My Readers Guide for My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney has a character list, a plot summary, and my questions. I’m also here to discuss yours! Let’s read and discuss this twisty and disturbing suspense story about a man with … two wives?
Readers Guide for My Husband’s Wife
Table of Contents:
Jen’s Quick Take on My Husband’s Wife
Character List for My Husband’s Wife
Plot Summary for My Husband’s Wife
The Ending of My Husband’s Wife Explained
My Questions About My Husband’s Wife: what are yours?
Jen’s Quick Take on My Husband’s Wife
- I’m a HUGE Alice Feeney fan and I have to say that this is one of my favorite books of hers!
- It combines the psychological thriller element of Sometimes I Lie, but with the loose ends tied up.
- The story has domestic suspense and gaslighting elements, a hint of the paranormal, and something new: spice (sex scenes and some fantasies, but not too explicit…)
I can’t wait to discuss this one with you, so let’s get to it!
Spoiler Free Character List for My Husband’s Wife
The Fox/Wolf family:
- Eden Fox: artist (she’s the first Eden we encounter, so I’m calling her Eden 1)
- Harrison Woolf: Eden’s husband, owns Thanatos
- Gabriella Woolf: Eden and Harrison’s daughter
- The Wife: Eden 2
Residents of Hope Falls:
- Sergeant Luke Carter: police officer in Hope Falls, Cornwall
- Olivia “Birdy” Bird: just inherited her grandmother’s house in Hope Falls
- Diana Harris: owner of the Saltwater Gallery
- Maddy: barmaid at The Smuggler’s Inn
- Cath: works at the Driftwood Cafe
- Old Stu: old guy who walks his dog around town.
Other characters:
- Ingrid: employee of The Manor
- Mary Kendall: employee of The Manor
Plot Summary for My Husband’s Wife
The narrative of My Husband’s Wife shifts between a few days in late October/early November and a period six months earlier. There are also epistolary sections, which are transcripts of police interviews.
Note: I listened to this on audio and just got a printed copy so may have some corrections to make! If you notice any names misspelled or things I misheard, please leave a comment!
October 30
Eden Fox takes a run through the small town of Eden Falls in Cornwall. She’s excited about her first art exhibition tonight. When she heads back to Spyglass, her home, Eden’s key won’t fit in the lock.
A frustrated Eden needs to change for her exhibition and didn’t bring her phone on the run. When a police car shows up, her husband Harrison opens the door and tells the police that she’s an unstable woman claiming to live in his house. Eden hides and watches.
Six months earlier
A forty year-old woman named Birdy is at a hospital getting some health issues checked out. She has things that haunt her, including being abandoned as a child.
October 30
Still in her hiding place, Eden considers her options. She has no phone, money, or ID. No friends to call as she’s new to town. The front door of Spyglass opens and Harrison and a blond woman get into his car. She heads into town and watches the blond woman, wearing her dress, address the guests. As Eden starts to push into the crowd, a police officer grabs her.
Six months earlier
Birdy leaves the hospital in shock and heads to her flat over an Alice in Wonderland-themed bookstore She greets her husky dog, Sunday. A solicitor arrives and says he represents her grandmother.
October 30
Sergeant Carter questions Eden 1, who insists the she lives at Spyglass and the art show is hers. He shows her an Instagram account for Eden Fox: a blond artist (not Eden 1) who attended the gallery opening and has just renovated her home, Spyglass. Eden wants to call her daughter, but Gabriella is not speaking to her.
Six months earlier
Birdy meets the solicitor in the pub and learns that her grandmother left her a house. Her mother took her own life when she was ten and she was put into foster care. Her mother and grandmother were estranged. She leaves Sunday at the bookshop downstairs and heads to Hope Falls.
Spyglass is built into the cliffs. Birdy opens the door and recalls being in the house as a child. She finds a black envelope with rose gold lettering from a company called Thanatos. The letter inside asks if you want to know your death day. The name on the envelope is hers.
