The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey

 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: The Echo Wife
Author: Sarah Gailey
Release Date: 2.16.21
Publisher: Tor

Pitched as a "page-turning near-future domestic suspense novel...combining the eerie family drama of Shirley Jackson with the propulsive pacing of Ruth Ware" when I first heard of The Echo Wife my interest was piqued, but when I read the following my eyes really lit up: 

"Martine is a genetically cloned replica made from Evelyn Caldwell’s award-winning research. She’s patient and gentle and obedient. She’s everything Evelyn swore she’d never be. And she’s having an affair with Evelyn’s husband. Now, the cheating bastard is dead, and the Caldwell wives have a mess to clean up. Good thing Evelyn Caldwell is used to getting her hands dirty."

I mean, this is what I am looking for in a novel about genetic engineering and clones: pushed (or totally ignored) ethical boundaries, "cheating" spouses, and questions about identity. The Echo Wife gives readers all this and more playing up the "in another life who would I be" aspect of many women's psyches. I loved how the author kept Martine and Evelyn so cool and collected but with anger and resentment always bubbling right under the surface, threatening to spill over. This tension and the condensed timeline really drove the story along. I was originally impressed with Sarah Gailey's writing in Upright Women Wanted and after reading The Echo Wife I'll be adding her to my "Auto Read Authors" list.