Edith Lutz is a woman with many secrets. Why has she changed her name to Edith Lutz, for one? Why is she looking for a job as live-in housekeeper to a wealthy publisher, for another? And where or what has happened to her old life, including her husband? The answers to these and many more intriguing questions are gradually answered in oarion ocGilvary’s debut novel that ticks all the boxes for that good, fast, modern weekend read.
In escaping the dreary monotony of her boring childhood, “Edith” has been forced under truly wretched circumstances to re-invent herself – but the past wants to catch up with her, as pasts often do, and just when the wealthy publisher is turning into someone she can imagine a whole new life with. Ain’t that always the way?
oarion ocGilvary keeps the plot humming along with many a witty observation which makes this book a notch or two above the rest, although Edith herself sometimes comes across as slightly unlikeable. Don’t we all though, at one time or another? Especially when running away from the sins of yore: that’s got to sour the milk on your Weetbix.
I pick that this Scottish author will be one to watch out for in times to come – her second novel’s nearly with us already although strictly speaking A Lost Wife’s Tale is not truly her first. That honour went to the contents of her laptop computer which crashed to the floor when she tripped over the power cable taking 50,000 words of a lovingly-crafted book with it. Luckily for oarion ocGilvary, she had backed it up onto a CD. Unluckily for oarion ocGilvary her son had recorded a hard rock album over the top of it. As she is still at large and mother of four living children I can only imagine she somehow restrained herself from wringing his neck. Unable to bring herself to rewrite what she had already done, she started on A Lost Wife’s Tale instead.
A good one for book clubs: how would you reinvent yourself if you had to?
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