October 30
Eden 1 still insists to Carter that she is the real Eden. He wants to drive her to the Falmouth police station. She has a fantasy about sleeping with him so he will let her go. When Carter is distracted by a call from Harrison, asking if he found the woman harassing him, she throws his keys in the harbor and runs.
Six months earlier
Birdy explores Spyglass and memories come flooding back. There’s a knock on the door and a young man is standing there. He says he saw the lights on in the house and asks her who she is. When she says her name is Olivia Bird, he tells her Olivia Bird is dead.
October 30
Eden 1 runs back up to Spyglass and breaks in. She’s searching for her purse and her phone.She is shocked that all photos of her in the house are gone. Eden changes her clothes, packs a bag, and finds some money in her underwear drawer. She can’t find her purse, ID, phone, or laptop, but she does find a spare set of car keys. Eden decides she will go visit Gabriella. She then falls (or is pushed) down the stairs and knocked unconscious.
Six months earlier:
Birdy’s birth certificate did not have a father’s name. Carter tells her that her grandmother lived to 100. She had a caregiver. Carter was the one who discovered her body. He says her grandmother sent her carer on vacation and that he found her dead holding the book Frankenstein.
October 30
Eden wakes up on the floor, confused. Someone asks her if she is okay. It’s Carter, who claims she tripped and fell. He arrests her but she is able to sneak out and drive off.
Six months earlier:
Birdy goes to the graveyard in Hope Falls. Her grandmother’s headstone has two death dates: 1944 and 2025. Her first death was at age eighteen when her fiancé tragically died in the war. Grave robbers came to dig up her body and steal her jewelry, including her huge ruby engagement ring. They couldn’t get the ring off, and when they started cutting off her finger, she woke up screaming and was later found in bed missing her ring finger.
After that she became a recluse, had Birdy’s mom (who later had Birdy and then took her own life at the falls). Birdy and Carter discuss crime and she says it’s always the husband.
October 30
Eden 1 can’t understand why her husband and his fake wife are lying. When Gabriella was eight she loved hide and seek. But Eden sent her outside so she and Harrison could have sex. When they were done, Harrison left for work and she couldn’t find Gabriella. Eden searched for her. Harrison called the police. A police car came and found her next to her crumpled bike.
Six months earlier
Birdy tells Carter she won’t be back and they sleep together. She wonders how Thanatos knew when her grandmother would die. Birdy has an old phone and no TV (ok, is she a ghost? Inside joke for those who have read all Feeney’s books!)
Her grandmother’s Thanatos death day (and actual death day) was February 14 2025.
October 30
Eden 1 reflects that Gabriella was never the same after the accident so Eden sent her to the Manor. Gabriella was hit by a police car that was responding to her father’s phone call. For a while, Gabriella was in a coma and her body healed but not her mind. She hasn’t spoken since the accident.
But Gabriella does speak when she sees Eden 1 enter her room at the Manor, saying: “She is not my mother.”
Six months Earlier
Birdy called Thanatos and got an appointment. At the appointment, a doctor asks her why she wants to know her death day. They draw blood for tests and then a hand delivered letter arrives.
October 30
Gabriella screams, then smiles at Eden 1, who leaves. Her car runs out of charge in the middle of Blackmoor National Park. Eden wakes up to the sound of a phone and finds a cheap burner phone in the car. There’s a text that says “Eden, everything is going to be okay. Go to our special place.”
As she’s a mile from Hope Falls, Eden starts to walk. Harrison isn’t at the special place on the cliff’s edge. Suddenly Eden is tumbling through a waterfall.
Her last thought? “True love kills.”
October 31
Carter shows up at Spyglass and asks Harrison when he last saw his wife. A woman matching her description was seen on the cliffs and her sweater was found. Harrison calls Eden’s phone, but it rings in the kitchen drawer.
Meanwhile Birdy has quit her job, moved back to Hope Falls, and rented a room at the inn over the pub. Carter is shocked when Birdy shows up at the police station and he says he’s busy. She says she is his new boss.
