The Absent Wife

by Karen Gillece

Twenty years after Leo Quick was abandoned by his wife and left to raise their two small children, he receives a phone call bringing explosive news. Fleur, his wife, who went Africa in the fervour of Live Aid, never to be seen or heard from again, has died in Kenya. She has left behind a daughter, Star, a third child to whom Leo is father, though he knew nothing of her existence till now. In his wife's absence, Leo has found new love with Denise, and together they have raised his two children. But the consequences of their childhood abandonment are playing out. Kester, his son, has a cocaine habit that is spiraling out of control, and Silvia is haunted by a sense of loneliness and struggling with her own demons. With Star's arrival, long-buried hurts resurface as each of the Quicks confront the legacy of Fleur's desertion. A story of the secrets we keep and the consequences of acting upon our desires, The Absent Wife is a darkly witty, knowing and gripping exploration of a modern family in crisis.

320 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2008

About the author

Karen Gillece was born in Dublin in 1974. She studied Law at University College Dublin and worked for several years in the telecommunications industry before turning to writing full-time. She was short listed for the Hennessy New Irish Writing Award in 2001, and her short stories have been widely published in literary journals and magazines. In 2009 she won the European Union Prize for Literature (Ireland).

(Also writes under the pen name Karen Perry)

Reviews

[Eileen Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice read. Set in Dublin. Good story that keeps you engaged.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant story, the author has unutterably brought forward an awareness of what it’s like to endure one’s life while living with someone with mental illness. It’s so easy and eloquent for this author to dig deep into emotions.

Jean’s last regrettable imprudent act that destroys the family twice over is so infinite and sad; a secret suspected by her husband Leo and known to Hugh, Leo’s life long friend is wrenching, a brilliant twist to the story.

This one part where Leo shares the difference between men and women is so true “in times of crisis, men bring drink, women bring food. He attributes this to men’s belief that spirts need to be raised, memory dampened, pain anaesthetized, women on the other hand, focus on bolstering strength. He cannot help but to think that the latter is a more noble endeavour. “

[Mrs Mac McKenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story followed a family where the mother left the family, and how this affected the different family members in their adult lives. The issues all come to a head again when news of the mother's death is received, along with news of another sibling / daughter of the family. It examines the issues of betrayal, love, marriage, personal space, happiness and roles.