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His Perfect Wife

This is no ordinary psychological thriller

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His Perfect Wife

By: Natasha Bell
Narrated by: Katharine McEwan
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About this listen

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of His Perfect Wife by Natasha Bell, read by Katharine McEwan.

She was his perfect wife, until she went missing.

Alexandra Southwood has vanished. Her husband, Marc, is beside himself. It isn't long before the police are searching for a body.

But Alexandra is alive - trapped, far away from her husband and young daughters.

Desperate, Marc will stop at nothing to find the woman he loves. Even if it means discovering that he never really knew her at all.

Because Alexandra is no ordinary missing person - but then neither is she quite a perfect wife . . .

Previously published as Exhibit Alexandra.

Crime Thrillers Domestic Thrillers Fiction Psychological Suspense Thriller Thriller & Suspense Marriage Crime

Critic reviews

So refreshing. A thriller, a page-turner, thoughtful and thought-provoking
Sterling work . . . an astutely written, complex debut . . . even seasoned genre aficionados will be surprised . . . an assured outing
Cunning . . . will have your brain working in overdrive as you try to second guess Natasha Bell's ingenious plot and as you reflect on her thought-provoking observations on art, love and family life
2018's most gripping psychological thriller
Gripping, intriguing and incredibly satisfying, this book confounds your expectations and keeps you guessing to the end
An intelligent, taut thriller which was beautifully written and compelling. I loved how the author played with the whole theme of life imitating art. Full of twists and turns I couldn't put it down. I thought the ending was perfect! (Claire Douglas, Sunday Times bestselling author of Last Seen Alive)
I adored Exhibit Alexandra. I thought it was a smart, original page turner which really brought something different to the thriller genre. It kept me up half the night! (Gillian McAllister, Sunday Times bestselling author of Everything But The Truth)
Beautifully insidious, a novel that outwits expectation at every turn (Francis Spufford, Costa Prize winning author of Golden Hill)
A smart, confident thriller, Exhibit Alexandra asks searching questions about motherhood and identity, and keeps you guessing to the very last page. Natasha Bell writes thought-provokingly about home, love, belonging - and what else a woman might want from life (Beth Underdown, author of The Witchfinder’s Sister)
This smart, mirror maze of a thriller bristles with sharp edges, twisting familiar Gone Girl themes into Bell's own intense creation
All stars
Most relevant
This is a missing person thriller with a difference. Alexandra is a mother and a lapsed student of modern art having abandoned her MFA degree at School of Art Institute, Chicago to marry Marc in York, England. She is also the narrator of the book so we the listeners know that she is still alive but now held captive in some way. Mainly, it is set at the University of York where Alexandra and Marc, her conventionally academic husband, both work.

As narrator, Alex tells us about how her family and friends are most likely responding to her disappearance, while admitting that since she isn't there, she can't really be sure what is happening.

At times it felt like there was some padding in the story, (about what constitutes Art), but by the end and once I understood what was really going on, I realised that is was a really good book. Hence 5 stars. Well worth persevering with.

There's some great narrative describing Marc's first visit to New York City. I felt that I was there.

Katharine McEwan was a reasonable narrator, but she had Marc's "Dylan Thomas" accent all over the place. Sometimes Irish, sometimes Welsh. It became mostly Yorkshire towards the end.

Note: If you've already bought "Exhibit Alexandra", then be aware that this is the SAME BOOK.

Stick with it - it's really good

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A brilliant story, however I am amazed that a mother would do such a thing. As an anti every thing at even 58, I feel it hard someone would do such a thing. Art is art but this is mental unstainabiltu at its highest. I would love to discuss the thoughts behind it with the author.

please email. ricparky@gmail.com

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Overall the story was worth the listen, and a little different from the usual thriller.
The narrator was terrible, however. Her accents were atrocious and completely unbelievable.

Interesting idea, terrible reader

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A well crafted thought provoking story with universal themes of gender and identity. highly recommended

original and compelling

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At times, the story did seem to go on and on, but worth persevering for the inventive ending I think

Somewhat surprising but inventive ending

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