My Husband's Wife
- Judith D Collins
- Jan 20
- 8 min read
By: Alice Feeney
Narrators: Bel Powley, Henry Rowley,
Richard Armitage
ISBN: 9781250337818
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Flatiron Books
Publication Date: 01/20/2026
Format: Other
My Rating: 5 Stars + (ALC)
TOP AUDIOBOOKS OF 2026
The New York Times bestselling Queen of Twists is back with a psychological masterpiece that will leave you questioning everything you know about love, identity, and revenge.
“Nonstop thrills! The best Feeney book yet!” ―FREIDA MCFADDEN
Eden Fox, an artist on the brink of her big break, sets off for a run before her first exhibition. When she returns to the home she recently moved into, Spyglass, an enchanting old house in Hope Falls, nothing is as it should be. Her key doesn’t fit. A woman, eerily similar to her, answers the door. And her husband insists that the stranger is his wife.
One house. One husband. Two women. Someone is lying.
Six months earlier, a reclusive Londoner called Birdy, reeling from a life-changing diagnosis, inherits Spyglass. This unexpected gift from a long-lost grandmother brings her to the pretty seaside village of Hope Falls. But then Birdy stumbles upon a shadowy London clinic that claims to be able to predict a person's date of death, including her own. Secrets start to unravel, and as the line between truth and lies blurs, Birdy feels compelled to right some old wrongs.
My Husband’s Wife is a tangled web of deception, obsession, and mystery that will keep you guessing until the last page. Prepare yourself for the ultimate mind-bending marriage thriller and step inside Spyglass – if you dare – to experience a story where nothing is as it seems.
My Review
Renowned bestselling author and fan favorite Alice Feeney makes a thrilling return with her latest mind-bending psychological thriller, MY HUSBAND'S WIFE, following her acclaimed novel Beautiful Ugly, heralded as one of the top books of 2025.
In this gripping tale, artist Eden Fox comes home from her invigorating morning run, only to encounter a striking stranger who bears an uncanny resemblance to her. This woman boldly asserts her identity as the real wife, plunging Eden into a labyrinth of intrigue that spans dual timelines and centers around the enigmatic old house known as Spyglass.
Smartly written, set against the backdrop of the picturesque yet mysterious seaside village of Hope Falls, the narrative intricately weaves the lives of several characters entangled in a complex web of secrets, deceptions, obsession, and revelations, culminating in unexpected and shocking connections that will leave readers breathless.
About...
~Eden Fox: The story begins with Eden Fox returning to her new home, Spyglass, to find that her key no longer works. Inside, a woman who physically resembles her is with her husband, Harrison Fox, and both insist that the stranger is his actual wife and Eden is the intruder.
~Dual Timelines: The narrative is told in multiple perspectives and jumps between two main timelines: the "present day," focusing on the unfolding mystery of Eden's identity crisis, and "six months earlier," focusing on another character named Birdy.
~Birdy's Story: Six months prior, reclusive Londoner Birdy inherits the mysterious house Spyglass from her grandmother after receiving a life-changing medical diagnosis. While in Hope Falls, she discovers a shady London clinic that claims to predict people's date of death.
~Character Connections: The local police officer, Sergeant Luke Carter, becomes involved in investigating the strange situation at Spyglass. He is Birdy's new boss, a detail that ties the characters together.
How do the characters connect?
My thoughts...
A core element of this multi-layered complex novel is that the characters are often unreliable narrators, keeping the reader guessing about what is real and what is a lie. The author is known for her numerous plot twists and shocking revelations, particularly here in the final third, which challenge the reader's assumptions about the characters' identities, relationships, and motivations.
The story cleverly unfolds through the alternating perspectives of four main characters:
~Harrison Fox: Eden’s husband, described as charismatic, handsome, and controlling. His narrative is highly unreliable as he is at the center of the identity crisis, insisting to the police that the "new" woman in his home is his real wife and that the "original" Eden is a stranger.
~Sergeant Luke Carter: A local police officer in Hope Falls who investigates Eden’s claims. While he serves as a more grounded perspective initially, he is aware of the suspicious "coincidences" in the case, and his own narrative reveals that he is also keeping secrets.
~Eden Fox: The artist who believes her life has been stolen. Her reliability is constantly questioned as she struggles with her own sanity and memory after finding herself locked out of her own life.
~Birdy: The former detective whose past and terminal diagnosis drive her actions in the earlier timeline. Like the others, she omits key truths about her history and her real reasons for coming to Hope Falls.
By the end of the novel, the shifts between these narrators reveal that almost every character has been lying, confused, or absolutely not who they say they are.
~The house "Spyglass" (chilling, as I formerly lived on Spyglass in the country club on the golf course, when I was married) is a central, atmospheric setting where the two timelines and characters' secrets ultimately converge in a dramatic and unexpected conclusion. The characters' past mistakes and hidden connections are revealed, explaining the truth behind Eden's apparent replacement and the various coincidences in Hope Falls
~Converging Identities: The timelines collide when Birdy, a former London police detective, transfers to the seaside village of Hope Falls as the new police chief. In the present, she (along with Sergeant Luke Carter) investigates the case of Eden Fox—the woman who returns from a run only to find her identity apparently "stolen" by a lookalike.
