TW : prostitution, domestic violence, racism, poverty, suicide, murder, sexual, physical, and psychological abuse

I knew I was going to enjoy this book, but HOLY SHIT did I not expect this 😅

This book is fast paced, keeping me intrigued and on the edge of my seat the entire time. I loved reading about a morally grey character (especially in historical fiction, it feels so rare!) full of secrets who will do anything to protect herself and her family. There were many unexpected twists and turns, and I feel like the author excellently portrayed navigating a life as a Black Woman in the Great Depression era. Also, the audiobook narrator did an AMAZING job. Shari Peele really brought this story to life 🙌

The only downside for me : I felt like there wasn't enough emotional build up pushing the main character to act drastically (can't say anything more, or I will spoil you) but then again it also works with the whole "morally grey character who doesn't let her actions affect her conscience" type. 4.5⭐

Great narration by this reader in this thrilling audio book by Mary Monroe. A new author to me I enjoyed the flow and style and the way her characters progressed. This book is fitting of the times and at times it is hard to still understand the treatment of individuals based on their skin tones and sexual orientation. Mary did an amazing job of being historically accurate and weaving a tale that kept me wanting more. A great listen!!!

Thank you, NetGalley for allowing me to review this audio.

I really enjoyed this title. It was something different and had more mystery than I originally expected and the ending through me for a loop.

Great read!

Wow this book was such an emotional roller coaster. I loved the narrator!! The rioting was good as well. What a creative way to engage with the reader.

It got a little out there toward the end but generally pretty entertaining. I definitely was not expecting it to go the way it did! This is my first Mary Monroe book but she is very popular in our library and now I know why. Good Stuff.

Love the narrator too! She did a wonderful job.

I was unable to get this title to download to my device. So I cannot give a rating. However from the sample it sounded like an interesting narration and novel.

HOLY SHIT!

What a twisty tale! Mrs. Wiggins just catapulted into my favorite book of the year spot! I'm 66 books read since January 21st, 2021. This book is my number 1 with no questions! I finished this in one day.

The book follows Maggie through her life. We see her marriage of convenience, her hunt for a child's father, her friendship with Jess, and then we delve into her willingness to do ANYTHING to make things in her life go the way she wanted. Until they don't.

Mrs. Wiggins was the first book that I had the opportunity to read by Mary Monroe. I was glad that I started with this book because it was exactly what I needed. It was fast paced, kept me guessing, and transported me back in time to life in the Deep South during a turbulent and controversial time for African American men and women. Mrs. Wiggins was a character driven novel that included rich and vibrant characters that were full of substance and dimension. It was a multi-cultural book that also had elements of being historical fiction. I listened to the audiobook that was pleasantly narrated by Shari Peele. Her reading added just the correct amount of drama and suspense. I definitely enjoyed the second half of this audiobook a bit more than the first half but overall it was a pleasant experience.

Mrs. Wiggins by Mary Monroe was about the life Maggie Franklin and Hubert Wiggins would weave together in a small town in Alabama. Maggie and Hubert knew each other for many years. They had been childhood friends. The two couldn’t have been more different from each other, though. Their upbringings were so different from one another. Both of Maggie’s parents had been brought up in the Colored Orphanage. Maggie’s mother had the reputation of being a prostitute. When she found religion, she was able to make her life more respectable. People had long memories, though, and continued to remember Maggie’s mother the way they wanted to. Her father was an alcoholic. Maggie grew up poor and had many strikes against her from the start. She had also been sexually abused as a young girl. The abuse she suffered left permanent scars on Maggie. Maggie’s friend Hubert was the only child of a Preacher. Hubert’s family was a church-going family, had a good reputation and lived in the respectable part of the small town in Alabama where they both grew up. Both Maggie and Hubert were harboring secrets that they had managed to keep buried deep within their persons for the time being. It was no wonder that when Hubert asked Maggie, then seventeen years of age, to marry him, she readily accepted his proposal. Hubert confessed to Maggie that his sexual preferences were for men. In the time they lived, those preferences were most unconventional. Maggie had already guessed that about Hubert so it came as no surprise. Maggie was so broken by the sexual abuse she suffered as a young girl, that this arrangement suited her fine. The only thing was that they both agreed that they needed and wanted to have a child. They needed to outwardly convince their community in Alabama that they were indeed married in every sense. Hubert refused to be the father of their child so Maggie found a good man that resembled Hubert enough to father the child. Soon enough, Maggie and Hubert were the proud parents of little boy they named Claude. Their family was perfect to the outside world. It worked for Maggie and Hubert. Maggie got the child she had always wanted and Hubert continued his sexual encounters under the guise of his marriage. Everything was perfect until Claude grew up and chose the worst possible girlfriend. Slowly but surely, everything began to spiral out of control in Maggie’s and Hubert’s perfect little world.