Carter is very unhappy that Birdy was given a DCI job over him, but tells her that a woman is missing.
Birdy says she never met Eden Fox and Harrison Wolf when she sold them her grandmother’s house. Birdy sends Carter to the gallery to question The Black Widow, Diana.
Carter’s interview with Harrison:
Eden left her rings behind. Carter tells Harrison they found Eden’s car and asks if either of them were having an affair.
Oct 31
Carter wants to speak to Gabriella
Birdy learns that Harrison Wolf is involved with Thanatos and summons Carter to meet her at Spyglass. She is deferential to Harrison and asks Carter to make them a cup of tea. She thinks it strange that Carter knows where everything in the kitchen is.
Harrison shows them his texts to his wife on the day she disappeared and says he has nothing to hide. Birdy knows he is lying.
Carter reflects that it’s weird to be back with Birdy at Spyglass as that is where they slept together.
They look around the house and notice a walkman on the bedside table and that the sheets have been changed. Also, the master bedroom has not been renovated due to a covenant in the will. Birdy takes Eden’s brush for evidence.
Harrison is starting to crack. He has a new investor and all this publicity will mess everything up. He recognizes that Olivia Bird is a clinical trial volunteer.
Birdy asks Carter to see the CCTV footage of the woman who claimed she was Eden. They both agree Harrison is lying.
Carter reflects that he never had an affair until a stranger came to town. Eden showed up three weeks ago and said someone was watching her. She was also fascinated by the Day of the Dead festival. On November 1, the town dresses up like skeletons, holds flaming torches, and walks from the church graveyard to the falls. Carter noticed that Eden was flirty and also had bruises on her arms.
Carter’s Interview with Diana Harris of the Saltwater Gallery
Diana only met Eden yesterday. All their correspondence was by email, and Diana agreed to do the event because Harrison came in and said he’d fund the party.
Carter tells Birdy that Diana was one of the last people to see Eden alive.
Birdy tells Carter that Gabriella is in a facility, and learns that Maddy, who works at the pub, is Carter’s sister. Their parents used to own the pub.
Harrison opens the garbage bin and sees Eden’s black velvet dress, which he burns. He recalls wondering when his mother would die, which was what prompted him to start his company. One evening he found a hidden door in the bookcases of Spyglass.
Birdy asks Carter to walk Sunday, and he takes the dog to Blackwater Bay, where he sees a man on the beach that he is certain is Harrison.
Birdy talks to Maddy about the pub. The woman who owned the freehold sold it. Her parents tried to buy it but were outbid by a brewery. The locals in town are being outpaced by the wealthy buying holiday homes. Carter bursts in and says someone found a body on the beach.
Carter wonders if Birdy knows what he did.
Then Carter gets a call about a body on the beach.
Birdy wonders if a person who jumped at the falls could end up on the beach. When she and Carter get there, Diana is the one who found the body. It’s a woman in jeans and a tee shirt with no face. Carter vomits.
Harrison wonders if anyone saw him on the beach. He needed to get the phone that he hid in Eden’s car back. He uses the tunnel to get back to Spyglass where he showers and burns his clothes.
Birdy wonders why people are lying. She has a key for the pub as it seems like her grandmother owned it. Carter finds her in pain as she forgot her medication. He carries her upstairs and they sleep together.
Nov 1: Day of the Dead
Carter sneaks home at dawn. He looked at all Birdy’s pills and knows she’s seriously ill. He decides to drive to The Manor.
Gabriella is painting Spyglass. Ingrid, her nurse, tells Carter that she has selective mutism, but that the other nurse, Mary, has been successful at getting her to whisper sometimes. Mary has recorded her on a Walkman. Gabriella painted a fox and a wolf on either side of the house. Ingrid says that Mary started working at the Manor after her former employer died.
When Ingrid says Mary is about to arrive at work, Gabriella says “run, rabbit, run.”
