Wives Behaving Badly

Not having read the prequel to this book, I'm taking it simply as it appears and have quite enjoyed it. Minty Lloyd was "The other woman" in her husband Nathan's previous marriage, younger and better looking than his wife Rose. Several years and 6 year old twin boys have happened and, as a young mother, frazzled and worn out with looking after the boys and Nathan, Minty feels that life is passing her by at an alarming rate. Still not accepted by Nathan's friends, and facing constant antagonism from Nathan's grown up children, Minty discovers that Nathan and Rose have kept up a close friendship and grows more jealous as time passes. She also feels that Nathan doesn't give her his total support in the face of his children's constant sniping at her. This is a story with which any woman who has ever been in the role of second (or third) wife can empathise and perhaps even recognise herself in being perceived as the marriage wrecker.

All who cheered for Rose, the wife who was usurped by a young mistress, Minty, in Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman will undoubtedly want hear Wives Behaving Badly in order to follow the fortunes of these women and, of course, Nathan, ex husband to one and now husband to another. It's an interesting scenario Elizabeth Buchan has crafted. There are jillions of stories about the fate of mistresses but few follow a mistress who becomes a wife. At first, Minty was ecstatic at the thought of actually becoming Nathan's wife. But, for her, matrimony isn't the exact bed of roses that she had anticipated. It is now some seven years later and the joys of parenting their twin boys aren't quite as pronounced as they once were. (This feeling is exacerbated after Minty takes a sneak peek at Nathan's diary). Perhaps this is because Nathan's job is at a bit of a standstill and, after all, he does have two grown children from his first marriage, Poppy and Sam. Poppy doesn't care for her stepmother one little bit and she's not shy about showing it. On the other hand Rose has really blossomed. She's now a successful travel writer with TV appearances to her credit. Just how Minty copes with life not turning out as she had once planned is what this story is all about. Don't expect Wives Behaving Badly to deserve the subtitle Rose's Revenge because Buchan has a few surprises in store. Ably read by classically trained actress Justine Eyre, this is a fresh look at what could happen the second time around. - Gail Cooke

First, this book is by Elizabeth Buchan, not the other Elizabeth named. Secondly, the book is excellent. Was a sequel 'needed'? Perhaps not because the first book does stand on its own but it does provide excellent insight into Minty. This book is about Minty not Nathan and not Rose. Sure, they are there but it's Minty's story. And an excellent one it is. Even if you disliked Minty at the end of Revenge, as I did, you should read this book and get an idea of what has been going thru her mind.

While this book is written from Minty's point of view, Buchan brings to the fore all the feelings of the various people that were affected by the second marriage. You feel the anger radiating from Rose's adult children. Rose and Minty maintain their icy relationship, and family friends have mixed loyalties. Rose's successful career and personal happiness assure the reader that there can be life after divorce. Nathan seems to be drowning in the turmoil created by his two families and appears to regret having created a second family to support and is often worn out by the demands of being a 54 year old father of 7 year old twins. Love, anger, hurt and sadness are interwoven in a realistic and difficult second marriage. It is hard to be a second wife to Rose. As Minty matures, she begins to understand how she actually broke up Nathan's first family and will never replace Rosé. It is this maturity that helps the reader to feel compassion for Minty. While you "Can't go back", and undo the past, you can make the best of a difficult situation. And things do get very difficult! A very satisfying read.

No, this book wasn't as good as "Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman" but what I think this book has too is a true connection to the way people really act and are - it is definitely not a part of the "chick-lit" that is popular and which the title may suggest. As a woman long married and about the age of Rose (the wronged wife), I felt that her reactions to the younger woman who stole her husband are realistic - I think she and the second wife behave like real people might - the dialogue seems natural and heart breaking at times - all factors that made me like the book. In the second half of the book when the young wife begins to question her actions of taking a man away from his wife and children, I became fully engaged in reading the book. If you want to read something different from any other book you've read, then give this book a chance.