In The Anniversary, novelist J.B. is on the cusp of real literary success after years of propping up her husband Patrick’s career as a filmmaker when he dies on a cruise they have taken. As she unravels, she continues to navigate the demands of sudden success, even as she seems to be falling apart. The author hints that the circumstances of Patrick’s death are ambiguous, but we never really find out exactly what happened—we see consequences rather than facts. Surrounding this is J.B’s ambiguous feelings about her relationship, formed with a power imbalance many years before. Patrick is portrayed almost as a caricature of male entitlement—swaggering, overly self-assured and never questioning J.B’s ‘rightful’ place as his devoted supporter, collaborator and muse.

Incrementally, we discover how central the disappearance of J.B’s mother is to her sense of self, and to many of her stories. Her life has been an exploration of this loss and she sifts through facts and fiction, never quite knowing which is which. The same holds for her perception of Patrick’s fall from the ship – as an unreliable narrator we never know what happened and she doesn’t seem to want to know herself. To me, this book was an examination of power imbalance in creative partnerships, how ego and success can corrupt and damage relationships, how women are more often the ones who lose in this situation, and how they must apologise and play down any success they have. It’s a poignant but accurate assessment and one that left me pondering long after I had finished the pages. The idea that women authors are more likely than their male counterparts to feel the pressure to use fiction as a confessional, that people are hungry for this aspect of their stories and just as likely to judge them for it. As J.B’s life is turned upside down, this novel is just as much a skewering of the literary world as it is an intimate look at an author’s creativity intersecting with her personal life. We are left with the question: has the creativity destroyed the personal life or has the personal life destroyed the creativity? Whatever the answer, this novel is sure to make you think. With many thanks to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for my review copy.

When a novel is a totally first person narrative, almost in a stream of consciousness mode, the reader is always misinformed. In this book that is exactly what unfolds. The narrative is interesting, well written and engaging at times. Told looking back, the main character only offers her truths at first. As the novel unfolds,the revelations are clearly differing. Two artists in different genres marry and both become respected and successful. A planned anniversary cruise becomes the fulcrum for the rest of the action of the novel.
In retrospect, I liked it more than I did while reading it. I could not get past the stifling technique.

Novelist J.B Blackwood is on a cruise to celebrate her and her film maker husbands anniversary. However, this quickly turns from trip of a lifetime into a trip of nightmares when a storm hits and her husband is thrown overboard. We then follow Blackwood as she is questioned, moves in with her sister to get away from everything and subsequently moves back home.

The whole story is told from Blackwood perspective with very little dialogue from any of the other characters. I feel like this was a purposeful element to make them a narrator we aren't sure if we can trust, especially when we get close to the end of the book. I felt like the book had a good premise but much of it detered from the actual story and went off into the making of films and writing of the book. Because of this I felt the ending was quite rushed and almost came out of nowhere. I'm not sure if that was intentional because of the unreliable narrator hiding things from us as the audience but it felt like an ambush with nothing to show it could happen.

I enjoyed the story but don't think it's one I'll be returning to, and I'm not sure I would be recommending it to many people either. Looking at the reviews online it seems to be very marmite. Some love it and some feel it was a waste of time.

“How much ambition can a woman lay claim to before she is ruined by it?”

“The Anniversary” succeeds where many thrillers fail, in my opinion. My mind was spinning - deeply engrossed - with this novel for a full week. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do this review it’s full justice……THERE IS SO MUCH GOING ON. (I couldn’t rush through this book as others said they did —I had a lot of thinking to do — with the many storylines)…. ITS MUCH MORE THAN SUSPENSE…..but the suspense ‘is’ spellbinding. It’s also compelling in many other ways —frictions between goodness

I suppose it’s fair to say it’s a ‘literary’-mixed-bag-genre-untraditional-thriller….with contemporary issues of marriage, (repression and rage), background history of the characters, a large cast of supporting characters, extended family drama….travel, art, (writing and film), as well as a forensics crime investigation, and courtroom case.

