Mrs. March is the wife of a successful writer. His latest chart topping book has everyone reading and talking. When the woman at the bakery frequents daily mentions some of the similarities between Mrs. March and the main character in the book ( a prostitute) Mrs. March is overwhelmed and embarrassed, She never again went to that bakery, What was he thinking when he wrote such things? Her fury becomes suspicion and then rushes into a downward spiral of psychological instability. She questions every little thing her husband has says and does and eventually believes that he has committed a murder. Virginia Feito gives her no real identity outside of being Mrs. March. We don't know her first name until the end of the book. We learn of her privileged but cold upbringing, We learn of her sister and mother in Maryland. I did find myself wondering about the time period this is supposed to be in. It became a distraction from the story at times as I tried to work it out. Still bothers me, to be honest. You can feel her terror and frenzy as she questions what is real and what is fantasy, Her world is undone and so is she,
My thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Mrs. March is content in her marriage with famous author, George March. She has worked hard to create a certain image, taking care to distance herself from a dark past rife with abuse and psychological instability. She is very judgmental of those around her, and she rejoices in other women's failures. George has just come out with a new book, which is an immediate success, but his main character is designed to be loathed by readers. When someone suggests that this character was based on Mrs. March, she begins a slow descent back into the madness she has tried to run from.

The time period of this book isn't made clear, which ended up being a distraction for me. I was finally able to settle on a decade, but when I did, I felt like I had misread the first 2/3rds of the book. Mrs. March is a very traditional housewife who has never lived without staff in her home. It feels like mid-2oth century, but in chapter 27, Mrs. March watched the M86 bus go past. Prior to 1989, this bus route was called the M18. Based on comments about technology, this is unlikely to be in the 21st century, so the book is probably taking place in the 1990s.

This book was well-written, and the pacing of the plot was flawless. The only thing keeping me from rating it 5 stars is the unnecessary ambiguity. I got really involved with the narrative, feeling anxious or paranoid when Mrs. March was anxious or paranoid. I was unsettled by the things she was seeing. But then I would find a nugget of information that could potentially help me figure out when this was taking place, and it took away from what I was feeling. I had also read in a review that Mrs. March's name wasn't mentioned until the end, and so I spent part of the time reading trying to figure out why that could've been. (I never came to a conclusion.) Overall, it's a good book, but it might be better the second time around.

Mrs. March is a disturbing and haunting novel. The reader enters her world and experiences the devolution of her mental health and sees her life spinning out of control. Each passing chapter drew me in and kept me coming back, even through some confusion.

What was NOT clear, is the time in which this story was taking place. The attitude and lifestyle of the Marches suggeted NYC in the '50s or 60s: but their son had a Rubik's Cube, introduced in the mid 1970s. This disconnected (for me) niggled my mind as I read, trying to place these events into a timeline of American society. But a compelling read.

"...the latest cocktail-party conversation starter...soon to be heralded as George March's magnum opus...". Mrs. March had supported George all through his writing career. She listened to his potential story lines and his newest ideas. "She flattered him. All for him, for her George." She would host an intimate gathering in their Upper East Side apartment in celebration of his latest novel.

Mrs. March would have liked to appear carefree and confident. Instead, she always felt inadequate and substandard. "Mrs. March's pulse quickened with the telltale excitement and wariness that always manifested right before she interacted with others". At her favorite patisserie, the manager sang the praises of George's novel but asked Mrs. March if the main character, Johanna, was based upon her. "I picture you when I read it"...your mannerisms and attire. Oh, no! The main character was a woman of ill repute, a whore losing her clientele. Imagine a parallel between Mrs. March and that fictitious woman. "...but George would never...would he?"

Party night. Mrs. March found it difficult to make small talk. "She was prone to rehearsing potential snippets of conversation...". The tray of luscious strawberries would impress the guests. An overheard conversation sent the tray clattering, propelling the strawberries across the expensive rug. "Do you think she knows? About Johanna?...shushing and scattered giggling...".

"It wasn't so much that Johanna was unlikeable as Mrs. March was, too." George tried to explain that Johanna was not based on anyone. She just is. It seemed to Mrs. March that Johanna existed while she faded away. The fact that Mrs. March's first name was not revealed magnified the perception of a tightly wound wife, mother and soiree host. Her identity seemed to be usurped by the protagonist in George's novel. A window into Mrs. March's childhood would show an upbringing devoid of parental love. As a child, she fixated on a painting of a girl wrapped in a shimmering silky shawl. She talked to the girl, interacting with her daily. She took "Kiki" everywhere. At school, Kiki whispered answers to math problems in her ear.

Was George capable of unspeakable acts? In Mrs. March's imaginings, "there was something off about this man. It was George-it had his face and wore his cardigan-yet her gut told her that it wasn't. Had George been replaced by an impostor? Might there be another "her" as well?"

"Mrs. March" by Virginia Feito is a tome about a wealthy housewife who loses her grip on reality. Mrs. March is an unreliable narrator. Are the events real, or a product of her inner turmoil and descent into madness? This riveting, unputdownable, debut novel has been optioned for a cinematic adaptation. I am excited! Highly recommended.

Thank you Liveright/ W.W. Norton & Company and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Mrs. March's domestic tranquility, both internal and external, unravels with meticulous detail in this psychological thriller. Recommended.

I heard a review of this book and learned it might be turned into a movie so I thought I would give it a try. I'm afraid I just didn't understand this book. I didn't care for the main character at all, I didn't understand what was going on and I was confused throughout the book. I skimmed most of it to see if there was a point where I might understand what was going on or feel something for Mrs. March but it just wasn't there. I would not recommend this book.

It is hard enough to create an unreliable narrator -but the author managed to do it in the 3rd person as the protagonist was always referred to as "Mrs. March." And she is very unreliable. The wife of a famous author, she becomes convinced that her husband has murdered a young woman and sets out to prove it, becoming more paranoid and unhinged as the story reaches it's eerie climax.
Really kept me guessing.

Mrs. March is the perfect novel for any month of the year! I picked it up and absolutely could not put it down. I read it from beginning to end in 2 sittings — And it was treacherous to my soul to have to put it down the 1st night when I just had to go to bed.

I am so very eager to add this to my approved reading list for my high school senior students for the 2021/2022 school year. It will be published by the first day of school. From the first few pages into the novel, I imagine that this book is the quintessential literary masterpiece to suggest to my high school senior students who may have taken the summer off reading for enjoyment. Mrs. March is the most profound work to ignite their passion for reading for enjoyment at the start of the school year! Luckily, my senior students are mature enough for the themes in this highly suspenseful (and addictive) read.

Mysteries, thrillers, etc. are my favorite genre. It has been quite a while since a book like Mrs. March has grabbed hold of my heart, my mind, my psyche! She captivated me from the start. The character of Mrs. March is conveyed solidly and strongly throughout the entire novel that, by the end of the story, the reader is not left with any questions about who she is and where she is at in her stage of life. The author excelled at the development of the character of Mrs. March.

It is hard to believe that Mrs. March is the 1st book by the author. However, she will most triumphantly not be the last! I look forward to continuing to follow Virginia’s career and future works. Her descriptions, her language, the impeccable details of every area of Mrs. March’s life overflows throughout the novel. Virginia left no stone unturned in this remarkable book. I look forward to the day when it is published so that I can add it to my personal and professional book shelves.

What a tremendous honor and privilege to have been given the opportunity to read Mrs. March before it is even published. This is one that I will read (and scores of others will read) time and time again.

A very dark noir thriller mystery.? you may be compelled to look away from but you won’t be able to . The protagonist Mrs March idyllic life is thrown into turmoil by an innocent remark by an acquaintance. Disturbing and and darkly thrilling at the same Timor is it madness or behavior changed by a single remark. . Highly original

Mrs. March, a literary thriller by debut author Virginia Feito, will provoke a LOT of lively discussion following its publication in August. The book has already received a great boost by the early optioning for film by acclaimed actress Elisabeth Moss. The praise is well deserved, as Mrs. March- the character as well as the novel- is meticulously and expertly constructed. This reader had the sense of reading a nineteenth century European drama of manners or an Anna Karenina- like tragedy, but with the throbbing urgency of the suppressed American housewife just beginning to lash out against mid-20th century roles and expectations. Those lively discussions will no doubt focus too on illusion versus reality, and just how much of each created Mrs. March’s narrative. A dark, absorbing reading experience!

