I loved this book! Loved it! I couldn't put it down. The two main characters were so wonderfully written and the way they're brought together was both magical and heart-warming. Parts of it broke my heart and parts of it glued it back together. I would jump at the chance to read something else by this author.

I'm certain I've read this book before. But, it was by another author and done in a much better way. The characters were flat and the writing was uneven.

The Wedding Gift has two main characters that could be great. The wife of an abusive plantation master and his illegitimate daughter--they could tell us so much about the experiences of women of that time and place. But, this book falls far short of similar novels by telling in bland voices instead of showing the reader so they get drawn in. The most disappointing element is a shift at the very end of the novel that changes completely the reader's ideas about the main characters.

A great debut novel, How to Be a Good Wife is also well-executed suspense. From page one, it kept me barely able to restrain myself from skipping ahead to see how it ended. The characters are brilliantly depicted. The just-under-the-surface tension leaves you really wondering what is real and what is imagined. I'd recommend the book to anyone looking for a good plot and great characters.