I’m awestricken by the layers of psychological depth, in “The Anniversary”. It’s the chock-full complexities. The exquisite intracity of delaying & dangling the suspense with conscience-ridden artistry, scope, and candor, was brilliant.
Every turn in this story seems disquieting and unexpected.

I was constantly psychoanalyzing the characters - their relationships - and core events.
My poor husband — during my reading breaks, he became a springboard to my thoughts - as I was trying to figure out the utterly unpredictable incisive narrative ….

The beginning chapters move swiftly.
J.B. and Patrick were coming up on their fourteenth wedding anniversary. It was early October. An anniversary cruise was scheduled: eighteen days starting from Alaska….. leaving from London at the start.
J.B. had planned everything carefully. They would be crossing the Bering Sea, the coast of Russia, ending up in Osaka — then take a train to Kyoto. Finally ending up in Japan in November.
Two months later, in December, J.B. would be attending a literary awards event…the biggest international literary event of the year. It was usually held in London, but this year it would be in New York.
J.B. had advance notice from her publisher about receiving a literary prize for her new novel. She was asked to keep it secret, even from her husband.
J.B. had booked the cruise before learning of the prize she would be receiving. She only needed to tweak the itinerary a little to get to New York on time.

Their cruise would be the first extravagant thing J. B. and Patrick had ever done in their marriage. J.B. was looking forward to the celebration with Patrick. — and it was she who made all the arrangements.

Patrick was a film Director, with an honorary position at a prestigious, university, and over time, as his films grew more attention, pressures increased. He was hesitant at first to take a vacation—thinking all the hassles of packing- traveling to a port to stand in queues—dealing with strangers at mealtimes and at the pool, just didn’t seem worth it.
J.B. clearly wanted the vacation—-it took some persuading
as well as exhausting stress for Patrick to agree.
If I were to write about Patrick’s character — alone — i could write pages.

Patrick had a son from his first marriage (much more information about this)……but Joshua had been staying with J.B. and Patrick more often recently.
Joshua had once been an even-tempered child, now he was angry hating everything and everybody— manifesting loud screaming fits.
It was all so exhausting— that Patrick agreed to the vacation. J.B. made all the arrangements.
My thoughts never left this kid- Joshua. For different reasons - his minor character just never left me.

Other characters— stayed with me: J.B.’s sister May and her husband Adam — and their kids —and J.B.’s relationship with them all. Back home, in Australia with May…..J.B. is called by her first name: Lucie. (J.B. is what Lucie uses for publishing her books).

Patrick was a good twenty years older than JB. was.
When they first met, — in Australia- J.B. — a student — had just celebrated her twenty-fourth birthday. Patrick was forty-five — an American born professor teaching film studies— a temporary visiting scholar in Australia teaching a cinema class.
J.B. was enrolled in his class: Professor Patrick Heller.
There relationship begins in Australia— (J.B.’s home)
……eventually follows Patrick to London….back where he was teaching.

Early into reading this story, (which I was thoroughly enjoying right away), I noticed a couple of potential red flag — dubious-slothfulness-passivities in Patrick’s character.
I began to watch out for more — there were more …..but I was curious to see if I was truly picking up on a character-worrisome flaw — or not.

I trusted J.B’s character….. I didn’t even ‘suspect’ that she might be an unreliable character …. until way past half way…..
and even now —I’m not going to share my final thoughts about who I think was reliable and who wasn’t…
Only to say — ( but not wanting to share any spoilers)— I ended up feeling very sad — but I won’t share why.

It’s just a damn great engrossing read. I’m thrilled to have discovered Stephanie Bishop.

I admit to having an old memory surface. Paul and I were on our honeymoon in maui. I got caught under a wave - and had absolutely no control of the water — I was down so long I was sure I was going to die on our honeymoon. After getting washed up to shore - my bathing top was gone. Believe me — being topless on a public beach was the last thing I was thinking.

…….There are some gripping scenes while at sea during a heavy storm. My body went into chills… it was so visual.
We KNOW SOMETHING is not right —

The ongoing ride — to the end had me wrestling and pondering thoughts and feelings with a crushing weight of —literally and figuratively — with the insurmountable psychological devastations.

