Novel About My Wife: Emily Perkins

Many moons ago there was an enormous amount of excitement about a young New Zealand woman writer’s debut collection of short stories entitled Not Her Real Name. Since then Emily Perkins has written several novels, moved to London with her painter husband and moved back to New Zealand with a family.

Her latest book Novel About My Wife retains all of the elements I enjoyed in her earlier work – vivid character portrayal, natural dialogue and illuminating investigations into the nature of relationships and domesticity. However it also demonstrates a significant leap in her capabilities as a writer. Set against a contemporary London cityscape, the novel is narrated by Tom, a scriptwriter in his forties whose career isn’t entirely going to plan. Tom is deeply in love with his wife, Anna a redheaded Australian beauty who is expecting their first child but Anna is slow to reveal her secrets and fears. Once she divulges her suspicions that someone is following her Tom desperately tries to unravel the enigma of his wife before it is too late.