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The Other Wife
Two ordinary women. One extraordinary choice…
Elisabeth Jones has been placed under arrest for killing Rose Boston. The same Rose Boston that her husband, Rob, once had an affair with.
To the outside world it seems like a clear cut case. But Rose Boston had been suffering from a long, terminal illness - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). In her darkest hour she asked Libby for help…
As the lines between what is right and wrong become blurred we are left wondering…
If your friend asked you to help her to die…what would you do?
Elisabeth Jones has been placed under arrest for killing Rose Boston. The same Rose Boston that her husband, Rob, once had an affair with.
To the outside world it seems like a clear cut case. But Rose Boston had been suffering from a long, terminal illness - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). In her darkest hour she asked Libby for help…
As the lines between what is right and wrong become blurred we are left wondering…
If your friend asked you to help her to die…what would you do?
185 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 4, 2014
3 people are currently reading
205 people want to read
About the author
Brooke Powley
3 books17 followersBrooke is as a mother, hen keeper, teacher, PA, private tutor and dog walker.
In her spare time you’ll usually find her swimming in a lake or riding over a mountain on her bike. She drinks a lot of tea, likes books and loves cake.
She lives in the Lake District with her family.
Her first novel – “The Missing Half” is out now was published in August 2013. Followed by "Letting go of Emma" in February 2014 and "The Other Wife" in October 2014.
In her spare time you’ll usually find her swimming in a lake or riding over a mountain on her bike. She drinks a lot of tea, likes books and loves cake.
She lives in the Lake District with her family.
Her first novel – “The Missing Half” is out now was published in August 2013. Followed by "Letting go of Emma" in February 2014 and "The Other Wife" in October 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
October 2, 2022
Really good story could happen to anyone a woman learns she's dying with a young son and had an affair who ends up looking after her and son its a sad story a really good read.and a ending which I didn't expect borrowed this book who won it on first reads. well written book.
October 10, 2014
This is the 3rd book by Brooke Powley I have read and they are all different but all have one thing in common: They are excellent in their portrayal of the 'what would you do' topic the are based on.
This book explains in very understandable language all about ALS/Motor Neurone Disease. It was nice to have that explained given the Ice Bucket challenge aired on social networks. It is also about forgiveness, friendship and people putting their feelings to one side for the good of others. It has a lot of twists and turns I had 3 people in mind as the possible culprit but was wrong. It was nice to see the reappearance of Eddie who featured in the previous books. A person's right to end their own life was discussed in a sensitive and unbiased way. Absolutely loved it.
I also liked the afterword written by Brooke explaining her pledge to donate royalties from this book to the ALS charity rather than tipping water on her head. I must admit I have wondered how many of the people having had their moment of fame actually donated but maybe I am just cynical.
Keep writing Brooke I can't wait for the next book :)
This book explains in very understandable language all about ALS/Motor Neurone Disease. It was nice to have that explained given the Ice Bucket challenge aired on social networks. It is also about forgiveness, friendship and people putting their feelings to one side for the good of others. It has a lot of twists and turns I had 3 people in mind as the possible culprit but was wrong. It was nice to see the reappearance of Eddie who featured in the previous books. A person's right to end their own life was discussed in a sensitive and unbiased way. Absolutely loved it.
I also liked the afterword written by Brooke explaining her pledge to donate royalties from this book to the ALS charity rather than tipping water on her head. I must admit I have wondered how many of the people having had their moment of fame actually donated but maybe I am just cynical.
Keep writing Brooke I can't wait for the next book :)
December 3, 2016
Oh, this is difficult. The overall premise of the book is great, full of potential. I was looking forward to reading it. Overall, standing back from it a little I think it's worth 3 stars, However the devil is in the detail. Their were grammatical errors that a good proofreader should've picked up on. ***POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT**** Please look away now if you don't want to know the score! Little things like: ***could someone who's been tagged and isn't allowed past their own drive, take their child for a treat at a local cafe? (I admit I don't know, maybe.) ***If someone is wearing a bipap device how would pillow fibres get into their mouth?*** Why was there even a post-mortem done? (The death may well have been reported to the coroner, but clearly this was someone who was terribly, terminally ill so ........)
