WTF Are You Reading?: BookSparksPR Presents: The Good Wife

Title: The Good Wife
Author: Jane Porter
Format: Print
Length: 432 pages
Publisher: Berkley Trade Publications
Rating: 5 Stars

Is it possible to love someone too much?

Always considered the beauty of the family, the youngest Brennan sister, Sarah, remains deeply in love with her husband of ten years. Boone Walker, a professional baseball player, travels almost year-round while Sarah stays home and cares for their two children. Her love for her husband is bottomless—so much so that her sisters say it will end up hurting her.

Living apart most of the time makes life difficult, especially since Sarah often wonders whether Boone is sharing his bed with other women on the road, even though he swears he’s been true to her since his infidelity three years ago. While she wants to be happy and move forward in her life, Sarah constantly fears that Boone will break his promise. Now with Boone facing yet another career change, tension rises between the two, adding more stress to an already turbulent marriage. Emotionally exhausted, Sarah can’t cope with yet another storm. Now, she must either break free from the past and forgive Boone completely, or leave him behind and start anew . . . -Goodreads

My Thoughts

The scope of this emotionally provocative read is far greater than it's synopsis would lead one to believe.
While it is true that Sarah, the youngest Brennan sister, and her marriage does become the focus of this story as it progresses; its focal point for the first half of the read alternates between the death of her mother, the implosion of her elder sister Meg's marriage, the death of Meg's husband, and the loss of the son of family friend, Lauren...while Sarah seems to hover along the periphery.

The introduction of the family first, gives readers a sense of who everyone is, giving one a chance to see the forces that have gone into making Sarah who and what she is. On that same note, we also get a not so pretty view of how the destabilization of Sarah's family sends life altering waves through her life's pond.

By the time Sarah's story does start to unfold in earnest, around mid-book, the reader has become thoroughly invested in every character in the story. Thereby, making Sarah's fate and her happiness of greater importance than it would be if told earlier or on its own.
When all is said and done Sarah's story is the one that is the least tragic, and in the end provides the most hope.

The Good Wife is not a happy-go-lucky read. It is a read that takes an often heartbreakingly honest look at what it means to be a sister, mother, daughter, lover, friend, and spouse.
It is quite possible that readers will see bits and pieces of themselves and their stories within this saga's pages.
The Good Wife is the third book in the Brennen Sisters series, which also includes:

The Good Woman (Brennan Sisters #1)

The Good Daughter (Brennan Sisters #2)

About The Author

Born in Visalia, California, I'm a small town girl at heart. I love central California's golden foothills, oak trees, and the miles of farmland. In my mind, there's nothing sweeter in the world than the heady fragrance of orange blossoms on a sultry summer night.

As a little girl I spent hours on my bed, staring out the window, dreaming of far off places, fearless knights, and happy-ever-after endings. In my imagination I was never the geeky bookworm with the thick coke-bottle glasses, but a princess, a magical fairy, a Joan-of-Arc crusader.

My parents fed my imagination by taking our family to Europe for a year when I was thirteen. The year away changed me (I wasn't a geek for once!) and overseas I discovered a huge and wonderful world with different cultures and customs. I loved everything about Europe, but felt especially passionate about Italy and those gorgeous Italian men (no wonder my first very Presents hero was Italian).

I confess, after that incredible year in Europe, the travel bug bit, and bit hard. I spent much of my high school and college years abroad, studying in South Africa, Japan and Ireland. South Africa remains a country of my heart, the people, the land and politics complex and heart-wrenching.

After my years of traveling and studying I had to settle down and earn a living. With my Bachelors degree from UCLA in American Studies, a program that combines American literature and American history, I've worked in sales and marketing, as well as a director of a non-profit foundation. Later I earned my Masters in Writing from the University of San Francisco and taught jr. high and high school English.

I now live in Seattle and Hawaii with my three sons. I never mind a rainy day, either, because that's when I sit at my desk and write stories about far-away places, fascinating people, and most importantly of all, love. I like a story with a happy ending. We all do.