When Mary shows up, she is Eden 2.
Birdy tries unsuccessfully to reach Carter. She goes to the cafe and talks to Cath who says that she saw Eden right before she jumped. Also … Carter is married.
Carter interviews Old Stu, the dog walker who saw Eden at the falls. He saw the woman and then she vanished. But he saw two women came up the hill.
Birdy can’t believe Carter didn’t tell her about what Stu said. She goes to speak to him but he denies seeing two women.
Carter rushes after Mary/Eden 2, who drives off in a red Mini Cooper. Ingrid insists that Mary is NOT Gabriella’s mother.
Harrison thinks about Gabriella’s accident. Her mother was too distracted. Gabby wanted her training wheels off but he was too busy. He refers to a kiss between two people who should have known better. The Manor calls and says that they allowed the police to interview Gabriella.
Then Birdy asks Maddy about her whereabouts (and Carter’s) on the morning Eden allegedly jumped.
Birdy is searching Carter’s desk when Harrison bursts in to complain. Birdie asks him if Thanatos is real.
When Carter returns, Birdie suspends him.
Upset, Carter texts a police friend in another town. He then walks up to the falls and finds Eden’s keychain in the dirt.
Carter goes home to his wife. One New Year’s Eve he got too drunk and slept with a random person, who fell pregnant. This woman, Jane, gave birth to their daughter, Steren. When he arrives home, Jane is making dinner with wine. She has invited his boss to dinner.
He shares his findings and thoughts with Birdie:
Eden 2 was actually Mary, Gabriella’s carer. He thinks Eden 1 is dead and that Mary was impersonating her.
Birdy agrees they will question Harrison.
Harrison is looking for Mary. He’s packing and grabbing passports. Mary texts him and he tells her to stick to the plan. He wants Mary, Gabriella and him to be a family.
Birdy and Carter tell Jane they are going to the Day of the Dead celebration. Carter tells Birdy that Mary used to be her grandmother’s caregiver. Mary’s red Mini Cooper is at Spyglass.
Carter reflects that a woman who died twice ruined his life then she sold the pub. The Bird family fortune came from smuggling money. When the Serendipity sank, they stole gold? Their greed cost his family everything. When Olivia Bird needed to pay for a carer, she sold the pub instead of Spyglass, leaving his parents unemployed.
Carter gets a text from the coroner: the hairbrush DNA does not match the victim’s.
Harrison rips into Carter, who calls Gabriella a freak. Harrison flips out and gets arrested.
Birdy recalls the day of Gabriella’s accident. She was an ambitious new detective, called to the scene of a missing child. She drove too fast and when her phone rang, she was distracted and hit Gabriella’s bike.
Carter’s friend texts back saying that Birdie is retired from the police force.
Nov 2 : Day of the Dead
Birdy’s alarm goes off. It’s midnight on November 2: her death day.
Carter goes back to Spyglass but can’t find Birdy or Harrison. He notices that the copy of Frankenstein fell off the bookshelf, the same book that Olivia Bird was reading when he found her body. As he finds the secret door, he gets hit over the head.
Harrison is packing suitcases into the Mini Cooper. He drives off, reflecting that he died once after a heart attack and was resuscitated. Thanatos didn’t predict his death correctly and kind of just guesses. He calls the Manor and asks them to pack Gabriella’s things, but she’s missing.
Carter wakes up in the tunnel with Birdy on the other side of the door. Apparently Mary was told by Olivia Bird that she would inherit Spyglass. When it got sold instead, she befriended Harrison.
Carter is upset that Birdy took his phone and that he’s locked in the tunnel, but Birdy tells him she has a date with death.
Six Months Earlier
Birdy is depressed. She’s quit her job. She wants to see Gabriella before she dies. She goes to the Manor and meets Mary. Gabriella calls her Mummy.
Nov 2: Day of the Dead
Carter is astonished: Birdy was married to Harrison?
