The suspense escalates further into the book once you realize the sinister happenings that lead to the poor three year old Lucy's withdraw and total shutdown and refusal to speak.
Lucy, three years old standing at the barred window in the cold damp attic that is her bedroom, more like a prison in the mansion. Every night at that window screaming in terror, why? What did she witness that was so traumatizing?

When Sophie comes for a stay at the request of Lucy's mother Caroline who was best friends with Sophie as young girls, is determined to find out what is going on with the child as she becomes very fond of the little girl. What happened to Caroline, why is she so cruel to the little girl, and why does she not remember things?

The plot takes a major twist and turn once Sophie discovers the safe hidden in the floorboards in the little beach house Caroline used as her art studio. What is in the safe changes everything, and Sophie realizes her life is in danger and she must also save Lucy.

Thank you netgally for giving me the chance to read and give an honest review of The First Wife.

Love all books from this author and this was a brilliant read, a bit of a different type of read as her previous books.

It was definitely a page turner and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout, all with interesting characters and I can certainly recommend.

Well done Jill I look forward to your next read.

DNF @ 22%

At 22%, nothing has really happened in the book. The first chapter alone was 19% and there were plenty of times where it could have been broken up into shorter chapters. I feel like the plot would have been interesting, but the author seemed to fill the book (or the first 22% anyway) with SO much descriptions about what everyone was wearing and the surroundings (every room) the characters were in, right down to what was hand-embroidered on the quilt on the bed. This all seemed like "filler" to me.

The plot "hook", the daughter Lucy, is barely in the book so far. It just didn't keep my attention.

Oooooh as we all know it takes a lot for a thriller to shock me but The First Wife has an unbelievable twist that I just didn’t see coming!
Dark, creepy with a dash of gothic charm I was gripped from the beginning. The relationship built between Sophie and Lucy was beautiful and as mentioned the ending shocked me! The perfect thriller / mystery.

With her own life on pause, Sophie is happy to accept an invitation to visit her old friend Caroline. The fact that Caroline is staying at her family’s glorious beach house is just the icing on the cake. Sophie expects some girl time as the old friends get reacquainted, but Caroline seems like a shadow of her old self, tense, nervous, and always disappearing somewhere. Caroline’s daughter Lucy has problems of her own, the girl has selective mutism and seems afraid of her own shadow. There are plenty of secrets in this home, but uncovering them will come at a cost. This book has a hint of the Gothic, a little Victoria Holt that will delight fans of the genre