Ok, you can look now. As I say I think the narrative is intriguing and brave, but it was let down by details.
Ok, you can look now. As I say I think the narrative is intriguing and brave, but it was let down by details.
December 1, 2016
The other wife by Brooke powley is a contemporary fiction read.
Two ordinary women. One extraordinary choice…
Elisabeth Jones has been placed under arrest for killing Rose Boston. The same Rose Boston that her husband, Rob, once had an affair with.
To the outside world it seems like a clear cut case.
But Rose Boston had been suffering from a long, terminal illness - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). In her darkest hour she asked Libby for help…
As the lines between what is right and wrong become blurred we are left wondering…
“If your friend asked you to help her to die…what would you do?”
This was a fantastic read with brilliant characters. I loved libby. Really felt for her. Full of twists and plots. Highly recommended. 5* . I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book from tbc on fb.
Two ordinary women. One extraordinary choice…
Elisabeth Jones has been placed under arrest for killing Rose Boston. The same Rose Boston that her husband, Rob, once had an affair with.
To the outside world it seems like a clear cut case.
But Rose Boston had been suffering from a long, terminal illness - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). In her darkest hour she asked Libby for help…
As the lines between what is right and wrong become blurred we are left wondering…
“If your friend asked you to help her to die…what would you do?”
This was a fantastic read with brilliant characters. I loved libby. Really felt for her. Full of twists and plots. Highly recommended. 5* . I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book from tbc on fb.
October 9, 2014
This is the third book I have read by Brooke in the last couple of weeks. All have been excellent but this was the best. Very topical as it deals with ALS - indeed a donation is going to charity from each copy sold. The subject is very sensitively dealt with along side the right to die argument. Great characters, especially Molly and Max as well as the central ones. And I love Edd who has been in all three books. Not sure I would have been as kind as Libby in the circumstances but overall a good and thought provoking read.
February 9, 2015
Read book over a couple of nights and the ending made me cry. The characters and the way they tell their own events in the tale add to the realness of the story.
December 7, 2016
I was intrigued by the blurb and having recently read a book on assisted suicide thought this would be good to compare. There were a few small things that I didn't like. For a book set in the U.K. I don't understand why the term ALS was used throughout rather than motor neurone disease. I didn't enjoy the inner dialogue of Libby as she seemed to be continually asking questions of herself and for me it would have read better in third person. I'm conscious of not giving spoilers but I am a retired police officer and at pick up on some points that other readers wouldn't. This is an ok read and I liked part one. I think I expected it to move up a gear in part 2 but I didn't feel it and we had a lot of repetition with the events retold from the different characters perspective. Overall it just fell a bit short for me.
I received a free copy of The Other Wife via THE Book Club on Facebook and my thanks to the author Brooke Powley for that.
I received a free copy of The Other Wife via THE Book Club on Facebook and my thanks to the author Brooke Powley for that.
December 4, 2016
Would you care for your husbands terminally ill mistress & their child? Take her into your home & provide 24/7 help?!!
You must be some sort of saint if you do....but then to be accused of her murder!!
A perfectly paced page turner with interesting subjects, infidelity, friendship & ALS.
Would definitely recommend this book & I look forward to reading more from this author.
You must be some sort of saint if you do....but then to be accused of her murder!!
A perfectly paced page turner with interesting subjects, infidelity, friendship & ALS.
Would definitely recommend this book & I look forward to reading more from this author.
October 4, 2019
I love mysteries and thrillers and this had me guessing! I couldn't put it down.
September 2, 2024
Emotional and gripping read
April 3, 2016
I wish GoodReads could do half star ratings - as I would give this two and a half stars, not two. A number between one and five seems far too broad for judging so many books, don't you think? Anyway, I digress.
I'll get one negative out of the way with: this book was in need of a good edit. I see that there were a number of proofreaders, but I found a LOT of typos and mistakes throughout the book (one on the first page!), particularly concerning the punctuation of direct speech. Now, many people will think I'm being pernickety and unnecessary but to me it is very important to get this sort of thing right. As any author knows, it takes about ten times as long to do the editing process as it does to write the original novel - no exaggeration! It gives a professional feel to a book, particularly when it is self published, and it's very important for an author to communicate effectively with their readers. Grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes get in the way of this communication, and this is a real shame.
