A soap opera of the Gilded Age, The English Wife tells the story of Annabelle and Bayard Vanyvil in New York. After a quick romance in London Bay comes home to New York with a mysterious new bride to present to his family and New York high society. Things begin to unravel and end in a murder with so many twists and turns that it's hard to tell where the truth ends and lies begin. Lauren Willig wrote a wonderful story that keeps you turning page after page and scratching your head after every new revelation. She also does a wonderful job creating a visual of the beauty and opulence that the wealthy enjoyed during this time period. It's a wonderful story full of romance, mystery and plenty of unsolicited gossip!

The English Wife is a pretty good read. I liked it.

This is officially my new favorite book, hands down.

The English wife is masterful at weaving mystery with history. The characters were incredibly developed, each with their own distinct personality. The plot grew and deepened, never once lagging or becoming tedious. I quite literally could not put it down, and found myself thinking about it when I wasn't able to read. An amazing book that had me on the edge of my seat and hugely invested in the characters. Absolutely superb! 5 stars, without question.

With "The English Wife", Lauren Willig returns to a wholly historical plot and it is done very well--to a point.
The novel is set in Gilded Age New York, and told from two perspectives--Janie Van Duyvil and Annabelle Van Duyvil. The catch is that Janie is telling the story from 1899 and Annabelle is slightly in the past (1895). The two women tell their stories until the timelines match up in the end, which is rather clever. Janie is the daughter of a distinguished, monied New York family. As the novel opens, her older brother Bay has been murdered and his beautiful English wife Annabelle is missing. Janie is determined to solve the mystery as she is convinced that her sister-in-law would have never murdered the man she loved.

Janie teams up with Burke, an intrepid news reporter with no love for New York's aristocracy. Their attempts to discover the real killer are interspersed with flashbacks featuring Annabelle. Before she met Bay Van Duyvil, she was an actress in a burlesque show, fleeing from her past. She meets Bay on a whim, and is immediately distrustful, but their shared love for Shakespeare joins them together. Their friendship blooms into love and love into marriage, but it is not long before cracks begin to show. What results in the end are devastating secrets being revealed.

"The English Wife" was a page turner for the first two hundred pages or so. But as the novel should have been climaxing, it just ran out of steam. I actually sat it down for several days and only picked it up today to finish. I loved Janie, who was truly trying to be the good daughter, but in the end decided to follow her heart. Annabelle and Bay's story is heartbreaking; their characters were both flawed, and as a result, their marriage becomes a sham. So what went wrong? For one thing, I just could not buy into who Willig chose to commit the murder. It makes sense on the surface, but there were other characters that had better motive. While I applaud Willig for taking the road less traveled, the result was forced, and frankly, nonsensical to a point.

So would I recommend the novel? Sure. The suffocating atmosphere of Gilded Age New York is done well and lends a darker feel to the novel. I enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to reading whatever Willig has up her sleeve next. I really liked the fact that "The English Wife" was a true departure from her other historical novels.

Janie is devastated when her brother is found dead and his wife is missing. It is widely believed that Bayard killed Annabelle before killing himself, but Janie can't believe this. She teams up with a reporter to discover what really happened, never imagining the shocking secrets she will discover.

Good characters and a compelling storyline make this one an enjoyable read from Willig.

I am glad that I picked this for review. A truly great read

I am voluntarily submitting my honest review after receiving a NetGalley edition of this ebook.

This novel is full of detail and color that paints a vivid portrait of Newport / New York society in the Gilded Age. The characters are heartbreakingly flawed, but their foibles serve to make them more real and relatable. The plot twists in this mystery are shocking, and the surprise ending was both exciting and gratifying. Fans of historical fiction, mysteries and just plain great storytelling won't want to miss this one!

This historical fiction novel takes place between 1894 in London and 1899 in New York, moving back and forth in time as the secrets harbored by the characters unfold.

It begins with the discovery by 26-year-old Janie Van Duyvil, of an aristocratic New York family, of her dead brother Bay the night of a “Twelfth Night Ball” that Bay and his wife Annabelle were throwing to celebrate the completion of their new estate, “Illyria.” Annabelle is missing, but one of her dress slippers is by the waterfront. Rumors had been swirling about an affair between Annabelle and Illyria’s architect, David Pruyn, and the immediate assumption is that this was a crime of passion and jealousy.

Janie doesn’t believe it, but has to work around her aristocratic and cruel mother to try and find out what really happened. She enlists the help of a reporter, James Burke. They are from very different worlds, but both want the facts, and they make a pact to tell each other the truth, no matter where it leads.

Back in 1894 we learn how Annabelle, then called Georgie, and Bay got together. In addition we get insight into the gender politics of the time, both in London and in New York.

We also learn, along with Jane, that the lives of the rest of the Van Duyvil family was a carefully constructed web of lies. A great deal of suspense leads to a very unexpected denouement.

Evaluation: This is a good page-turner, and the different aspects of romance drawn by the author were quite well done.

The story has everything a must read, stayed up all night i had to finish it, it was that good.

This was very disappointing, as a fan of Lauren Willig and any book set in early New York, I simply could not be engaged.

The characters are trite and one-dimensional. Even her selection of names for characters showed a lack of good judgment.

The descriptions of clothing and background seemed off to me for the time period.

Sorry, this just fell flat.

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