It definitely took a while to get into the second-person narration. Especially combined with the switching viewpoints-- through 4 characters-- I had my doubts. I also don't usually go for single-day stories. I'm glad I stuck with it, though, as this was enjoyable.

The author does a good job in the first half of the book of indicating what is present narration and what is flashback, but something gets a little lost in the second half and these elements aren't as clear. Still mostly good.

The first thing that caught my eye about this novel, was it was story told in one day–May 22 1897. In my mind I was thinking, how is this going to work out? One day? Will this even hold my interest or would there be enough content in that one day to keep me interested?

Because this sounded like a challenge, I agreed to review it even if it sounded a little on the odd side.

Over the course of one momentous day, two women who have built their lives around the same man find themselves moving toward an inevitable reckoning.

Former Lutheran minister Henry Plageman is a master secret keeper and a man wracked by grief. He and his wife, Marilyn, tragically lost their young son, Jack, many years ago. But he now has another child—a daughter, eight-year-old Blue—with Lucy, the woman he fell in love with after his marriage collapsed.

The Half Wives follows these interconnected characters on May 22, 1897, the anniversary of Jack’s birth. Marilyn distracts herself with charity work at an orphanage. Henry needs to wrangle his way out of the police station, where he has spent the night for disorderly conduct.


Lucy must rescue and rein in the intrepid Blue, who has fallen in a saltwater well. But before long, these four will all be drawn on this day to the same destination: to the city cemetery on the outskirts of San Francisco, to the grave that means so much to all of them. The collision of lives and secrets that follows will leave no one unaltered (summary from Goodreads).

I’ll be honest, I am a sucker for a good love triangle. I know a lot of people tend to shy away from them but for me–if they are done well–I really enjoy them. In this case I felt like the love triangle was well done. Often it’s two men in love with the same woman, but in this case it was a man in love with two women and I really really liked that perspective.

I also liked how the whole one day story approach turned out. It wasn’t what I expected at all but in a good way, and it worked–that’s all I will say about that since I don’t want to give too much away.

While this book had a lot of things that I enjoyed, I couldn’t give this one a higher review than 3 stars and here is why–the story telling style. The book used dashes in place of quotes and the three character perspectives used a lot of different pronouns which I found horribly distracting. I had problems understanding who was talking and it really slowed things down for me. In my mind, this was a risky approach to the novel and while some might enjoy this kind of ‘shake up’ in writing, I personally wasn’t a fan. I found myself getting frustrated with the reading…..not with the story itself but with the mechanics.

The story itself was really good, especially the ending. This was one that stayed with me for a few days. It’s a great story about grief, love, and loss. Though the approach was not what I would have gone with, it was a readable story. For those who have the patience to muddle through the pronouns and some of the technical problems, you will be rewarded with a unique story.

This is a very creatively unique novel. The story takes place of the course of one very important day in the lives of the main characters: Henry, his wife Marilyn, his lover/mistress Lucy and their daughter Blue. The setting is San Francisco in the early 1900's and pertains to an old pauper's cemetery where Henry and Marilyn's only child, Jack, is buried. Their toddler accidentally died on his birthday and that day torments the hcouple on each anniversary.

Despite his failing marriage, Henry cannot bring himself to leave Marilyn for Lucy and his illegitimate daughter Blue. Likewise, Lucy, unhappy with the status of her long-term relationship with a man who will never fully belong to her.

The author used second person narrative which I found distracting and I disliked. Despite that, the story capture my attention and held it to the end. I recommend this novel for readers who enjoy uniquely written novels outside of the mainstream and for those who like to delve deep into the psyche of a book's characters.

Henry Plageman and his wife Marilyn are devastated from a tragic life-changing event. They both get lost in their grief... Marilyn retreats into herself and wants nothing to do with Henry, and Henry quits his job as a pastor and opens a small general store. Then, when it seems there will be no respite from the guilt and self-blame, Henry meets Lucy. Lucy is so different from Marilyn, and is just what he needs to make him begin to feel again. Henry & Lucy have a daughter together that she names Blue, but Lucy is tired of sharing Henry after so many years and wants to move on in one way or another. Although this book tended to drag at points, for the most part it is a very heartfelt read. You sympathize with Henry and Marilyn, you feel Lucy's hurt and disappointment, and you ache for Blue who is having to grow up with an only-sometimes father.

Excellent book with great characters. Very well written. I would recommend this book.

I found this novel very enjoyable. It is basically about a minister who loved two women. The story is told through four different people: the minister, the two wives and the one child. There was much to learn about the history of San Francisco in the story that added to my enjoyment of this novel. Half Wives is definitely worth reading.