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Wife 22 [Hardcover]

Melanie Gideon
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
RRP: £12.99
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Book Description

21 Jun 2012

‘I loved it, loved it, loved it. It's so funny and true and sad and hopeful and wise and ultimately heartwarming.’
Marian Keyes

Maybe it was because I was about to turn the same age my mother was when I lost her. Maybe it was because my husband and I were running out of things to say to each other.

But when the online study called “Marriage in the 21st Century” showed up in my inbox, I had no idea it would change my life. It wasn’t long before I was assigned both a pseudonym (Wife 22) and a caseworker (Researcher 101).

And, just like that, I found myself answering questions.

Before the study, I was Alice Buckle: wife and mother, drama teacher and Facebook chatter, downloader of memories and Googler of solutions.

But these days, I’m also Wife 22. And somehow, my correspondence with Researcher 101 has taken an unexpectedly personal turn. Soon, I’ll have to make a decision—one that will affect my family, my marriage, my whole life. But at the moment, I’m too busy answering questions.

As it turns out, confession can be a very powerful aphrodisiac.


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Product details

  • Hardcover: 384 pages
  • Publisher: HarperCollins (21 Jun 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0007481772
  • ISBN-13: 978-0007481774
  • Product Dimensions: 14.1 x 3.8 x 22.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 317,683 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

‘I loved it, loved it, loved it. It's so funny and true and sad and real and clever and of-the-moment. Also so hopeful and wise and ultimately heartwarming.’
Marian Keyes

‘With a quirky narrative that mixes Facebook statues, questionnaires, Google searches and chatty prose, this is a funny and poignant story that explores how confession can sometimes be the ultimate aphrodisiac’ Easy Living

‘“Did I really try and pass off Ikea meatballs as my own? Did I really admit to our friends that we have sex only once a month?” Just minor questions for Alice Buckle as her life scrambles’ Sainsbury’s Magazine

‘In the crowded pool of novels about midlife crises, Wife 22 has the buoyancy of water wings’ Washington Post

About the Author

Melanie Gideon is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir The Slippery Year, which received huge critical acclaim. She has written for The Times, the Daily Mail, the Guardian, More and Marie Claire.


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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars FANTASTIC! 23 April 2012
By Sukie TOP 1000 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
Alice Buckle, mid-forties, has a lot on her plate. Her husband William publicly dismisses her life as "small", she is convinced her teenage daughter Zoe has an eating disorder and is just waiting for her twelve-year-old son, Peter (aka Pedro) to come out of the closet. Then she receives an email from a research centre, asking her to take part in a marriage survey and agrees. To preserve anonymity she is given the tag 'Wife 22' and assigned a researcher, 'Researcher 101' who asks her batches of questions.

As Alice delves into her memories and considers her answers, she realises how much she is enjoying having somebody ask about her hopes and feelings for a change - and, what's more, who listens and responds to her. As the initial formalities of the survey begin to develop into friendship, she wonders if, in laying bare her most intimate secrets about her husband and their marriage, Wife 22 might actually be falling for Researcher 101...

This is a funny, clever novel with a great concept and much to say on love and relationships. The writing is taut, sharp and whip-smart, and I loved Alice as a central character. I absolutely devoured this book - I can't remember the last time I read anything so quickly. A wonderful read which will make you reassess your own relationship. Brilliant!
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Sharp, sad and satisfying 29 Jun 2012
By Roman Clodia TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
Alice is in her mid-forties, her kids are growing up, her once-adored husband is distant and incommunicative and her marriage has become mundane. So when she's asked to take part in an anonymous marriage survey, she jumps at the chance to assess her own life. Soon she's having a vibrant online relationship with Researcher 101 - but is it possible to take it offline and into the real world?

I really enjoyed this which is a much sharper, wittier and cleverer than the average chick-lit. Gideon gives us a heroine who is an Everywoman without having to be ditzy, cute, accident-prone, or obsessed with huge knickers.

There were a few points where I didn't quite believe in the relationships (some of the dialogue with Peter, for example, just didn't sound like a 12 year old talking to his mother), and the book perhaps goes on a little too long.

