The Other Woman is one of those books that you think is one thing and turns out to be something else entirely. Going in I thought this book was about a love affair between a young woman and an older married man and, to some extent, it is but there was a lot more in there than that. I didn’t get sordid and guilt soaked romance, instead I found a deeply personal almost uncomfortable psychological thriller about a woman lacking complete sense of self. I enjoyed the dark aspects in this book and liked the story but failed to engage as much as I would have liked.

One of the reasons for this is the style of writing. Technically there is nothing wrong with it, Therese Bohman is an experienced and talented writer who clearly knows what she is doing and can build an interesting storyline and characters. It was just that the writing was not really to my taste. It was very sparse, cold even and was very much in the Nordic noir genre of storytelling. There is nothing wrong with that but I prefer my fiction to be a little brighter and more detailed. It did however create a good atmosphere that suited the plot perfectly. I found the book easy to read and thought it had good flow, however there were maybe a few to many periods for me to really get lost in the story.

The choice to have the main character as narrator and have her unnamed was inspired. It allowed the sense that the narrator was truly telling the story as she saw it, yet you are always aware that she is unreliable in her narration. The anonymity allows her to say things named characters might keep hidden so we can clearly see her contradictions and thought processes. This anonymity also allows the reader to put themselves into her shoes. To truly experience things from her perspective, it is an almost frightening experience especially when you can see the dark path she is heading down and she can’t.

When I first started this book, I was unsure if I would like it. The beginning was slow, but don’t be put off, soon enough the pace picks up. The plot escalates quickly and before you know it everything is spiralling out of control. The main character is interesting, she has no real idea of who she is or what she wants. As an aspiring writer, she feels like she needs to experience things to be a good author but her willingness to go to dark places leaves her open to manipulation from people she would least expect. I got the feeling that she was so desperate to be someone that other people wanted that she lost all sense of who she wanted to be and who she really was. This means that all her relationships romantic and otherwise are built on falsehoods both hers and theirs. You never know what is a truth and what is a lie or what anyone’s motives are.

The Other Woman is a clever and moody book about the dark sides of personalities and desires. It asks a lot of questions about morals and how far you are willing to go to find inspiration. I really enjoyed the twists and turns but would have liked a little more from the writing. If you are looking for a short read that’s a little different I would defiantly recommend this.