Oh….but how I marvel in the Stephanie Bishop’s ability to deliver this story with great skill- intelligence and grace.
The fragility of her characters lives-seemed on the verge of rupture—any moment.

Looking forward to reading another book by Stephanie Bishop.

Note:
I’m sucking at this …writing reviews is getting hard. But I liked this book a lot.

This book had everything I usually love, character development, mystery, good atmosphere. But unfortunately I couldn’t get through this one, despite really wanting to love it.

This book started so well crafted that I was anxious to turn the page. As each chapter came it dramatically changed, the complexity of the drag out was almost impossible to comprehend. The overwhelming divide into the history was just too much.

I went into this with the wrong impression, expecting dramatic reveals and scandalous secrets of the tragically deceased husband. While there is some of that, this was a psychological portrait of a woman unraveling.

I was mad at this book. Mad at the slow pace, the meandering, the going on and on in details and thoughts and streams of consciousness and mad at how well it worked. It felt like being inside J.B.’s head, completely absorbed in her train of thought and accepting her logic while at the same time looking, as the reader, from the outside and seeing everything work against her.

I deeply enjoyed the commentary on marriage, family, writing, literature, art in general… Really, this novel goes through a lot of topics and none of them I found unnecessary, once I really got into it. The jumping from point to point in time and stopping to expand and spend time on these themes is something I’m very partial to, but know isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

That being said, it did take me a minute to get into it (mostly because I had to adjust my expectations), until almost halfway through. The second half was fantastic, and then the very end picked up speed and left me wanting a bit more, which was funny considering how long it took me to read the book. Still, this is such a layered, complex story that jolted me and left me thinking too much to put into words right now. I just know it made me mad how much I loved it.

Thank you to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Lucie, better known as JB Blackwood, the name she writes under, married her much older university lecturer, Patrick, a film director. They are each other's muse, both with successful careers. To celebrate their 14th wedding anniversary and to get away from their denanding careers, they go on a cruise, and that's when life starts to unravel.

Bishop's descriptive writing is engaging from the outset, pulling you right into the story and then it's like you are in a hall of mirrors, as you turn you get another fragment of the story.

A psychological thriller, with complex and not particularly likeable characters. Sometimes it's hard to keep up and there are some aspects of the plot lines that seem a little imperfect. But overall this is a book that was hard to put down.

3.5-4⭐️ Thanks to #netgalley and @groveatlantic for the e-arc in return for an honest review. It will be published in the US on 18 July. It was published by @hachetteaus at the end of March and is available in Australia.

Very disappointed in this book. I read two reviews which described it as dynamic and exciting. For me it was neither.

The first part which describes the actual incident is pretty good and the end which describes a part of the trial is okay too but the middle section (most of the book) is just like listening to someone talking to themselves, justifying their actions.

I found quite a lot of the "action" completely incomprehensible. Why, I asked myself, would you spend weeks flying all over the world, going to parties and accepting accolades if you were broken by the death of your husband. Even somebody pretending to be heartbroken wouldn't do that no matter how much they thought they "deserved" it.

It took long enough to plough through to what had happened to the narrator as a child, which she constantly alludes to. I am still totally in the dark about what happened in her teens, which she mentions then seems to forget about.

This book was simply not for me. The two stars are for finishing it and it not giving me a headache (although I did roll my eyes an awful lot). The half is for the bits I did enjoy.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC but I won't be rushing to read more by this author.

Powerful literary story of an imbalanced relationship and a husband lost overboard. Did he fall or was he pushed? Who decides what makes the edit of our lives and what is left out. Introspective and at times impossible to feel sympathy for the protagonist, beautifully written.

The Anniversary

This book some out in a few months :)

The story revolves around J.B and her novel that is about to be published, but while taken a cruise for her upcoming anniversary someone goes amiss. The novel also revolves around how much her husband influences her work and that most people think she is cashing in on his success. It also is a play by play of the events in the book and spans over a long period time in the end. J.B then goes on to win a major literary prize and has in endure press while going through what could be the hardest times of her life.

