I generally try to write my book reviews in the order that I read books, but I am breaking my own self-imposed rule so that I can rave about The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey.
Entertainment Weekly called The Echo Wife “a trippy domestic thriller”, and while it is definitely a twist on the domestic thriller genre, it also has elements of science fiction and horror and even literary fiction. Oh, it is also, as I repeatedly told my spouse while I read, “so f*cked up”,* but in a good way.
The Plot
The Echo Wife starts with a very simple and common plot device: someone discovers their spouse has been cheating on them, and one of the three people ends up dead. In this case, it’s the cheating husband. Also in this case, the husband has been cheating with the wife’s clone. So that’s awkward. Especially since the wife is the one who developed the cloning technology. And she didn’t know that she had a clone.
If you think that seems like a lot for someone to process, that is just the very tip of the iceberg in this story about science, betrayal, and identity. I don’t want to talk too much about the plot, in fact, because I want you to experience all the twists and turns for yourself.
Why It Worked For Me
I loved The Echo Wife because it’s operating on so many different levels. On one level, it’s the standard story of love gone wrong, betrayal, jealousy, and ultimately, murder. On another level, there’s the absurd lengths Evelyn (the scientist) and Martine (her clone) go to in order to cover up the death of Nathan (the no-good husband). And on another level, there’s Evelyn’s reflections on her childhood, her marriage, and her work, and how they made her the person she is today.
This book is dark and twisted, but it’s also poignant. Evelyn suffered abuse in her childhood, and emotional abuse from Nathan as their marriage deteriorated. Evelyn is not portrayed as a saint, however. She’s shown as having been condescending to Nathan, neglecting their marriage in favor of work, and being a very difficult and demanding employer at her laboratory.
Martine is, by design, very different from Evelyn. Softer, gentler, more biddable. And oh, how my anger at Nathan grew, the more we learned about the woman he had made Martine into, and the life he had built for them together.
There are some serious consent issues at play in this book, folks. I told you. It’s f*cked up.
Anyway, if you have ever looked at the person you are today, and wondered how much different you would be if XYZ hadn’t shaped your development, The Echo Wife is going to feel like a punch in the solar plexus.
I Couldn’t Put The Echo Wife Down
I do most of my reading at night before bed. So I started The Echo Wife one night, then continued reading it before work the next morning, then after work I blew off everything else I needed to do so I could read the rest of the book. I can’t remember the last time I allowed myself to do that. The writing was so compelling, I just had to find out what was going to happen next. I also really wanted to know if Evelyn and Martine would somehow emerge from the f*cked up situation they found themselves in and find a way to some sort of happiness for each of them.
The Echo Wife will be a hard read for some people. While the abuse is not described in vivid detail, I suspect it will still be triggering for some readers. I also suspect that some of the more stark details of the cloning process will disturb squeamish readers. I found myself cringing a few times; if these scenes were in a TV show or movie, I’d have to look away. If you feel up to this sort of content, however, you will be rewarded with a story full of twists and turns, and complicated female characters.
Some Minor Critiques
This story is told in first-person POV from Evelyn’s perspective. While I understand the choice, and it made for very powerful storytelling, I also found myself frequently wishing I could see into Martine’s head. Then again, that might have made for an even more painful read, and perhaps a painful writing experience for the author. I am at least glad that we didn’t spend any time in Nathan’s head, because f*ck that guy (have I made it clear yet how much I disliked Nathan and was sort of happy he died?).
There were a couple of moments in the book where I felt like a hit on a continuity error; I don’t know for sure if these were actually errors in writing or editing, or if they represented Evelyn misremembering or misrepresenting things. Either way, they pulled me out of the narrative on occasion where I was like “Wait, I thought…” but then I couldn’t go back and double-check because I had to keep moving forward in the story. I actually almost turned around and immediately re-read the book to see if they stood out on a second read, but I took pity on the 7 people waiting in line behind me for the library’s digital copy.
A Brief Moment of Fan-Girling
Will you allow me to wrap up this review with a brief bit of gushing over the author themself**?
I just love it when an author works in different genres. I feel like every new project from Sarah Gailey is in a slightly different subgenre; the American Hippo books were Weird West alternative history; Magic for Liars was an urban fantasy whodunnit with elements of the magical school genre; Upright Women Wanted went back to Weird West, but in an apocalyptic future; and now in The Echo Wife we get shades of thriller, sci-fi, and horror.*** I can’t wait to see what they do next.
*I curse so much more IRL than I do in this blog.
**I know “themselves” is grammatically correct but I keep trying to make “themself” happen for the singular they.
***They also wrote When We Were Magic which is YA, but which I haven’t read yet.
Affiliate link disclaimer: Links in this article may be bookshop.org affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of my links you will be supporting this blog and local independent bookstores. If you do not purchase through my link, I highly recommend purchasing directly from your favorite indie store, or checking your local library.