The Sister Wife

The Sister Wife. Diane Noble. 2010. HarperCollins. 343 pages.

Mary Rose refused to let the sting at the back of her throat turn to tears. Instead, she drew in a deep breath and reached over her swollen stomach to pluck weeds from between the rows of cabbage seedlings.

If ever a woman had cause to cry, Mary Rose does. Her husband, Gabriel MacKay, is about to marry another woman. And not just any woman, her best friend, Bronwyn. True, both claim--for now--that it will be a marriage in name only. Both claim that they're not in love with the other. But Mary Rose suspects that a day will come, a time will come, when all that will change.

Should she leave her husband? Should she leave the faith? Would leaving 'the faith' condemn her for eternity? Mary Rose has plenty of questions. Her marriage didn't start out this way. Her love didn't start out this way. She had every reason to hope for a happily ever after. Both her and her husband were recent--very recent--converts to the faith. Neither expected that faith to come between them and their happiness. But when the Prophet mandates Gabriel to marry the recently widowed Bronwyn, their future happiness comes into question. It's not that Mary Rose doesn't love Bronwyn. She does. She loves both mother and child. But why does caring and providing for her friend mean marriage? Why should she have to share her husband not just for this life but for all eternity?

I have mixed feelings on The Sister Wife. It is the first in a series. It has more questions than answers. I'm curious enough to want to know what happens next. But I can't say that I loved this one. I'm not even sure that I liked it.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews