What do readers think of The Half Wives by Stacia Pelletier? Write your own review.

A wonderful story set in a very specific area of San Francisco on one day in 1897. The narrative holds your interest, the characters frustrate and delight, and the prose is elegant. Who would think that basing one of the novel's themes on a municipal action to move city cemeteries to new locations would elicit such a beautiful and often heart wrenching tale? Stacey Pelletier did and does so with great finesse.

There are so many great lines in this book that put you in the shoes and the emotions of the characters. What is even more stunning is how it accomplished over the course of one day.

This novel would make a great book club selection. It encompasses so many layers of loss.

Between tears, as there is much sadness and grief in the story, the writing is so beautiful and the time in our history is described so precisely one feels like you are there. Regardless of the theme of grief and loss, this is a beautiful novel which does have an ending that is uplifting. I highly recommend it and intend to read the author's previous novel.

I was interested in reading this book because the story involved parents dealing with the loss of their child.
A couple suffers the loss of their two year old son. The father is a minister and the mother is a stay at home mom. The book covers the events as they unfold on a single day many years later, on the anniversary of their son's death. There are a few other characters introduced as the day progresses from 9 am until 3 pm.
Stacia Pelletier, the author, develops each character very carefully and their personalities spoke to me directly as i read their story. I liked her style of writing and I would be …more interested in reading other books by this gifted author. (less)

A stellar of a novel narrated in third person omniscient in the most profound voice of calm, truthfulness and forcing these characters to look themselves in the mirror.

The narrator's chastising voice moves the story along that the reader immediately judges the characters by their actions and not their words.
A haunting tale of two women in waiting for the same man, albeit an ex preacher and a child called Blue who wants nothing else but to be able to love freely her ma and pa.

A great read for book clubs to engage in and give voice, character development and reason as to why these characters are stuck in time, …more each with their own personal grief. grief that is separate, but intertwined. (less)

This novel is magnificent! You would have to be heartless to not love this book. Proof of my admiration for the author's skills is evidenced by many notes and turned-down corners -- sentences that demonstrate wisdom, poignancy, and well chosen words. Although set in 1897 San Francisco, this is so much more than a historical novel; it explores love, both gained and lost, the importance of truthful communication in a relationship, second chances, the many forms love takes, surviving grief, and moment-to-moment coping.

I am grateful to have received this book to review. I want to meet and have conversation with its gifted author.

I loved this book. I couldn't put it down. The lovely prose just sucked me in and drove me to find out more about the various characters whose lives were all bound together; whether they knew it or not. I just knew that everyone involved would have to come together at some point. But the outcome just left me breathless. I highly recommend this book and hope it achieves the success it deserves.

THE HALF WIVES is the excellent story of a former Lutheran minister, Henry, his wife Marilyn, his lover Lucy, and his eight-year-old daughter by Lucy, Blue. The entire book is a day in their lives, the anniversary of the birth and death of Henry’s and Marilyn’s child. The predicament they are in is obvious and is seen, chapter by chapter, through the eyes of one of these characters or the other.

That is what makes this book great. Stacia Pelletier presents all the various viewpoints and makes you understand and care about each character, even as they seem to be working against each other.

At the same time, there …more are problems with the way Pelletier has chosen to present the story. This has downgraded the rating that I give it.

First is the lack of quotation marks. Quotation marks were invented to aid readability. That is, quotation marks make it easier for the reader to understand. It is, therefore, rude of a writer not to use them. Pelletier doesn’t.

Second, as each chapter is written from the viewpoint of one of the characters, Pelletier has chosen second-person presentation. As a former technical writer who used the second person regularly and properly, I do not understand why she uses it in fiction. It put me off.

The entire story leads to what the reader thinks is an inevitable end. I was disappointed when I finally got there. The end leaves the reader to guess. I guess you can write it yourself however you like. (less)