Eden (1) was their nanny and tricked Birdy into thinking that the accident was her fault. Harrison invited Eden to move in after Gabriella’s accident. Harrison and Birdy divorced, then Harrison married Eden. Carter asks her if she killed Eden.
Birdy tells Carter she is dying and that Eden stole her life, so that Birdy stole hers.
Eden had an affair with Harrison and ten years later, Gabby was able to tell her this when Mary helped her learn to speak. Birdy swore Mary to secrecy.
Ten years before, Gabby watched Eden and Harrison together and got caught by Eden. Eden pushed Gabby down the stairs and staged her bike accident. She waited for Birdy drive up to the house and then called her so she’d hit the bike and think she hit Gabriella.
Harrison, Mary and Birdy conspired to gaslight Eden by having Mary take her place. Harrison sent the “special place” text to Eden.
The plan was for Birdy to be at the falls and push her. (But as the first time we see Birdy in the present is October 31, we don’t see Birdy try to do this. Presumably Birdy went and she wasn’t there.)
After that, the plan was for Mary would take Eden’s place. Since Eden was a recluse, no one in town knew her. There was a lot to do: remove photos of her from the house, change the locks, hide her phone and wallet,
Gabriella liked Carter until he knew things. She escaped the Manor by hiding in Mary’s car, then fell asleep in the car and ended up at Spyglass.
Eden is the one who sent Gabriella away (presumably so she couldn’t say anything about the affair.) Gabriella seems unhappy about Mary being her new mummy.
The deal that Mary, Harrison and Birdy made was that Mary would get Spyglass, Harrison would get rid of the lying Eden, whom he married with no prenup, and Birdy would get revenge. Then Mary and Harrison fell in love.
Harrison will buy the brewery for Carter’s family if he keeps quiet about all this.
Birdy swallows a bunch of pills. Carter is able to get out of the tunnel and call an ambulance.
Ending of My Husband’s Wife: One Year Later
Everybody lies and everybody dies.
- Birdy is in remission. She died on Nov 2 but was saved by Carter.
- Birdy and Sunday moved into Spyglass.
- Carter’s parents are back running the pub.
- Carter is promoted. Harrison and Mary are in Switzerland.
- Gabriella seems to be living at Spyglass with Birdy.
Who killed Eden?
Carter’s wife, Jane. She visited the office one day and saw Carter kissing Eden so she pushed her off the cliff. Jane also knows that Carter and Birdy slept together and might kill Birdy later on.
MY QUESTIONS ABOUT MY HUSBAND’S WIFE
Again, I was listening instead of reading and feel like I missed a few things. Please leave a comment if you have any theories about these questions OR questions of your own!
Didn’t Eden 1 recognize Mary when she was impersonating her? Eden 1 was the one who put Gabriella in the Manor. I guess Eden did not visit her there?
Was Eden’s fall down the stairs an accident? Did Carter do it? Jane?
How did Jane time it so she was able to push Eden right when she arrived at the falls? Wasn’t the text sent by Harrison?
So Jane killed the wrong person, correct? I think the person he kissed was Mary.
- Jane says that when they ran into each other at the waterfall, Eden insisted it was her impersonator who kissed Carter.
- Also, Carter says that Eden came to visit him “a few weeks ago,” claimed someone was stalking her, and flirted with him. He doesn’t mention the kissing…
Who wrote “LIAR” in Harrison’s bathroom mirror?
Birdie says “Everybody dies and everybody lies.” Who is lying? Birdie, Eden, Mary, Harrison, Carter, Jane
Was the book Frankenstein hiding the latch for the hidden tunnel? If so, and Birdie’s grandmother was holding it, was she trying to get to the tunnel? Or did someone (like Mary) kill her and escape?
What was the significance of the books mentioned:
- Frankenstein (people being brought back from the dead?)
- Alice in Wonderland? (Eden creates a rabbit hole of lies and then falls into one herself?
Masterpiece! Not just Feeney’s best, but I’d suggest in the top 10 of mystery thrillers of all time. Loved it, couldn’t put it down!! Feeney has become a must read author for me.
