meet the same fate as the first Mrs Andersen? Will Lucy be recognised for her modern art? Will Richard and Morton end up with her fortune and have a secret life together? Is Mrs Greenwood a saviour, or is she yet another malevolent person with wicked designs on Lucy? I won’t spoil the ending for you but you are kept guessing right up to the end.
Tim Robinson is an author of great originality and I look forward to his next novel. One thing that amused me. In Robinson’s last novel, Hatham Hall, a huge ugly home also features. Is a creepy home going to be a regular presence in Robinson’s work, akin to Hitchcock’s appearances in his own films, as a kind of signature? We will have to wait and see.
July 27, 2024
This was a thoroughly engrossing read and very original, touching on themes of madness, sexual identity and the arts. The prose is sublime, as is Robinson's ability to write about what it takes to make good art. The story is classically Gothic: Lucy, a young and vibrant painter, is trapped by pregnancy into a marriage with the attractive but other-wordly Morten Anderson, knowing that his first 'difficult wife', Marianne, went mad and took her own life. As Lucy begins to uncover what happened to Marianne, she has to navigate the psychological pressures put upon her by Morten and his closest friend and family doctor, Richard. The sordid world they're into comes gradually to light as they drug her and try to stamp out her artistic ambitions. I was gripped by this twisty tale, desperate for Lucy to escape and make these men suffer for what they are doing to her. Amidst the darkness of the tale are moments of real poignancy that make this ghost story run close to the skin. A deft and unusual novel. I highly recommend!
July 27, 2024
Robinson has crafted a wonderful take on Rebecca, still set in the early 20th century but twisting the facts for a more 21st century readership. From the opening scene, in which our heroine visits Picasso's studio in Paris, the impact of modernism on the arts and sexual politics of the time is strikingly addressed in this Gothic novel as the plot takes us through Provence, Paris, London, Yorkshire and even Folkestone. But above all, it is a great read.
August 2, 2024
I really enjoyed Tim’s first book ‘Hatham Hall’. The Difficult Wife is also a compelling read. It’s a well crafted story about the life of a talented young artist, set at an exciting time in art history. She is a relatable character, vibrant, adventurous and vulnerable. The colourful characters she encounters are rarely what they seem and her misjudgements threaten to ruin her career and wellbeing, so she needs to wise up if she wants to realise her potential.
August 3, 2024
I really enjoyed Tim Robinson’s second historical novel, set in Edwardian England. Painter Lucy Lake is a thoroughly modern woman, but progressive values offer scant protection from bad marriages & before long Lucy finds herself stepping into Morten Anderson’s dead wife’s shoes as she becomes his second ‘difficult’ wife.
The plot has lots of twists & turns & I loved the elegant writing! It also has a refreshingly subversive element. All in, a great read!
The plot has lots of twists & turns & I loved the elegant writing! It also has a refreshingly subversive element. All in, a great read!
August 3, 2024
I loved this fantastic book. The characters are excellent and you really want the ‘difficult’ wife to win her battle. I think it’s even better than his first novel. A must read!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews