My Husband's Wife Tells The Truth, Remembers Nothing

Creating routine, choosing authenticity, and a great read from Alice Feeney

Transcript

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Hey book lovers, my name is Em and I want to talk about books and cats. Hey book lovers, welcome back. We are getting some consistency. Oh yeah. Life has been pretty good lately. There are still problems, but I'm just doing what I can to make my everyday life as beautiful as it can be. I used one of my days off to deep clean the apartment, I moved some stuff around, I threw away a few things, and I cleansed the space. And it was very much needed, and I feel more like a human being now. And it was just very satisfying once I was done, you know? My son is staying with his dad for a week, and I am getting my first real taste of what the future holds. He will be back, but the plan is for him to eventually move out on his own, obviously. And it's been kind of weird to be completely on my own. Not bad, but just different, you know? I don't really know what to do with myself. I seem to have a lot more free time somehow. But I am finding ways to pass the time, and it's been a lot of fun. I've been able to get back into some of my other creative pursuits, like trying to learn piano again, and I'm writing again. And, you know, reading books and all that good stuff. It's been fantastic. Honestly, it's just been so peaceful and lovely. Just to like sit on my couch with a book and just be perfection. It's it's a good life. Peace is absolutely invaluable. I had no idea. I have lived in chaos almost my entire life. And this is just so different. And it hadn't really struck me until the other day I was in a situation where there was somebody just like going off on somebody over the phone. Just screaming though. And it sent me like right back into that headspace, and I got really like tense in my shoulders, and like it was very uncomfortable. And when it was over, and then like later that day I went home, and it was so just quiet and peaceful, and it made me realize how much I haven't missed living in that kind of situation. And that I never have to live in that kind of situation again. Nobody's coming in here and yelling at me. Which is kind of amazing. So yeah, I have definitely had some moments recently where I've been questioning literally every choice I've ever made. And, you know, where I'm going with my future. But um it's worth it. It is so worth it to just have a calm and peaceful home, finally. Finally. And it is nice to have more of my stuff set up, especially my bookshelves. I had to give up a lot of books in the move. I mostly kept ones that I haven't read yet, because there are a ton. Uh, coming soon to the podcast, of course. I did keep an odd collection of ones that I have read before. They're all things that have very specific meanings to me, and they have absolutely nothing in common. It is a weird selection of books. Maybe I'll cover them sometime. Moving from a house to an apartment has definitely been a lesson in downsizing, especially after 20 years in the same house just collecting things. I've been forced to really cut down to like nothing. And in some ways it's been really freeing. It's also rather unnerving to be just so untethered at the moment. Routines are a good anchor, and the podcast gives me a perfect weekly goal. So I am working on getting back into a routine with that. I'm also working on creating my new health routines. Still mostly like running and lifting, but I am reintroducing yoga right now. I need it so badly. I have been super tight lately, to the point where it's been making my back hurt like all the time. And I decided I needed to do stretching again. I don't know why it's so hard to make myself do this every day. And I ended up going from, oh, I'll just do a little stretch to doing a full yoga workout because once I got started, my body was just like screaming for relief. And I felt so much better when I was done. I have not been in touch with my body lately. That's what I'm realizing. I've been very focused on just getting by, doing what I need to do. Pretty much been like work sleep eat, honestly. But I need to get my life into a better balance. I need to live and not just exist. And that does take focused effort. Especially being here on my own, I am realizing how easy it would be to just slip away from society completely. I don't really have a lot to begin with, especially after the divorce and the move and everything. But it would just be so easy to just kind of fade away. Except for work. They would definitely notice if I wasn't there. Yeah, I just I need to get my stuff in a better balance, for sure. I kept saying I would start once I moved, and then I got through that, and then another month and a half passed, and it was a hellish month and a half, let me tell you. There's definitely a reason that I haven't been able to focus until now. But here I am. I am settled for the most part. This is my life, um, and I need to start living it intentionally. I'm making my growth and my self-improvement the focus right now, and step by step, bit by bit, things are improving, and life is getting pretty good. I'm also working on getting my writing back into a routine. I've got a bunch of new ideas and a couple projects that are already in the works, so I really need to get things back on track. And it has been so long since I felt this way, just like motivated and on task, and it's just so nice. I missed it. I haven't really been able to really focus on my writing and make it like a daily thing like it used to be. Probably in the last couple years. I need it. It's good for my mental health, it's good for my soul. Anyway, let's talk about this week's book, and this one is a wild one. I want to talk about My Husband's Wife by Alice Feeney. Now I have covered Alice Feeney's writing before. I knew that I had, but it took me a minute to figure out when, because it was all the way back in season one, episode 57, in fact. Which is crazy too. I used to be so productive and consistent when I got started. It's wild. I also think season one was like kind of like two years before I started like breaking it into actual seasons per year. So that might be why too. 57's a lot of episodes. Uh, but I covered her book Rock, Paper, Scissors, in that episode, and it was a crazy one. That was really early into my um unintentional focus on thrillers. I didn't mean to become focused solely on thrillers, but I just love a quick-paced mystery with twists and turns. And speaking of crazy twists, the book I want to talk about today, my husband's wife, was a good one. The plot is complex, there are multitudes of characters and false paths completely. Which sometimes this does bother me, but in this case it was done really, really well. And everything did kind of interweave a little bit. I always know it's going to come together in the end, but sometimes I just want them to like kind of overlap a little so that everybody's in the same story. You know what I mean? But this was not a problem with this one. It was really, really well done. And it starts out in complete confusion. Eden Fox is our main character. She's out for a morning run. She does this every morning, and she's enjoying exploring her new home in Hope Falls, a quaint seaside town that is almost deserted during the off season. She and her husband Harrison have just moved there into an old iconic building, which is known in town as Spyglass. The previous owner had lived there her entire life, over a hundred years. On this morning, Eden is excited for her first ever art exhibit at the local gallery. She is looking forward to meeting all the townspeople, as well as the gallery owner who so far she's only spoken to over the phone. She arrives back home from her run and she goes to unlock the door, but her key doesn't fit. After several tries, she gives up and she knocks, expecting Harrison to open the door for her. But instead a woman answers the door. She's dressed in the black velvet dress that Eden had planned on wearing that night to her exhibit, and she looks almost exactly like Eden. In fact, she claims she is Eden, and that this other woman, the one knocking at their door, is mistaken. Harrison appears then and he agrees with the woman in the velvet dress. She is Eden Fox. And this other woman, let's call her Eden One, is just confused. Eden One runs away when they call the cops, but she is completely baffled as to what is happening. As she stalks around the town, she sees this woman living her life. She's introduced at the art exhibit, and she acts like the work is hers. There's even an Instagram featuring her art, but with this other woman who's claiming to be Eden Fox. And now Eden One is beginning to question everything. She knows that the only way she can prove that she is the real Eden Fox will be by facing her daughter, Gabriella, who was in an accident when she was eight and became completely mute afterward. The girl has remained eight years old mentally, while Eden has spent the last ten years caring for her 24-7. When Gabriella turned 18, Eden convinced Harrison to move the girl to a fancy facility for people who need constant care. She just couldn't do it anymore. And Eden hasn't visited the girl, though she knows that Harrison has without telling her. Now somehow she has to find a way for the girl to prove that she is who she claims to be. It's her last remaining hope. Now, Hope Falls is a small, sleepy town by the sea, and the crime rate is incredibly low. They have one police officer. Literally one. Sergeant Carter, who has lived in Hope Falls for his entire life, and knows everyone in town. He is still pretty young though, I think he's like 30 or something. So pretty green, but very familiar with the townsfolk. Including Eden Fox. Not Eden One. He doesn't meet her until he is called the spyglass for a disturbance caused by her claiming to