Mary Monroe’s talent as a phenomenal storyteller shone throughout this audiobook. The many themes of sexual abuse and preferences, domestic violence, racism, the effects of The Depression, social tensions, secrets and murder were prevalent throughout the book. The ending surprised me. I did not see it coming but it was quite clever. Mrs. Wiggins was the last book in a series of books written by Mary Monroe. It can be read as a stand alone book, though. I had not read the other books and had no problems appreciating the merits of this book on its own. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to RB Media for allowing me to listen to the audiobook of Mrs. Wiggins through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Obviously, I had heard of Mary Monroe, but I had never read any of her books. Well, after listening to Mrs. Wiggins, I will be reading all of her books. This story was insane. We follow the story of Maggie and Hubert Wiggins, starting with their wedding day. Maggie had been molested and raped as a young girl, so she had no interest in sex. Hubert had a secret that really couldn’t come out in 1917, so Maggie was the perfect wife for him. Life goes pretty good until their son Claude is in his early 20’s. Then problems start cropping up and Maggie is a problem solver. While I would never actually do any of the things that Maggie had done, I still liked her. I could really empathize with her. The author really gave us a sense of small town life in Alabama during the Jim Crow era. Great descriptions. The narrator was phenomenal. Her voice really added to the story. The only thing that I will caution readers about that there are several mentions of suicide so if that is a trigger, be aware. Thank you to Netgalley and RB Media for the ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

This was such a surprise! I don't want to say to much and ruin the twist but this was definitely not what I was expecting. This book was really interesting for me. I was only expecting a 3 star book but the 2nd half was definitely a 5 star book. I am definitely going to receive this book and use it for next month's book club! Do yourself a favor and read this book!

We meet the eponymous Mrs. Wiggins on the day of her wedding at the age of seventeen to young Hubert Wiggins, circa 1917. Both of them have secret reasons for getting married to each other, and as they are good friends, the marriage is more of a platonic understanding than a romantic bond. Things go as per their plan for a nice long time. However, about 20 years later, when various people and external circumstances threaten the unity of the family and her own personal propriety, Maggie Wiggins decides to take matters in her own hands.

The book starts off very well. Right from the first page, you get caught up in young Maggie’s emotional helplessness and can feel the strength of her character. She seems like a strong and determined young woman who knows what she wants and works hard to get it. Unfortunately, this same perseverance makes the book and the character predictable after the Daisy incident. (Not giving details here as it would lead to major spoilers.) While there are still some twists in the story, I felt that the plot became quite unconvincing in the second half, especially with the way some of the characters suddenly started behaving differently just to take the story ahead.

Maggie Wiggins as the lead character is excellent. It was great to see a morally gray character in a historical narrative. Most stories dealing with this time period have the goody-two-shoes leads and hence the stories don’t offer much thrill. But Maggie was a great example of “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. Her morality seemed to be dual-layered: one rule applied for herself and one for the others. For instance, she herself comes from a disgraced family and yet she looks down on another character for “coming from that lowly sharecropper stock.” Studying a character like Maggie would be an interesting experience. If only the other characters were as interesting!

A character-oriented book needs to have strong supporting characters too but this book rests almost entirely on the petite shoulders of Maggie Wiggins. The rest of the cast come and go as per the whims and fancies of the author. This results in many ignored plot holes and incomplete character arcs for quite a few of the secondary players of the narrative. The ending does redeem the book a little bit, but unfortunately for me, I could see it coming many chapters in advance and hence spoiled my enjoyment.

On the positive side, the book gives a great insight into the lives of black people in the racist South without being too clichéd about it. We get an inside perspective into how segregation and segregationist mentality created problems even beyond the official rules of white and black division.

I heard the audiobook of Mrs. Wiggins as narrated by Shari Peele and she did a fabulous job, Her narration brought Mrs. Wiggins to life with her enunciation and accent being spot on.

Thank you, NetGalley and Recorded Books, for the Advanced Audio Review Copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I would give the book 3.5 stars, rounding up to 4.

Loved this book! Narrator for the audio was perfect. Without giving away spoilers this book took a few turns I didn't expect.
This book got me thinking how hard it was for families in this time period to be LGBTQ and want to have children.
Definitely will be suggesting this book for my progressive book group!

Oh wow! This was some story. I loved that Maggie found her way to the life she wanted. She was a strong woman who worked hard and make things happen.

It is sad that she felt that she had to do what she did to make things work for her. If only she could have found a different way maybe she wouldn’t have ended up so miserable. It does make you think that sometime the way out isn’t always as easy and simple as we think it is and sometimes life can throw a curveball to throw our plans out of wack.

It is such a shame that Maggie wasn’t able to marry that nice man though.

This story has so much in it and done well. I enjoyed listening to Shari Peele’s narration of this.

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for this Audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I have love Mary Monroe since I was in high school. My love has not changed since then. I remembered when I first saw the cover I knew I wanted to read this. But, once again this book does not disappoint. I loved it.