Title: My Husband The Stranger
Author: Rebecca Done
Publisher: Penguin

[My Review]

Well, I sped through this book – with many tears! My Husband The Stranger is a contemporary novel that isn’t a romance as such, it isn’t a completely feel-good read but it also has elements of happiness and positivism, too. It’s a mixture of many emotions and feelings, and I really enjoyed it!
The writing is great, with the author managing to completely suck me in. The novel is set in two main time periods – one, in the present day, told from Rebecca’s point of view and detailing life after Alex’s accident which has left him literally a changed man, and one told from Alex’s point of view chronicling the time leading up to the accident. Both are equally interesting to read about, and are great at giving the reader a bit of insight into what both Molly and Alex’s lives were like before the accident as well as after it.
Alex himself was a tricky character – sometimes I hated him for how he treats Molly, but then I had to remember that he’d suffered horrendous injuries and just wasn’t the same man Molly fell in love with, through no fault of his own. Molly was really likeable and not too perfect – she was great to read about. I really felt for her as she tried to deal with everything and remain loyal and loving to her husband.
I can’t even imagine how I’d deal with the same situation – it doesn’t bear thinking about. But that’s exactly what this novel makes you do: think about it. About their situation, their life, their friends and family, their failed hopes and dreams – and how you’d feel in this situation. Would I be as patient and amazing as Molly was, despite having her moments of frustration or anger (which, when reading My Husband the Stranger, you can forgive her for). That’s what made me sad at times during this book; I was left feeling moved and generally rather impressed.
The story doesn’t move at a mile a minute – sometimes there isn’t that much that seems to be happening, but if feels like it reflects their actual lives and it’s full of Molly’s anguish and hopes. Some parts were quite hard to read, and one part (which I can’t say without spoiling the story) to do with Alex’s brother felt a little unbelievable, but I felt really satisfied at the end that I’d read an entertaining and interesting novel.
I also really enjoyed This Secret We’re Keeping [read my review here] and would definitely recommend that book as well as My Husband The Stranger – both very different, but great, reads!

[Rating: 4/5]

Many thanks to Penguin and Netgalley for providing a copy of this novel on which I chose to write an honest and unbiased review.

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