The Secret Wife

Description

For readers of Robert Hillman and Toni Jordan, and written by an award-winning author and screenwriter, The Secret Wife a tense, heartfelt story of female friendship and liberation in the turbulent 1960s In 1961, on the day that Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to rocket into outer space, Edith Devine moves into her brand-new suburban home-and meets her new neighbour, Frankie Heyman. Frankie is a glamorous, sophisticated foil to the quiet, clever Edith, and the two housewives become firm friends. Then, when Frankie's domineering husband Ralph refuses to let her get a job, Edith hatches a plan to keep her friend's household running while Frankie secretly goes out to work-and so Edith becomes Frankie's secret wife. As Frankie builds a business empire, Edith runs both their homes- dusting, cleaning and cooking her way through the sexual revolution, the summer of love and the second wave of feminism. Throughout the 1960s, the world's great events seem to be mirrored in the lives of two women-until the day in 1969 when the first humans step out onto the surface of the moon, and Frankie and Edith face a calamitous reckoning. The Secret Wife is an irresistible story of fierce love, unconditional sacrifice and the transcendent power of pulling together.

Mark Lamprell is a writer of novels and children's books published in sixteen countries and twelve languages, including the novels The Full Ridiculous and A Lover's Guide to Rome. He also works internationally as a writer and director in film, with movie credits including Babe Pig in the City, My Mother Frank, Goddess, A Few Less Men and Never Too Late.

'Moving, wry and powerful, Mark Lamprell's compelling new novel is laden with secrets and brimming with wit, warmth and razor-sharp observations. I loved it.' * Suzanne Leal * 'What a gorgeous pair of women Lamprell has created in Frankie and Edith. By turns heartbreaking and hilarious-The Secret Wife is a tender love song to a decade that changed the world.' * Kathryn Heyman * 'A stunning debut.' * Courier Mail/Herald Sun on The Full Ridiculous * 'Gorgeous and heartfelt...a portrait of individual crisis and family dysfunctionality.' * Weekend Australian on The Full Ridiculous * 'The ongoing subjugation of women through our performance of emotional and domestic labour is a serious matter, and The Secret Wife is a welcome addition to a slew of recent novels drawing attention to the thankless maintenance work with which women continue to be saddled.' * Monthly * 'All the beauty and wonder of female relations.' * Jessie Tu, Age * 'A story of innocence told beautifully.' * Canberra Times * 'The Secret Wife is a clever, funny and charming read that will whisk you off to another era entirely.' * Better Reading * '[A] story of female friendship, sacrifice and women's empowerment...Lamprell brilliantly aligns [historical events] with Edith and Frankie's own story.' * Cheryl Akle, Australian * 'A staggeringly beautiful book.' * Australian Women's Weekly * 'Lamprell's characters are well-drawn the prose is concise and somewhat cinematic. [The Secret Wife is] a literary page-turner that I suspect will appeal to fans of Frank Moorhouse's Edith Trilogy.' * Historical Novels Review *