The War of the Wives

Jan 13, 2026 1:46 AM

Author:Tamar Cohen

By the popular author of WHEN SHE WAS BAD and THE BROKEN: At the funeral of your husband of twenty years, you don't expect to meet his other wife. Recommended for fans of LIANE MORIARTY

'Dark, clever and utterly addictive' - Lisa Jewell, author of I FOUND YOU

Imagine: You've been happily married for 28 years. You have three children, a lovely house and a husband who travels a lot. Even after all this time, you still love each other.

One day you get a call that turns your world upside down: your husband is dead. You are devastated. You go to the funeral... And come face to face with his other widow.

Another wife, another family. It can’t be true. You are his only wife. She is just an upstart. She can't be his widow, too. Or can she?

Reviews

A pacy tale of two women who discover they've been simultaneously amrried to one man - at his funeral. Witty, ludicrously melodramatic and psychologically perceptive, and you'll polish it off between Luton and Heraklion.

—— Sunday Telegraph

A smart, gripping story that we just couldn't stop reading - you won't believe the ending. *****

—— Closer Magazine

Swift’s first novel, with its brilliant near-future vision of an ecologically and socially devastated world and characters who resonate with life and passion, marks her as an author to watch.

—— Jackie Cassada , Library Journal

A glittering first novel: a kind of flooded Gormenghast treated with the alienated polish of DeLillo's Cosmopolis. The result is a gripping novel, readable, beautiful, politically engaged and wholly accomplished. Swift is a ridiculously talented writer.

—— Adam Roberts

Dystopia is back ... it's the characters, and what their lives show us of the fascinating, stratified world of Osiris, that are the heart of this promising debut novel

—— SFX

Intriguing

—— Tina Moran , Daily Express

A gripping page turner

—— O, The Oprah Magazine

Jenkins shows she has a gift for tender comedy

—— Scotsman

A moving study

—— Suzy Feay , Financial Times

I can think of no better companion than Janette Jenkins' pitch-perfect reimagining of a regret-tinged twilight of Noel Coward's life

—— Harper's Bazaar

A study in melancholy, very well observed

—— William Leith , Evening Standard

Perfectly-tuned imagining… Jenkins’ telling of it...saves it from any hint of predictability

—— Lesley Mcdowell , Independent on Sunday

Jenkins’s prose is thoughtful and sensitive…and her depiction of Coward’s final stage performance, which was a disaster, is particularly insightful

—— Lesley McDowell, 5 stars , Independent On Sunday

As broad and panoramic as ever.

—— Craig Brown , Mail on Sunday

There are some dazzling satirical riffs and politically incorrect laughs.

—— Jake Kerridge , Sunday Express

Wolfe’s prose is as punchy as ever.

—— Time Out

Energetically set against the deco licentiousness of Florida’s steamiest party capital.

—— Vogue

Class, family, wealth and corruption are all themes in this examination of life in Miami.

—— Sunday Business Post

[Tells] us about the way we live now... enjoyable.

—— Wynn Wheldon , Spectator

Classic Wolfe. A delight

—— William Leith , Evening Standard

Epic, hectic, satirical… It’s scathing, funny, and has great set-piece scenes

—— Brandon Robshaw , Independent on Sunday

Contemporary Miami gets the Wolfe treatment in a grand, sweeping satire on race, class, lust and immigration

—— Sunday Telegraph

Wonderful

—— Robert Bound , Monocle

Parks is one of the best living writers of English, and this book is so good you don't want it to end

—— Nicholas Lezard , Guardian

If, like me, you relish Italy, railways and grumbling, this is the most transporting book

—— Christopher Hirst , Independent

A fun, informative and detailed journey

—— By the Dart

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