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A review by cjfiebert
The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress by Ariel Lawhon
3.0
My best friend Christine read this book and gave it a 4/5. We typically like the same books and historical fiction is one of my favorite genres, so I decided to read it as well.
This book focuses on the real-life disappearance of New York Supreme Court Justice Joseph Crater. This fictionalized tale gives an account of what might have happened to him, focusing on what his wife, his maid and his mistress know about the event.
The novel follows each of the women in the days, weeks and months following the disappearance of Justice Crater. Throughout the story, you know that each woman knows more than she is letting on, even to those closest to them. The wife, Stella, knows that her husband was involved in the corrupt politics of the Tammany Hall era and believes that there is more to his disappearance than she will truly know. The maid, Maria, is married to the detective sent to uncover the truth of the case, but she holds secrets from her husband throughout the story and it isn’t until the full confession at the end that he realizes how much his wife truly knew. The mistress seems to know the truth and does her best to avoid the other women, but somehow gets tangled in with them anyway.
Overall, I have mixed feelings on the book. There were some parts that I felt dragged on longer than I would have liked. And then at the end, when I finally learned how things unfolded (in the fictional story since the case is still unsolved today), I was impressed with the planning that went into the plot. However, I think I would have enjoyed the story more if I had seen more of the planning along the way instead of a letter at the end showing “This is what we did. Plans changed slightly along the way, but we should still be okay.” Then again, my impression is that the real life case was not properly investigated because of the corrupt politics of the day and that there was a lot of sitting around, waiting for answers that will never come.
I liked this book, but don’t think it is one that I will keep on my shelf for rereading in the future.
This book focuses on the real-life disappearance of New York Supreme Court Justice Joseph Crater. This fictionalized tale gives an account of what might have happened to him, focusing on what his wife, his maid and his mistress know about the event.
The novel follows each of the women in the days, weeks and months following the disappearance of Justice Crater. Throughout the story, you know that each woman knows more than she is letting on, even to those closest to them. The wife, Stella, knows that her husband was involved in the corrupt politics of the Tammany Hall era and believes that there is more to his disappearance than she will truly know. The maid, Maria, is married to the detective sent to uncover the truth of the case, but she holds secrets from her husband throughout the story and it isn’t until the full confession at the end that he realizes how much his wife truly knew. The mistress seems to know the truth and does her best to avoid the other women, but somehow gets tangled in with them anyway.
Overall, I have mixed feelings on the book. There were some parts that I felt dragged on longer than I would have liked. And then at the end, when I finally learned how things unfolded (in the fictional story since the case is still unsolved today), I was impressed with the planning that went into the plot. However, I think I would have enjoyed the story more if I had seen more of the planning along the way instead of a letter at the end showing “This is what we did. Plans changed slightly along the way, but we should still be okay.” Then again, my impression is that the real life case was not properly investigated because of the corrupt politics of the day and that there was a lot of sitting around, waiting for answers that will never come.
I liked this book, but don’t think it is one that I will keep on my shelf for rereading in the future.