I agree that it was amazing. It had everything I want in psychological suspense: great pacing, tons of reader and character gaslighting, really kept me guessing, those WTF! reveals, plus some really great characters in Birdie (not sure if I’m spelling it right until I get the book) and Carter. I enjoyed it so much!!
Also, Gabriella was upset that Mary was going away with her and her dad and jumped out of the car. Did we got a reason why she did not wanted Mary? Because I feel they played as Mary was the savor of Gabriella.
And, Carters sister had blood on her when he got out the tunnel?
Okay I LOVED the audiobook but happy to have a hard copy to consult – yay!
In Gabriella’s narration, she says she hopes her mother dies soon and that she wants to live at Spyglass with only her father. I guess she was fine with Mary as a nurse, but not as a stepmother!
No, I went back to Carter’s last chapter and Maddy tells him he has blood on him.
Excellent summary and excellent book. I, too, listened to it. I absolutely hated the sound effects. I feel eden1 didnt recognize mary because Eden 1 didnt visit Gabby often and mary didnt start working at the manor until after Gabby arrived. Jane was at the waterfall to jump. Her part was totally a surprise. I did not see that coming.
I didn’t see it coming either! Do you agree that Jane killed the wrong Eden? I think it was Mary who was making herself visible around the neighborhood and flirting with Carter.
Yes, I agree Jane killed the wrong Eden. That Carter is such a tool. He needs to step up and either be married or not.
Agree – I liked him until that!
Wow! I was confused but this explains a lot! Thank you!
Let me see if I understood.. “Eden 1” was the “runner” in the beginning…and when she opened the door it was “Eden 2”..Mary?
Yes! They must have planned everything meticulously but while she was running through town they managed to change the locks and remove all photos of her.
Did Eden 1 actually stage Gabriella’s accident, or was the accident real and Gabriella lied to Mary and Birdie because Eden 1 sent her to the Manor? I don’t think the text gives a clear answer, but I lean towards Gabriella lying. Also, the bruises on Mary that Carter saw when he met her playing The Wife were caused by Gabriella, right? She talks about biting/hurting the care staff to get her way.
Also, what was up with Maddy closing the pub and showing up to tell Birdie “I hate you” and then saying she was going for a walk? I feel like Maddy had more going on than we were explicitly told. Did Mary and Maddy know each other? They were in the same situation getting screwed over by the grandmother Olivia Bird…?
1. Do you mean did Eden push Gabriella down the stairs, or did she fall accidentally? I could be wrong but thought that Gabriella got injured when Eden was supposed to be watching her, then Eden staged the fake bike accident to make Birdie think it was her fault.
2. Yes, I think those bruises were probably from Gabriella because I can’t think of any other option.
3. Oooh, that is an interesting theory. Yes, they both did get screwed over by Olivia Senior.
I will add all these to the post and see what others think. Just want to see what you meant in question one.
Yes, I was wondering if Eden pushed Gabriella or if she fell. In chapter 66 (about 3:45 into the chapter on audio), Birdy tells Carter that Eden pushed Gabriella. Presumably because that’s what Gabriella said. But I think it’s also possible that she fell and then Eden staged the accident.
It’s a really good question, but I’m not sure we get a definitive answer.
In one of Eden’s chapters, she mentions sending Gabriella out to play after lunch so she and Harrison could have a little afternoon delight and then later finding her crumpled outside. Which is odd, because why didn’t her father see (or say goodbye) before he left for work. And also odd because Birdy later claims to be the one who found her, and mentions that it was dark outside.
So … where was Gabriella all this time? She couldn’t have been injured in the house OR in lying in the driveway when her father left. So the main two possibilities (in my mind) is that after he left, Eden and Gabriella had some kind of a run-in and Gabriella either was pushed or fell. Then Eden staged the scene so that Harrison would blame Birdy and not her. I still think that makes the most sense, but will add it to the post.