live there. Sergeant Carter has met the other Eden, and most of the town has, even before the art exhibit. She's been out in town introducing herself to everyone and ingratiating herself in the town. Eden one is starting to regret being such a homebody and not leaving spyglass except to do her morning runs. She spent her time renovating the big old house, and she was hoping to socially make a splash at her art exhibit. Now she's really starting to question her sanity. Is she somehow confused about who she is? How would she know where everything was in the house if she didn't live there? And who else could she be? Then she gets a text, supposedly from Harrison, telling her to meet at their special place at sunrise. Their special place is a spot high on a cliff by the waterfall, where she and Harrison had a champagne picnic to celebrate their move to Hope Falls. This spot is also a well-known place where people go to take their lives. Hope Falls may be a sleepy town crime-wise, but the dark clouds of depression are present and familiar. The next morning there's a report of a woman jumping off the cliff. But there's little else to go on. And you can guess who it might be. And you might be right. But maybe not. After all, identity is an ever-changing nebulous thing in this book. Death is another huge theme in this book, and not just on the cliff side. There's also a strange company that claims to be able to predict the exact day someone will die. Yeah, things swerve into the weird for a little bit in this one. There's also a new detective coming to Hope Falls, and they're going to expose a bunch of the Sleepy Town's secrets while they're investigating this woman's death, and the potential connection to the woman claiming to be Eden. Both of them. There's a lot going on in this one. And it got me. I could not guess the twists. Every time I thought I had something figured out, there'd be a new development that made it not make sense anymore. And it was great. The end was surprising, but done very well. It brings things together in a really neat little package and it has a pretty happy ending. Mostly. It's a really interesting ending, and it adds to the characters at the very last minute and really kind of fleshes them out more as people. I really enjoyed this one. It started out intense and it didn't let up at all. I definitely recommend My Husband's Wife by Alice Feney. So, brief cat crew update. My young ones are super sad right now because my son is gone. They are very much his cats, and they are used to getting a lot of attention. My poor babies. They will be so excited when he gets back. But right now they're just kind of like sleeping next to his bedroom door and being sad. And also until then, I guess Dozer has decided that he needs to sleep directly next to my face at night. And I've been waking up every morning just covered in fur. But he's so sweet that I just can't complain. My poor boy. He is definitely Z's familiar, and he misses him so much. So now it's time for the quote of the week. And this one comes straight from the very first page of this week's book, My Husband's Wife. Like I said, this one went hard right from the start. The quote is everybody lies and everybody dies. Those are two of the only things you can be certain of in an uncertain world. Unfortunately accurate. And it beautifully sums up the book. I spent a lot of time working on my own authenticity, and honesty is a big part of that. I was never a liar, really. Not a lot. I'm not good at it because my face tells all. But there was a time when my anxiety was so bad that I was constantly lying to get out of events or situations. I was afraid to just be honest about it. And I was a tremendous people pleaser back then. I was always running myself into the ground and over-promising my time and energy to others. I've pulled back a lot, and I turned some of that focus and care on myself. And I have found that as my confidence grows, I'm less likely to lie. Because I'm already secure in myself, and I'm not just trying to appease others. And it has made my life a lot less stressful. It reminds me of another quote. This one is from Mark Twain. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything. And honestly, he's so right. It just the truth makes everything simpler. In the end. Sometimes it can complicate things, but that's usually when there have been lies. If you're just direct and honest, then there's no question, you know? Like, you get what you see? It's just so much simpler. And that's all I'm after this summer. Simplicity. I just want my happy little life with my books and my cats. And Daisy too, because she's an honorary cat. I'm so grateful for everything I have right now, including you book lovers. Thank you so much for joining me yet again for some book babble. I appreciate you all more than you can possibly know. I hope you have a beautiful week, read a good book, and cuddle a creature or two. Until next time, keep reading.