Despite that, this manages to be sad, romantic (I loved the sections where Alice described her passionate early relationship with William), witty and really quite wise. It's not hard to guess the central `twist' way ahead of Alice but that actually adds to the fun of the book.

So don't be put off by the colourless, flowery cover - this is smarter and more robust than it looks. Recommended for switch-off reading that is light and funny while still maintaining some substance.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Compulsive reading 22 July 2012
By Damaskcat HALL OF FAME TOP 50 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
Alice Buckle has come to a turning point in her life. Her husband William is engrossed in his job and they have drifted apart. Her two teenage children - Zoe and Peter - have lives of their own and her own part time job as a drama teacher seems less fulfilling than it used to. To cap it all she is the same age as her mother was when she died and this she feels is significant.

When an online survey into attitudes to and experiences of marriage drops into her inbox she decides to take part. It all seems quite respectable as it's connected with a university and everything is kept anonymous - she is Wife 22 and the researcher she communicates with is Researcher 101.

What follows is a story which kept me reading for several hours without a break because I had to know what happened. The story contains Alice's answers to the questionnaire which gradually reveal her life with William and her relationships with her parents and friends. The questionnaire itself is reproduced at the end of the book. There are e-mails, Facebook posts and extracts from Twitter and some of the chapters are written like a timeline or a play.

I really felt I got to know these characters and when Alice felt she was getting too close to the researcher I could empathise with her. The fact that the book isn't just straightforward narration and dialogue kept me intrigued as it gave a sense of immediacy to the story - as though the reader has taken the lid off the characters' lives.

The characters are well drawn and believable and the whole concept is very twenty first century with its emphasis on modern means of communication. It does raise some serious points about technology putting walls between people and distancing them from their lives but it also shows that a mid life crisis needs careful handling if people are not to throw the baby out with the bathwater by radically changing their lives just to relieve the tension. I thought the teenage children were especially well done with their angst and their misunderstandings - and their parents' misunderstanding of them.

This book may seem to fall into the chick lit category but while it is an entertaining read it looks at many thought provoking issues which affect many people struggling with modern life. It was good to read a book with an older and imperfect heroine who is struggling to make sense of her life and her forgotten dreams.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Good holiday reading
This book despite its serious sounding premise (I thought it would be pyschobabble) is a funny exploration of middle aged marriage and modern family life. Read more
Published 5 days ago by debbie8355
2.0 out of 5 stars 374 pages where nothing much happens!
Alice Buckle - forty-something with teenage children, married for twenty years - is going through a (very minor) mid-life/mid-marriage crisis. Read more
Published 25 days ago by Chris Hall
1.0 out of 5 stars Just don't bother - that s all!
Banal and derivative - with a plot more full of holes than Rab C Nesbit's semmit. I had worked it out by about a third in but kept going because I refused to believe that anyone... Read more
Published 1 month ago by cookie
3.0 out of 5 stars Easy read
Very simple story line but well written never the less. A good holiday read, easy to pick up and put down. A sweet story.
Published 2 months ago by rl
4.0 out of 5 stars A Nice Story
Sad in a way cos of trouble in marriage but quite funny too and hopeful. I also like the way the son is so loving.
Published 6 months ago by lesley
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting idea poorly delivered
I bought this given the generally positive reviews and, whilst I enjoyed the first half, it started going downhill pretty quickly thereafter. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Westwood1
4.0 out of 5 stars A cleverly written book
When Alice is asked to take part in a research study into attitudes and experiences within marriage. Alice is codenamed Wife 22 and her assigned researcher is Researcher 101. Read more
Published 7 months ago by S. A. Broadhurst
2.0 out of 5 stars DISSAPOINTING,
Though the idea is different, which is why I purchased it. I found it very slow and boring. Fortunately it is on my Kindle so I can turn to another book. Read more
Published 7 months ago by LEE
5.0 out of 5 stars A refreshing read.
Although I love chick lit as much as the next fan, I have recently been getting bored of the same cliched storylines. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Flickering Ember
3.0 out of 5 stars Pleasant easy read
Pleasant enough story, but the "twist in the tale" is shockingly and painfully obvious - the read would have been better had it been left out. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Ms. L. Walters
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