This book perplexed me a little, it was very mono toned for the duration that I was reading it. The story jumped a fair big in time frames past to present and at times I was not sure which part I was reading from. The character of J.B was complex and there was a lot left unsaid about events leading up to the final hurrah. It was written in first person and detailed what had brought on the actions and potentially why they have occurred. Towards the end it begun to make more sense as to what was happening in the book as it was not always clear. I did however appreciate the complex relationship between the main character and her spouse and the struggles they shared in the book. The story was one of passion and what someone would do if they were to be crossed in the wrong way. In all this was great book to pick up and read.

A propulsive literary suspense story following a writer and how she copes with the aftermath of her older husband's death which occurs on their anniversary trip at sea.

"The Anniversary" by Stephanie Bishop definitely kept my interest--the main character J.B. narrates in a tone which is haunting and a perhaps a bit unreliable. There were times where I felt the author was too wordy--sentences going on for almost a page, and no quotation marks for dialogue--at times felt blurry and muddled (which may have been her intention).

This is a suspense story, but not your typical fast-paced thriller. I'd suggest this novel for readers who like a dark and slow burn, character studies, wordy but literary sentences, and digging deeper into what it means to be an artist/writer--how does art imitate or influence one's actual existence and behaviors. This is a book that involves some contemplation, and I think readers who are interested in the writing process will especially appreciate being in the narrator's head throughout the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic/Grove Press for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. These opinions are mine alone.

"The Anniversary," follows novelist J.B. Blackwood who deals with the aftermath of the death (murder?) of her older and more successful husband on her wedding anniversary. The novel examines the power dynamics in ‘may-december’ relationships (especially older male younger female) and the oppressiveness of being a ‘muse.’ This is the rare work of literary fiction that’s plotted like a thriller - it has something for everyone.

How wonderful to discover Stephanie Bishop and why have I not read her previous books.? That can and will be rectified.. She writes with a wonderful blend of Joan Didion with a touch of Siri Hustvedt but also totally her own voice. The Anniversary starts when Lucie as an ingenue student captivates her professor, a yet to be famous film director. The student affair is real and completely understandable. Bishop writes to drive both the dialogue, internal as well as external and creates the setting with a superb eye for detail. Predictably their life together relies on their co dependency for creativity. Hers as a successful writer, his as a lauded writer, director and occasionally a father to a son he left before birth. Their anniversary is to be celebrated with a cruise butby then things are far from right. The disaster of the cruise is then the subject of the book. The interviews in Japan reminiscent of Lost in Translation and Lucile’s answers and state of mind are agonising to read. When she return to Australia Bishop has shirted gears into uncomfortable territory and the description of the public swimming pool where her niece swims is so real the smell of chlorine rises off the page. It’s so real. As the denouement becomes obvious again Bishop resists the temptation to overwrite and makes the most of Lucie’s take on proceedings. I loved the unraveling of her world and the satisfaction of a good ending. Thanks to @netgalley and the publishers in return for review prior to publication. I’m sure it will be a success.

An intriguing look back on a marriage built on inequality.

What happens when you realise the imbalance within your partnership and your husband has been washed overboard on your anniversary cruise.

Bit wordy at times but ultimately satsifying

I wanted to like this book more than I did. Love the cover and synopsis, but overall, I found the writing to be difficult to engage with and the pace to be slower than what I am used to. Thanks for the opportunity to read this ARC. I will not be posting my review on social media since it is not more positive.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and appreciate the opportunity to read it. It had an interesting plot and a good read although I did find the pace to be a bit slow at times. I like thrillers that keep me up way past my bedtime and unfortunately, this just wasn’t it for me.

Wanted to like this more. The wording was confusing at times, made for a story I couldn't get into like
normal.
Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free, it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

Dynamic, enthralling and addictive story. A brilliantly written novel that is impossible to put down. Stephanie Bishop has put together an award-winning story of a successful woman's journey into confusion and pain as she tries to find her true self. Totally sensational novel worthy of five stars.

I love this intense, climactic thriller. I was incredibly invested in the characters and plot. Readers are going to love this incredible novel.