The Dream Wife by Louisa De Lange

3.5 Stars

I found this strangely enjoyable, but as more of a fantasy story than the promised psychological thriller.  For me there was little in the way of thriller about the book, but there was an almost magical element to it through Annie's dream world and that is probably what swung it for this reader.

There is a lot of well trodden ground here and, to be honest, it is not particularly well handled or developed in the book.  Yes, I am aware that there is domestic abuse at all levels of income/society and that abuse can be psychological rather than physical.  However, to go from promising, driven career woman to cowering in fear domestic slave stretches credulity a little thin.  Also, it is becoming an all too familiar trope in this genre.  Until the dreaming starts this is a fairly non-descript tale to be honest - all mother love and overbearing spouse.

I did like the dream sequences, very much.  Unfortunately, if this is where the twist lies then I couldn't find it.  After the first couple it was clear who Jack was and it was also clear what they signified.  Well, it was for me anyway.  So, that meant no twist in the tale but what we did get was a well written expose of the reality and what these dreams meant to, and for, Annie.  The plot development is average, unfortunately, and begins to be just a catalogue of violence and mental torture interspersed with glorious fantasy.

The characters in the book are also a bit of a problem.  Nobody has any real depth to them with one or two characteristics that define them throughout.  David, Annie's husband, is the typical 1980s City Boor - all whisky and suits and vile attitude.  His mother is repellent and lives only for her son and refuses to give her control of him to anyone else - your basic MIL from hell.  Annie is, well, whiny and needy and you do wonder how she ever held down a job, let alone a career if this is her base level of behaviour.  Basically pre-marriage and post-marriage Annie are completely separate people and there is no plausible defence of this in the story.  to be honest other than those 3 there are cameo appearances from Dream Jack, a pre-marriage friend of Annies whose name I cannot recall and a single dad from the neighbourhood that pops up randomly in the real world and the dream world.

Go in to this book expecting more of a fantasy meshed in a real world rather than the hyped thriller and you will probably enjoy the story a lot more.