How To Be a Good Wife (Chapman)

How To Be a Good Wife 
Emma Chapman, 2013
St. Martin's Press
288 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781250018199


Summary
Emma Chapman is a haunting literary debut about a woman who begins having visions that make her question everything she knows.

Marta and Hector have been married for a long time. Through the good and bad; through raising a son and sending him off to life after university. So long, in fact, that Marta finds it difficult to remember her life before Hector. He has always taken care of her, and she has always done everything she can to be a good wife—as advised by a dog-eared manual given to her by Hector’s aloof mother on their wedding day.

But now, something is changing. Small things seem off. A flash of movement in the corner of her eye, elapsed moments that she can’t recall. Visions of a blonde girl in the darkness that only Marta can see. Perhaps she is starting to remember—or perhaps her mind is playing tricks on her. As Marta’s visions persist and her reality grows more disjointed, it’s unclear if the danger lies in the world around her, or in Marta herself. The girl is growing more real every day, and she wants something. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
• Birth—1985
• Raised—Manchester, England, UK
• Education—B.A., Edinburgh University; M.A., Royal Holloway
• Currently—lives in Jakarta, Indonesia


Emma J. Chapman grew up in Manchester, England. She studied English Literature at the University of Edinburgh, followed by a Masters in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London.  After university, she travelled solo in Scandinavia, where she learned to camp, bathe in fjords, and carry everything she needed.  She is currently living in Perth, Western Australia. How To Be a Good Wife (2013) is her first novel.

Emma wanted to be an actress until she was 16 and acted in a school play. She was terrible. But she did realise that the things she loved about acting (imagining she was somebody else), she could work at in a locked room as a writer instead of in front of an audience as an actress. That way, she could slog quietly until she was good and then everyone would think she was a genius.

After studying English Literature at Edinburgh University, Emma moved to London and did an MA in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway. She also worked part time at Toby Eady Associates literary agency, where she was taught the ropes of publishing by the kindly green-tea-drinking folks there.

After her masters, she moved to Western Australia. From there, she sent Toby Eady Associates her finished novel, and then nearly swallowed her own tongue in anticipation. Luckily, they liked it, and after drinking much champagne, Emma worked on the novel with them for a further two years. (From the publishers and the author's website.)

Book Reviews
This novel surely belongs within that subgenre of Gothic literature associated with the persecuted woman…But How to Be a Good Wife is distinguished from the typical tale of the persecuted woman by its absence of Gothic shadows. Here all is white. The house is spotless; the outside world is blanketed in snow; the sky is cloudless. The effect is to heighten the horror. There is darkness, but it resides within Marta's sick mind. More crucially, Chapman has written Marta's story with a brilliant twist: it can be read either as a descent into insanity or as the tale of a woman severely psychologically traumatized…Chapman's accomplishment is to confine us so closely within poor Marta's nightmare that no certain reading of her experience is possible.
Patrick McGrath - New York Times Book Review


[C]hilling.... Cracks begin to appear in Marta’s formerly comfortable life.... As she examines more closely what’s beneath her family’s habits and some of her own memories, she becomes certain that she has uncovered a terrible dark truth that—if she reveals it—will tear their lives apart. Despite a far-fetched conclusion, Chapman excels at creating tension and suspense.
Publishers Weekly


In an unnamed Scandinavian village, Marta lives a claustrophobic life with her controlling husband, Hector. Her son is grown, her nest empty, and her husband's solution to her increasingly dark and unsettling moods are the little pink pills he forces upon her each day. In an act of rebellion, Marta stops taking the pills and begins to experience startling flashbacks and increasing waves of anger and suspicion. Are they the result of drug withdrawal, or is she remembering another life, before Hector?
Library Journal


[C]lever chiller.... Marta stopped taking her medication after her son left home and is being visited by a series of images—or are they repressed memories?...  Although some may find the ambiguous ending frustrating, others will be drawn into this claustrophobic examination of the meaning of marriage. —Joanne Wilkinson
Booklist


A mad housewife learns that her problems may not all be imaginary in Chapman's disquieting debut.... [T]he twist that propels expectations in a whole new direction is masterfully wrought. However, the outcome...will leave readers, particularly feminists and/or victims' advocates, very dissatisfied indeed. Gripping but rather implausible.
Kirkus Reviews

Discussion Questions
1. What were your first impressions of Marta? Did you like her as a character? Did your impressions of her change throughout the book?

2. What did you think was the significance of the setting of the novel? Why do you think it is specifically unnamed?

3. Hector is an ambiguous character throughout the book. Did your views of him change as the book progressed?

4. Marta can be considered an unreliable narrator. Were there moments in the book when you didn’t trust her? Why?

5. A book Marta was given as a wedding gift left a lasting impression on her. Why do you think she played by the ‘rules’ according to the book?

6. Do you think Marta’s interpretations of events were correct?

7. Can you see things from Hector’s side? Who did you believe?

8. The ending of the novel is ambiguous. Did you think this was the right ending for Marta?

9. The novel examines three generations of women from the same family. Do you think it raises larger questions about what it is to be a woman and to fulfill certain roles?

10. If so, how did you respond to the questions it raised? Do you think the writer has an opinion on how the questions should be answered?
(Questions issued by publisher.)

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