The Perfect Wife by J. P. Delaney

Abbie Cullen Scott awakens to find that five years have elapsed and she’s struggling to figure out what happened to her. Her husband, Tim, is there by her side to help prompt her memory. He’s the brilliant inventor in the Silicon Valley tech world, CEO of Scott Robotics. Abbie learns that her existence is now due to innovations by him and his company. They’re the parents of autistic son, Danny, and she worries that he won’t remember her after such a long absence.

I went into this story blind and certainly recommend others do so if possible. What I’ve described so far can be captured from the first few pages and really don’t divulge much about the essence of the story. It’s a highly thought provoking one that challenges your beliefs about what makes you who you are. Abbie isn’t necessarily the perfect wife based on a set of ideals but seemingly the perfect mate for Tim. That in itself could spawn quite the discussion as he’s far from being a perfect man, intellect notwithstanding.

What really works about this story is how we’re discovering who Abbie was and is right along with her, sifting through what’s true and maybe not, who can be trusted and who maybe not. And, there’s another narrator, someone who works at Scott Robotics but isn’t identified until the end of the book so his reliability is also uncertain. I was never on sure footing and there’s a complete absence of predictability, including the ending which captivated me on many levels. Also important to everything is their son, Danny, and the methods used to educate and train him, some controversial and others enlightening. It made me reconsider what’s normal.

I’m really glad I opted to listen to this book. The use of multiple narrators whenever there are several points of view is always a plus in my opinion. I’m a huge fan of Saskia Maarleveld and she again delivered a great performance, as did the other two, Graham Halstead and Euan Morton (new to me). Fascinating story that I feel would be great for a group discussion with its myriad of conceptual issues.

Book Info

• Release Date: August 6, 2019
• Narrators: Saskia Maarleveld, Graham Halstead & Euan Morton
• Audio Length: 10 hours, 43 minutes
• Publisher: Random House Audio

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(Thanks to Penguin Random House Audio for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.)