A Quiet Wife

Sheila McDonald’s world has totally changed. Recently 60, she’s retired from a job she is passionate about, and is ready to start the next chapter in her life with her soon to retire husband, John. When John gets wrapped up with a huge project at work and pushes retirement indefinitely, Sheila is at a loss. Dealing with her husband and daughter’s critiques of what she should be doing with her time, Sheila struggles to adjust to her new life and finding the things that make her happy.

A book for an older demographic, I think some women will really identify with Sheila's story. As a 30something, I found her hard to relate to. I liked her daughter, Caitlin, and felt she really resonated with the younger generation.

It reminded me a lot of Alexander McCall Smith's Scotland Street series. The 60+-year-old heroine of this one is a lot of fun and very relatable.. Loved this one!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

This book I thought was going to be an interesting read because of where I am in my life. Sheila retires from her job thinking that her husband John is also going to retire. He doesn’t. Sheila flounders a bit and gets taken advantage of by her husband and daughter Caitlin, who has her watching her son. They think she should be doing more. I enjoyed some parts of the book but I never really got into the storyline. Thank you to NetGalley and Troubador Publishing Ltd. for the E-ARC. This is my own opinion.

While I thought Sheila was appealing enough, I wasn't fond of her husband John or her daughter. They both took her for granted and underestimated her intelligence, skills, and drive. They took advantage of her new free time after she retired, and she let them. Her interior monologue was often negative and demeaning, which prevented her from doing what she preferred. Even though she does end up a stronger person in the end, there were many choices that she could have made for herself but didn't.

When a book features a woman in her 60’s, it automatically is appealing to me. Sheila has just retired and is trying to figure out what she want to do to fill her time. Expecting her husband to retire with her, he decides to put it off. Their relationship seems stale, but Sheila appreciates the solidity of John. I thought the book had some good points to make, but it moved a bit slowly for me. An okay read, but didn’t achieve what I thought it would. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

A book to read for any woman to read approaching sixty and about to retire !! Enjoyable and realistic enough to be true to life ..The story of Shelia and how she copes with her retirement and her husband John .

Sheila in her sixties retires and her new life begins.She finds not working an adjustment her relationship with her husband and daughter change.I found this a real to life enjoyable read.#netgalley #troubadorbooks

I really enjoyed A Quiet Wife, but that being said, I think it appeals to a specific audience.

Me. I am the specific audience. A woman in her 60’s who is looking at what to do with the rest of her life.

Sheila MacDonald is 60 and has just retired from her job. She thought her husband was going to retire too and that they would start doing all sorts of things together, a new chapter. However, he is busy with a new project at work and will probably be working a couple of more years.

So, Sheila is left trying to figure out what to do with herself now.

I found the novel so charming. The way Sheila noticed things that her husband said or did. The soft gentle love that they have for each other that comes with growing together.

I also found her relationship with her daughter, Caitlin, interesting. Sheila is a little jealous of the relationship that her husband, John and Caitlin have. I liked the way it touched a little on how relationships differ within families.

As I said before, I probably enjoyed this novel even more because it was so perfectly suited to me.

I received an ARC of the book.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Shelia retires from a job that she loves and then flounders a bit finding her place in the world. Unexpected twists in this novel make it an interesting read.

I was given a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.
I wasn’t convinced upon first reading A Quiet Wife - I was initially expecting it to be a slow read about a woman living a fairly charmed life in Edinburgh, but it took me by surprise. I became quite absorbed in the routine of Sheila’s daily life, and how she negotiates the huge changes in routine after early retirement. It is an interesting study of the difference between how men - as husbands, colleagues and family members - perceive female roles, and how women regard themselves in relation to others’ expectations and their own aspirations. Sheila’s role as a caregiver and capable employee (which transpires to be a different kind of caregiving role, in essence) come first, and pursuit of other interests must be shaped around this identity. Whether a generational issue or not, it’s interesting to contemplate the roles of women portrayed in the book.
I ended up finishing A Quiet Wife quickly - perhaps because I quite enjoy a novel with no plot to speak of (not a criticism!) or maybe I just love books set in Scotland. It’s not perfect, but grew on me as the pages turned.

Epitomizing a wife who has always put her husband's needs and demands first Sheila has just retired from a job she loved and which she excelled at. She looks forward to a retirement as her husband has also scheduled his own retirement around hers. They had planned to spend more time at their property in France and had several ideas in the pipeline.

All Sheila's dreams go up in smoke when she realises that John has no intention of keeping to his promise of retirement and that life for him is even busier than ever. He, like always seems to only hear what he wants to hear so that any complaint of which there are very few from Sheila's side is brushed aside as if of no importance.

Sheila starts looking at other things which she is interested in and one is a History group but at home she is being swept into a scheme of baby sitting her grandson without a by your leave even, on a joint effort of both her husband and her daughter Caitlin. It is almost a passive bullying tactic which makes Sheila begin to realise that she has to assert herself or go under.


A pleasant reminder that life does not end at retirement and that you are never too old to stand up for yourself even in a marriage of over forty years! Not being taken for granted is very important and this highlights this.

Sheila MacDonald is 60 and has just retired from her job. She thought her husband was going to retire too and that they would start doing all sorts of things together, a new chapter. However, he is busy with a new project at work and will probably be working a couple of more years.

So, Sheila is left trying to figure out what to do with herself now.

I found the novel so charming. The way Sheila noticed things that her husband said or did. The soft gentle love that they have for each other that comes with growing together.

I also found her relationship with her daughter, Caitlin, interesting. Sheila is a little jealous of the relationship that her husband, John and Caitlin have. I liked the way it touched a little on how relationships differ within families.

A quiet wife appealed to me being a woman of a certain age! I could see several parallels between Sheila and myself and was interested to see how life changed for her with retirement!This book highlights how we as women/ wives tend to put our husbands and childrens needs first and that with time, greater financial security and no childcare issues we can embrace retirement and indulge in what interests us in our latter years! Shelias foray into retirement was fraught with angst initially but with time developed into what she wanted/ needed! A nice insightful read.
Thank you netgalley for this early read.

Definitely a good book for a lazy weekend. I really enjoyed the various characters and the way that the author introduced the story.