The Silent Wife

“In other words, she is deeply unaware that her life is now peaking, that her youthful resilience—which her twenty-year marriage to Todd Gilbert has been slowly eroding—is approaching a final stage of disintegration, that her notions about who she is and how she ought to conduct herself are far less stable than she supposes, given that a few short months are all it will take to make a killer out of her.”

This early quote serves two important functions: it establishes the narrative voice and reveals what might otherwise be the twist of the novel. The phrasing of this quote is consistent with the deep yet detached style of the novel, in which the all-knowing narrator shares things about the characters that they themselves are not aware of. The reader is encouraged not to connect with Jodi, but to evaluate her. This passage also notifies the reader at the outset that Jodi will murder someone, inviting the reader to speculate about whether it will be Todd or someone else whom she kills.

“[Natasha] makes him conscious of his aging body and flagging vitality. Not because of anything she says or does; only because she’s young and desirable and insatiable.”

Todd’s early evaluation of Natasha reveals him to be, regardless of his other self-constructions, a stereotype of the man in a midlife crisis. However, it also reflects a view of Natasha that will be gradually challenged, especially when they move in together.

“Todd is not going to call her either. There will be no checking in to say that he misses her, no asking after her welfare. She somehow knows this, and with the knowledge comes a feeling of something unstoppable, like birds flying off before a storm.”

Despite Jodi’s compartmentalization of Todd’s affairs, she recognizes that this “fishing trip” is unusual. Typically, Todd is conscientious about checking in with Jodi and making her feel appreciated, but his complete disappearance from her life for the weekend is so unusual that she feels a real sense of unease.