(I am acutely aware as I'm writing this that I will probably made lots of mistakes, and people will call me hypocritical! Sorry if this is the case.)
I enjoyed this more than I expected to, having said that. It was an engaging, interesting narrative, and a controversial subject very sensitively and deftly handled. I liked the characters of Libby and Rose, and found them believable, even in this terribly difficult situation. If only everyone could be as good as Libby! Robert, I found harder to relate to, and I felt as though I didn't 'get' him as a character. The point of view shifts were very interesting, but I think slightly overdone. The first part of he book was great, alternating between the two different perspectives, but the latter part of the book felt a little confusing. As each narrative character got a comparatively small amount of 'air time', it felt a little unsatisfactory: we were offered their perspective, but not enough, which made them appear a little shallow, when they were simply underdeveloped. For example, I felt that having sections from Edd's point of view didn't really work for me; there wasn't enough of his character shown to have a real backbone to these sections.
The surprises were exciting! I guessed the first one, literally, two pages before it happened, and I thought that it worked very well. (I was also very smug that I figured it out before Libby!) However, the final twist for me just did not work: it was too out of the blue, too far-fetched and unbelievable. For that reason, I have marked it down a bit.
As well as the actual errors in the text, there were sections that could have done with a real 'tidying up' as the language was sometimes awkward or stilted. Again, this all comes down to very thorough rewrites and editing.
Overall, a promising novel - keep writing! I was very touched by Brooke donating money to ALS charities, and think this is much better than the ice bucket challenge, although that did, of course, generate a lot more knowledge of the disorder.
I received this as a prize in a GoodReads giveaway (thank you!) but all thoughts and opinions are completely my own.
I'll get one negative out of the way with: this book was in need of a good edit. I see that there were a number of proofreaders, but I found a LOT of typos and mistakes throughout the book (one on the first page!), particularly concerning the punctuation of direct speech. Now, many people will think I'm being pernickety and unnecessary but to me it is very important to get this sort of thing right. As any author knows, it takes about ten times as long to do the editing process as it does to write the original novel - no exaggeration! It gives a professional feel to a book, particularly when it is self published, and it's very important for an author to communicate effectively with their readers. Grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes get in the way of this communication, and this is a real shame.
(I am acutely aware as I'm writing this that I will probably made lots of mistakes, and people will call me hypocritical! Sorry if this is the case.)
I enjoyed this more than I expected to, having said that. It was an engaging, interesting narrative, and a controversial subject very sensitively and deftly handled. I liked the characters of Libby and Rose, and found them believable, even in this terribly difficult situation. If only everyone could be as good as Libby! Robert, I found harder to relate to, and I felt as though I didn't 'get' him as a character. The point of view shifts were very interesting, but I think slightly overdone. The first part of he book was great, alternating between the two different perspectives, but the latter part of the book felt a little confusing. As each narrative character got a comparatively small amount of 'air time', it felt a little unsatisfactory: we were offered their perspective, but not enough, which made them appear a little shallow, when they were simply underdeveloped. For example, I felt that having sections from Edd's point of view didn't really work for me; there wasn't enough of his character shown to have a real backbone to these sections.
The surprises were exciting! I guessed the first one, literally, two pages before it happened, and I thought that it worked very well. (I was also very smug that I figured it out before Libby!) However, the final twist for me just did not work: it was too out of the blue, too far-fetched and unbelievable. For that reason, I have marked it down a bit.
As well as the actual errors in the text, there were sections that could have done with a real 'tidying up' as the language was sometimes awkward or stilted. Again, this all comes down to very thorough rewrites and editing.
Overall, a promising novel - keep writing! I was very touched by Brooke donating money to ALS charities, and think this is much better than the ice bucket challenge, although that did, of course, generate a lot more knowledge of the disorder.
I received this as a prize in a GoodReads giveaway (thank you!) but all thoughts and opinions are completely my own.
November 28, 2016
This is the first book i have read by this author and it won't be the last now. This is a fab read, that had me turning the pages into the small hours.
