This was one of the most ridiculous books I have ever read. The character of "Her Grace, the mother was horrible. So confusing at the beginning that I read to about 20% and skipped to 90% because I couldn't waste my time reading the whole thing. The plot of the multiple personalities just didn't work.

Thank you Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for the eARC.
Rita-Mae has been abused physically and mentally by her husband from the first day of their long marriage. Terrified he will end up killing her, she manages to finally find the courage to escape to a cottage far away. She suffers from nightmares, debilitating migraines and insomnia. The only thing keeping her sane is her medication.
Dorrie wakes up in a seaside B&B, not knowing how she got there, where she came from and how is she going to pay for her stay? It's a living nightmare to even contemplate leaving her room. But her dead mother's voice gives her the courage to face the ordeal: you're OK, just go with flow...
I found it difficult to put this book down, it's an extremely compelling story and I felt great empathy towards the 2 women. There are also a few amusing snippets to lighten the tension in scenes between Rita-Mae's landlord and his controlling mother, 'Her Grace'.
This is a refreshingly different suspenseful mystery. Halfway through I thought I had it figured out, but nope, I was wrong. And the very end was a bit of a shock! Great story, great characters and a very satisfying read, highly recommended!

This book features two women, Rita-Mae & Dorinda. We learn more about Rita-Mae as the book progresses and I did find myself wondering for a while what the point of Dorinda’s character was, of course, there’s almost always a point!
Rita-Mae needs to escape her abusive husband Harry. When she spots an advertisement for a house in Northern Ireland, the opportunity to escape fear arises and she leaves. Abraham, or Bram as he prefers to be called, becomes her landlord though it seems he and his house are harboring their own secrets. It begs the question, has Rita-Mae really escaped fear at all?
Dorinda wakes up in a B&B, wondering how she came to be there. This lady is terribly troubled, surrounded by ghosts and very much lost in this world.
The author depicts real vulnerability in both ladies, my heart ached for them both many times. It took a while to work out the connection between Rita-Mae and Dorinda, but it’s there and when I had that part worked out I had the rug pulled from under me!
A well-written book, though perhaps a little ambiguous at times. The ending was quite spectacular, I did not suspect for a moment that this was how this book would conclude.

Christina McKenna’s “The Spinster Wife” tells the story of two women in trouble. The first, Rita, is fleeing from her abusive husband; and, the second, Dorrie, is struggling with alcohol and memory loss. The bulk of the novel revolves around Rita, who has recently moved from southeast to southwest Ireland to escape her former life.

Rita is a character who is instantly sympathetic to the reader. She is a good person—she even volunteers at Samaritans, where she answers calls for its suicide hotline. This quality juxtaposed with her having a physically and emotionally violent husband made her someone that I felt compelled to root for. Though she manages to get away from her husband Harry, her troubles manage to follow her to her new home. There are multiple occasions of break-ins, and she receives calls from a threatening man called “Lenny” that lead her to believe that her life is in danger. Her landlord, Abraham—or “Bram” as we ultimately know him—develops a fondness for Rita that leads him to do what he can to protect her from potential harm.

Alternatively, Dorrie does not appear to have anyone on which she can tangibly depend. She has no memory of traveling to Portaluce, and she cannot even remember from where she came. She knows her name, and she has her memories of being a girl and losing her mother to the waves at a beach. Though her mother has passed, Dorrie is constantly in conversation with her—often speaking aloud to her mother’s spirit. Through most of the book, we never learn much beyond these facts concerning Dorrie’s character. Dorrie’s chapters are mysterious and void when compared to Rita’s story.

Overall, I did enjoy “The Spinster Wife.” I was confused—in a good way—for most of the novel, because I was not sure what kind of story this was going to be. I soon determined that one of three things was happening: There were ghosts in this story; there was a crazy stalker orchestrating all the events; or, Rita’s migraine/epilepsy/insomnia medication was causing her to have blackouts. I was wrong on all counts, and I am impressed that the writer was able to hold me off from the truth for so long (though I did reassess later in the book and come to the correct conclusion). I thought that the idea behind the twist was great, but I did not feel that the conclusion of the story was executed the way it should have been. The ending gave me an, “Oh, well” kind of impression that left me feeling as if everything was inevitable and I should not really care about what happened to the main characters.

I thought some of the logic behind the plot was missing, especially when we learn about Rita’s medical diagnosis. Shouldn’t she have been aware of it if she had been previously treated for it? Additionally, I felt like the author was intentionally trying to trick us into thinking this was a ghost story with the beginning scenes where Dorrie sees a man and a little girl that no one else sees, and then later when she meets that strange Edith on the beach who claims she can see Dorrie’s mother.

Ultimately, I think that there were too many wild goose chases to follow, and that took out some of the enjoyment of reading for me. I liked how McKenna handled Rita’s character through most of the book, though; and, at times, I liked Bram (even though he presented himself as a strange one). I would still recommend others to read “The Spinster Wife,” but I cannot say this was a truly satisfying read.

I would like to thank Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Spinster Wife’ by Christina McKenna in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
This is the story of two women, Dorrie Walsh who wakes up in a room in the Ocean Spray Hotel with no knowledge of how she got there, and Rita-Mae Ruttle who’s finally found the courage to escape from her abusive husband Harry.
Rita rents a small cottage in Killoran and meets her new landlord Bramwell Hilditch who was the undertaker but now takes photographs. Hidden behind a framed picture of dead butterflies Rita finds a letter written by the previous tenant Vivian-Bernadette O’Meara. What happened to Vivian and why is there a bad smell in the box room?
I’ve read and enjoyed all of Christina McKenna’s novels and ‘The Spinster Wife’ is no exception. It features simple and interesting characters living in rural towns in Ireland, has a touching storyline and a sad and unexpected ending. This is a novel well worth reading.

Very unexpected ending to a black tale of assault and other related issues. I didn't particularly enjoy the story but had to persevere to the end. The end made up for a difficult read but I may have given up before had I not been interested in the mental health scenarios

I received an ARC from NetGalley to read and review. The below is my honest, unbiased opinion. Thank you, Christina McKenna, the publisher, and NetGalley, for allowing me to review.

The Spinster Wife by Christina McKenna is an adult suspense novel that questions whether anyone can truly be free of our personal darkness. Rita-Mae has lived in fear her entire life. She's afraid of everything: being alone, fear of her past, fear of her husband, Harry. When she spots an advertisement for a vacant cottage in a small town in Northern Ireland, she believes she can finally escape her personal hell. In another small town, Dorrie awakens with no memory of how she got there, and she must work quickly to unveil the shadows in her memory. Will Rita-Mae and Dorrie overcome their inner demons, or can they never truly escape them?

The Spinster Wife is a great psychological thriller with enough twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

I was a little unsure of this book when I started but as I got into it, wow...I did not see that coming! Poor Rita...this was a really well written book. I am a bit of a skimmer when authors go into too much detail and I did not do a lot of skimming in this book. The book kept pulling me back in and I read it really quick. It was twisted and suspenseful for sure. I would recommend this book.

Fleeing a life of terror at the hands of her husband, Harry, Rita-Mae follows an ad for an empty cottage in Northern Ireland. Hopefully here she can learn to live a life free from fear, but the cottage will prove to create problems Rita-Mae never expected. Meanwhile Dorrie has no idea where she is or how she got there, or what to do about it. Both women will have to face insurmountable odds if they are ever to find safety, once and for all