Oh my. Mrs. March was not AT ALL what I was expecting.
The title character of Virginia Felto's novel is a housewife and mother. Her husband, George, is an author who has just written a brand-new book, and Mrs. March finds out that he may have based the book's main character on Mrs. March. Not very flattering when you consider that the main character of his book is an unwanted whore.
Thoughts of "What will everyone think? Does everyone know? Why would he do that?" take up all the space in Mrs. March's mind and evolve until she's convinced herself that George is hiding a terrible secret. But is George the one with a secret or is it Mrs. March?
This book was recommended to me by Reading Group Guides, and I also won a Kindle version through a Goodreads giveaway. Judging from the description presented to me, I thought this book was going to be a comedy! Housewife discovers her husband used her as inspiration - hilarity ensues! But no. No no no no no. This is a dark story about a clearly mentally ill woman whose issues stem from a lonely childhood. I knew something bad was going to happen at the end, so I wasn't really surprised when I got to the last chapter. This was actually kind of the perfect book to read during October.
I could move past my surprise at the tone of the novel. But I had a really hard time figuring out what time period the story takes place in. The cover image reminds me of the 1950s, but there were references throughout the book that had me questioning that. At one point, Mrs. March goes into a restaurant bathroom and hears an audiobook playing through the speaker system. Well, certainly they didn't have audiobooks in the 1950s.
Also, it was hard to like Mrs. March, and she's the person we spend the most time within the story. This is probably because there's a lot we don't know about her, but her past is slowly revealed throughout the book, so it's easy to see why she thinks the things she does and acts the way she does. Girlfriend is seriously messed up.
But if you know these things in advance, then I think you'll enjoy it.
Mrs. March is published by Liveright and is available to purchase now. I won a free Kindle edition through a Goodreads giveaway.
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