The Wrong Sort of Wife - Elise Chidley

Medium paperback - spine creasing - name written 1st page

ROMANCE/ CHICK-LIT

Lizzie Buckley has a life many women dream of – a gorgeous husband, wonderful home and beautiful (when they’re not fighting) three-year-old twins. But there’s a snag. It’s not that Lizzie has gone off marriage, as such. Well, not exactly. She’s just so tired that she fantasizes about being allowed to sleep for twenty-four hours straight; so tired that she’d rather go to bed with a book and a box of chocolates than with her husband, James.

Unfortunately, James doesn’t understand her feelings and when Lizzie unburdens herself in an email to her sister then hits ‘send’ at the wrong moment, suddenly everything starts to unravel. With the word ‘divorce’ ringing in her ears, Lizzie finds herself moving out and embarking on a totally different life – new house; new neighbours; no husband. But despite transforming her body, her neglected career and her libido (courtesy of the local landscape gardener), Lizzie can’t get over her soon-to-be ex.

Could things have turned out differently with James, she wonders? Maybe if she’d been thinner, or better dressed, or better bred, they’d still be together. Or was she simply, as her mother-in-law suggests, the wrong sort of wife all along?

The other side of much misunderstanding, mayhem and more than a little merlot, Lizzie will find out if the fairytale ending is sometimes just the beginning of the real story.

Elise Chidley was born in Southern Africa, studied in Scotland, lived in England for one hot summer and most of a very damp winter. She now lives in Connecticut with family. Her short stories have been shortlisted for the Nadine Gordimer prize and the Ian St James award. This is her first novel.