The Penmaker’s Wife by Steve Robinson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Like many mothers, nothing matters more to Angelica Chastain than her only child, William. She will go to extraordinary lengths to ensure that he has the best life possible.
The opening chapter sees Angelica in London, faking her own death and that of her son by drowning in the River Thames so that they can escape a sinister pursuer. They head, by train, to Birmingham, but their past soon catches up with them.
Although it soon becomes clear that Angelica is a very deceitful woman who thinks nothing of committing murder to protect her interests, one can’t help empathising with her and feeing that she is somehow justified in her actions. However, as the story develops, we become less sympathetic and begin to hope that the killer gets her just desserts.
Some of the characters in the book are marvellous and I felt for them, especially as they are drawn into Angelica’s web of deceit and with more danger than a flies trapped in the stickiness of a spider’s web.
If I say any more, I’ll spoil it for you. All I can say is, “Read it!”
