Book Review: THE WOMAN INSIDE

Title: The Woman Inside

Author: EG Scott

Publisher: Dutton

Pages: 335

My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

The Prologue is written in the first person present tense of an unnamed narrator.

Paul and Rebecca are a married couple. When Paul loses his business, the equation between him and Rebecca is altered. They are distanced, and Paul begins an affair with Sheila. When he gets a job, the equation with Rebecca is restored. This sends Sheila over the edge and she begins to stalk the couple.

When Sasha, the wife of Rebecca’s boss, Mark, goes missing, Rebecca, who is addicted to prescription drugs, is fired by Mark, and she no longer has access to the drugs.

When Paul makes off with their joint savings, leaving behind a letter that he has found someone else and wants her gone, Rebecca decides she will neither repine nor leave. She will make him pay.

The narrative is presented to us in two timelines, Before and After. Exactly what is the event that is at the centre of the book is not immediately evident. It is only at the close of Part 1, which ends ingeniously with the first line of Chapter 1, that the event that celebrates the Before and After falls into place.

There are multiple perspectives. Besides those of Paul and Rebecca, we also get the perspective of the detective. When Paul disappears, we stop getting his PoV. Like Rebecca, we wonder where he is, who he is cheating with.

The accounts are in a mix of present and past tense, sometimes both in the same sentence. 

 

I liked both Paul and Rebecca in the Before. They both tell us of the secrets they have kept. The lies have been for the sake of the marriage, they say. Both try to delude and outwit each other.

Paul tells us that he has never had a partner like his wife, even though he has had many partners.

Slowly Rebecca’s addiction gets the better of her and she comes to know of events that she has no recollection of ever being a part of. I felt a little sorry for her. She has always been an outsider, never included. Never imagining that she would have someone to call her own.

Sample the writing:

Any relationship is a high-wire act. Maintaining an affair is like walking a greased tightrope with a gorilla hanging off your back. If things go wrong, the destruction can reverberate catastrophically.

I liked the banter between the couple, and thought they were perfect for each other. The twist was horrifying, and totally unexpected.