~The Shadowy Clinic: While Birdy’s earlier timeline focuses on her finding a clinic that predicts death dates, this search for answers eventually uncovers secrets that directly tie her fate to Eden's.
As the narrative progresses, it is revealed that the "coincidences" between their lives are not accidental. The two storylines merge in the second half of the book, revealing that the characters’ past mistakes and long-buried family secrets are the cause of the identity crisis occurring in the present.
~Connecting the Timelines: The clinic acts as the bridge between Birdy’s past in London and her investigation into Eden Fox's missing identity in the present. Birdy’s search for answers about the clinic pulls her into a web of lies that eventually reveals the hidden connection between her fate and Eden’s.
~The takeaway message of MY HUSBAND'S WIFE centers on the destructive nature of secrets and the subjective reality of truth. The novel suggests that "truth is not what happened, but what you believe happened," highlighting how personal perception can distort reality.
~The title refers to the conflict where two different women claim the same identity and the same husband. In typical Feeney style, the title is a play on the idea that there are "two sides to every story." It hints at the final reveal where the true nature of the marriage and the identity of the "wife" are not what they seem, challenging the reader's assumptions about love and betrayal
By skillfully using multiple unreliable narrators, Feeney reinforces the idea that there are always multiple sides to a story—"yours and mine, ours and theirs"—and that someone is always omitting or twisting facts to suit their own narrative.
With themes of selective memory, omission, distorted perception, regret, and the pervasive dishonesty force the reader to trust no one and question every fact presented, and the changing of the context of everything the reader thought they knew. In addition to Eden and Birdy, there are other unreliable narrators to create this intense, tangled web of deception that will keep readers on their toes.
In summary, once again, Feeney showcases her unparalleled talent for crafting a razor-sharp psychological thriller that grips the reader from the very first page. The narrative is not only captivating but also intricately woven, filled with suspenseful twists and compelling characters that keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire journey.
The audiobook...
I had the immense pleasure of immersing myself in a captivating audiobook, brought to life by the talented award-winning cast of Bel Powley, Henry Rowley, and Richard Armitage. Their performances were nothing short of mesmerizing, brilliantly elevating the narrative and drawing me into its intricate tapestry of atmosphere, deception, and a web of secrets that kept me on the edge of my seat. Each character was infused with depth and nuance, making the listening experience truly engaging and unforgettable. I wholeheartedly recommend this remarkable audiobook.
Recs...
If you enjoyed the unreliable narrators and high-stakes identity shifts in My Husband's Wife, consider these similar psychological thrillers, including popular 2026 releases:
~Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston.
~Dear Debbie by Freida McFadden
~It's Not Her by Mary Kubica
Similar themed:
~Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney
~None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell
~The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding:
~Our House by Louise Candlish
~The Guest by BA Paris
I would like to extend my gratitude to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for graciously sharing an advanced listening copy in exchange for my honest feedback.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars +
Pub date: Jan 20, 2026
Top Audiobooks of 2026
Praise
“My Husband’s Wife was nonstop thrills from the first page and kept me guessing until the end! The best Feeney book yet!”
―Freida McFadden, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“My Husband's Wife is propulsive, compulsive, addictive and everything else you could possibly want a psychological thriller to be. I read it in under a day, breathlessly, with wide eyes, and in awe of a writer at the top of their game.”
―Lisa Jewell, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Don’t Let Him In
“Clever, twisting, and devilishly dark. I loved My Husband’s Wife; the pace is breathless, and the ending is jaw-dropping. I’m a HUGE Feeney fan.”
―Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of All the Colors of the Dark
“Alice Feeney is a phenomenal storyteller. I was completely hooked from first page to last.”
―Clare Leslie Hall, New York Times bestselling author of Broken Country
“Feeney delivers another gripping psychological thriller enhanced by an immersive, sound-rich
listening experience. . . These vivid soundscapes don’t just enhance the atmosphere―they transform the listening experience into something truly cinematic and unforgettable. Readers of twisty psychological fiction by such as Freida McFadden, Riley Sager, Ruth Ware, and Lisa Jewell will rush to listen.”
―Booklist, audio (starred review)
“A crackling psychological thriller with complex mysteries around every turn.”
―Readers Digest
“A straight-up mystery-thriller―there’s no alternate dimensions or woo-woo involved. Just nuclear-grade deception.”
―Goodreads (Most Anticipated)
“Alice Feeney is at it again, delivering a masterclass in twisty thrillers with My Husband’s Wife. . . This is truly brilliant storytelling from Feeney. My Husband’s Wife is a thrilling mystery steeped in lies and deception with more twists than a roller coaster . . . With characters you care about, even though you might also hate them, and a plot full of original, unpredictable turns, this book makes for an unforgettable must-read.”
―Capes and Tights
“Sensational. My mind is still spinning. This is going to be huge.”
―Jo Murray, author of Dissection of a Murder
About the Author
Alice Feeney is the New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ugly, Good Bad Girl, Daisy Darker, Rock Paper Scissors, His & Hers, I Know Who You Are, and Sometimes I Lie.
Her novels have been translated into over thirty languages, and have been optioned for major screen adaptations. Alice was a BBC journalist for fifteen years, and now lives in the Devon countryside with her family. WEBSITE