Mrs. March is a book about a wife who believes her husband's new book is about her. Everywhere she goes, she hears people whispering that the main character, a slut, is her. While I was engaged at first, Mrs. March's descent into madness was a bit trying. The ending was expected, but still disturbing. I felt like there were a several loose ends that needed resolving. I'm still puzzling over why we only learn Mrs. March's full name until the last sentence.

This is one of those times where a cover stops me in my tracks. I was intrigued by the stunning image and the summary and couldn't wait to get my hands on this one. Elisabeth Moss' blurb also piqued my interest, and I was thrilled to be approved for this title.

Mrs. March's husband is a famous writer whose latest work is being lauded as spectacular. She should be thrilled for him, but as more people comment on the similarities between the main character and Mrs. March, she becomes increasingly unnerved that she could be the muse--her husband finding inspiration for a woman who is most decidedly not Mrs. March. What follows is a crescendo of near psychosis that will leaving you questioning if everything is as it seems.

I loved this book.

Mrs. March gave me serious Lamb to the Slaughter vibes. Dahl's writing had an eerie, uneasy undertone. You didn't know what was going to happen, but you knew something was coming, and then BAM. I felt the same way reading Mrs. March.

It's difficult to discuss this without giving spoilers, but Mrs. March is a study in character development and identity. Known only as Mrs. March, her lack of first name emphasizes her embodiment as *wife* and keeps us on the outside. We never really know her. She keeps key details hidden away while distracting the audience with meticulous descriptions of her environment, her memories, her dinner guests. It's a way to keep the reader at arm's length while forcing us to question if we can trust the information we're given. Is she really seeing these things? Has she unwittingly stumbled upon a killer? This hits the marks for PPD, but you can never really say that with confidence; if ever there was an unreliable narrator, it is Mrs. March.

Just whoa.

Feito's imagery and execution is superb, and I think this will translate well to the screen. I'm excited to see the cinematic interpretation, as many of Mrs. March's visuals are visceral and quietly unnerving.

Overall, Mrs. March is a sharp, smart, unsettling thrill ride that will leave you breathless. For fans of quiet psychological horror, Wounds, or the ultimate unreliable narrator, Mrs. March will be the book for you. Out in August, add this to your TBRs ASAP and come back and have a chat about Mrs. March.

Big thanks to LiveRight/W.W. Norton and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.

•A R C•B O O K•R E V I E W•
2021 Book #41 out of 80
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MRS. MARCH by VIRGINIA FEITO
Publication date August 10, 2021
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5 stars
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QUICK SYNOPSIS: Mrs. March is known to life a pleasant life with her husband and son. But slowly, things in Mrs. March’s life begin to fall apart. This leaves the growing paranoia and psychosis beginning of Mrs. March.

STORYLINE & THOUGHTS:
~ Wicked. Emotional. Destruction.
~ This book had me turning pages and never wanting to put it down. I was engrossed in the darkness that was unfolding in Mrs. March’s life, eager to find out what was going to happen next.
~ I’m still left in awe and processing what I had been left with at the very end of the book… NOT WHAT I HAD ANTICIPATED. I would compare the whole reading experience to be part of a Black Mirror episode.
~ Best of all, this book is to become a major motion picture!! I highly recommend reading this novel before it comes out as a movie.
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Thank you to @netgalley and @w.w.norton
for this ARC Ebook. All reviews are fair and honest reviews. All opinions are my own.
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Wow! "Mrs. March" knocked my socks off! What a great debut! I really enjoyed this psychological look at a tightly controlled "Stepford" wife in 70's Manhattan coming unglued as she starts to wonder if she is the latest and unsavory character in her husband's new novel! Her descent into paranoia and the subsequent journey we take with her is quite the ride! I can see why it has already been optioned - can't wait to see it later with Ms. Moss! I read it all in one go, as I couldn't put it down. Recommend! My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

This slow burn will most definitely keep your eyes on the pages! And flicking through the pages.
Like I really enjoyed this book! The writing was fantastic, the characters amazing, the plot great.
I can't wait for this to hit theaters.

I really liked this book, I’ve been hearing about it, so I was thrilled to have been approved for a copy. Thankyou Netgalley. This book was very amusing.

If profoundly disturbed is how you want to walk away from a book…well, look no further. And sure, women have been going mad in fiction for ages, they’ve been secreted away in the attics and madhouses, there was fire, wallpapers, other women to contend and compete with and usually a man behind it all, a brute or sadist or bastard or some combination thereof. But what if there was a madness that needed no assist to descend, something more…organic, if you will. What if a woman went mad from within, after years of internalized emotional child abuse from an uncaring mother after an unwanted sexual experience, after decades of social conditioning right to a marriage that offered comfort and entirely too much time to let all the ingredients simmer together into something combustible. That’s pretty much Mrs. March’s tragic trajectory. The eponymous protagonist, the owner of the spiffy gloves on the cover, a woman who is a star of her own show to such an extent that her entire life is structured in a precisely performative way.
Mrs. March’s greatest role is that of a wife to Mr. March, an acclaimed author and, with his latest book, the toast of the town. She is his wife, a mother of his child, a woman hosting his swanky soirees, a getter of his clen shirts, a manager of his maid, etc. So much so that she doesn’t even get a first name until the last page, her entire personality built around her marital title. Every action, every word…a finely tuned performance. A laborious difficult to sustain act. It’s no surprise it can’t last, but it’s the way it all goes off the rails that’ll have you absolutely riveted. This descent into madness is rendered with all the mesmerizing wrongness of a car crash magnetism.
It’s a novel of a certain time and place, say 70s, when women roles in the society were define with claustrophobic strictness, but not so much that there were no other options, which implies a certain complicity. For, just because Mrs. March was brought up to be a certain kind of a proper young lady, doesn’t mean she’s made no choices along the way. Once upon a time she was thrilled to bag the handsomest professor on campus. And she has enjoyed years of a certain quality of glitz on his arm and by his side. The toll it’s all has taken on her psyche is difficult to estimate, because she’s such a tightly held together character for so long and when she unravels, it’s a spectacular and dangerous mess.
But it’s so good, it’s really good. This is for fans of Yellow Wallpaper, who thought the protagonist there was too likeable. You won’t have to deal with that here. There are virtually no likeable characters, but lately I’ve been finding a nice line up of books that are good enough to not need that easy attractor. Just terrible people doing terrible things to each other, with or without intent, sometimes just because they can’t help themselves, sometimes thoughtlessly and yes, sometimes with a frightening purpose. And of course, something they are just completely mad.
You can make your own assessments of Mrs. March. She’d expect no less, being her own worst enemy and all that. And to think it all began with Mr. March’s new book and a character in it who everyone thinks must be based on his wife. And oh, did it snowball from there. Such small things, such careless acts…
I was initially interested in this book after finding out that Elizabeth Moss optioned it for a movie, a Blumhouse movies no less. So reading it, she was impossible not to picture. And if the movie’s done right, this can be award material, finally, for an actress who very much deserves it. Not sure how she found this book, a random debut by a Spanish author and all that, but that’s a great find. And Moss, being easily one of the best actresses of her generation with incredible versatility and talent, is going to kill this one, appropriately enough.
For now, though, it’s only in book form, you’ll have to use your imagination, though not too much, the author does a terrific job of bringing a cinematically vivid quality to it all by herself. Brain punch of a book. Must read for fans of dark psychological fiction. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

I was excited to read this book that’s going to be bought to the big screen by Elizabeth Moss soon. A seemingly innocent comment unravels the life of the main character. This book is a character study and what it takes do you want to unhinge a carefully constructed life. I highly recommend.

I was compelled to keep reading this book despite the fact that it is too “noire” for my taste. It’s a novel of descending madness and death. I found it deeply disturbing, but I was so drawn in that I persisted in reading.

I love the way the protagonist was always referred to as Mrs March, a great tool to add to the mystery of the story. As a reader, there is confusion between sanity and insanity. I know I continued to question things I do in relation to what she does.

The seemingly idyllic life of Mrs March is plunged into chaos by a single innocent remark. How many times have we changed behavior based on a single moment? Was this a catalyst that began this story or just uncovering of an inner turmoil and madness?

Certainly, a highly original novel that many will enjoy, though I had my reservations.

Thank you Netgalley for this opportunity.