Libby has been sat in a prison cell charged with the murder of Rose - a lady, a mother, a mistress - suffering with ALS. Rose however is no random woman - she is Rob's mistress. Rob being married to Libby.
Rob has been having an affair with Rose, and they have a little boy together Max who is 3. When Rose's condition starts to take over her life it is clear she cannot go on looking after her little boy and asks Rob to have him but let her see him. Rob moves Rose into his home - with Libby having to accept the little boy or lose them both. For Libby this is terribly hard but she loves this man and soon loves the little boy. Rose continues to go downhill and quickly - Libby begins to help with her care and they soon build up a friendship that you would think would never happen. It certainly made me question whether i would be so gracious to my husbands mistress??? It is clear that rob just cares for rose - as the mother of his child and both him and Libby do everything they can to take care of them both. Then Rose decides she wants to go to Switzerland in preparation to take her own life when the time is right - will Libby help her, what will Rob say and what happens next - you will need to read on to find out. Its a very emotional, sometimes frustrating novel - it certainly makes you question things for yourself. Brilliant Brooke - thank you!
Libby has been sat in a prison cell charged with the murder of Rose - a lady, a mother, a mistress - suffering with ALS. Rose however is no random woman - she is Rob's mistress. Rob being married to Libby.
Rob has been having an affair with Rose, and they have a little boy together Max who is 3. When Rose's condition starts to take over her life it is clear she cannot go on looking after her little boy and asks Rob to have him but let her see him. Rob moves Rose into his home - with Libby having to accept the little boy or lose them both. For Libby this is terribly hard but she loves this man and soon loves the little boy. Rose continues to go downhill and quickly - Libby begins to help with her care and they soon build up a friendship that you would think would never happen. It certainly made me question whether i would be so gracious to my husbands mistress??? It is clear that rob just cares for rose - as the mother of his child and both him and Libby do everything they can to take care of them both. Then Rose decides she wants to go to Switzerland in preparation to take her own life when the time is right - will Libby help her, what will Rob say and what happens next - you will need to read on to find out. Its a very emotional, sometimes frustrating novel - it certainly makes you question things for yourself. Brilliant Brooke - thank you!
December 23, 2016
My first book by this author but it certainly will not be my last. An unusual concept for a book and one which makes you think what would you do in the same situation. On occasion Libby did seem too good to be true but she did have to deal with such a lot or turmoil and upheaval in her life before she ended up behind bars. Liked that each episode was written from the perspective of different characters. Really enjoyed this book and thank you to TBC for a chance to read it in exchange for my honest review.
December 25, 2016
I loved the premise of the book, such a clever idea, and extremely topical too. However, like some of the others I was put off by the lack of editing and the number of grammatical errors. However the story line more than compensated, so please don't let that put you off reading it. The story is about a happily married mother of 4 daughters, who finds out that her husband has had an affair. The affair produced a son, who has to live with them as his mother has ALS (MND). A very interesting story line which I'm sure will spark many debates.
October 25, 2019
This was a powerful book with an emotional storyline which was really well written. I found it very thought provoking. This is the first book I have read by Brooke and I can honestly say that I enjoyed it from beginning to end.
It was an easy read with likeable characters and a few twists and turns thrown into the mix too.
It was an easy read with likeable characters and a few twists and turns thrown into the mix too.
December 4, 2016
What a beautifully well written book that handles the feelings of someone suffering from a terminal illness with amazing empathy. This book could be read my any preferred genre. It keeps you guessing but also pulls at the heart. Easy to read and loved the story being told by all members of the family.
December 17, 2016
I found this story riveting and I raced through it. Libby finds herself accused of something she did not do but does not feel she should have to explain herself. It is taken out of her hands when her daughter Molly and husband Rob hire a P.I to uncover the mystery of Rose's death. What did happen to Rose? Was it an accident or murder?
December 5, 2016
This is the first book I have read by Brooke & I really enjoyed it. Very thought provoking story. It made me think what I would do if I was in the same situation. Made me cry at the end. Thanks to TBC for the review copy.
September 6, 2018
Excellent read!
Well written and easy to pick up and put down without getting lost. Excellent storyline, I really enjoyed this book.
Well written and easy to pick up and put down without getting lost. Excellent storyline, I really enjoyed this book.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews