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    Wife 22
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    Wife 22
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    Wife 22
    Audiobook10 hours

    Wife 22

    Written by Melanie Gideon

    Narrated by Katharine Mangold

    3.5/5

    ()

    Unavailable in your country

    Unavailable in your country

    About this audiobook

    If you like Modern Family, you’ll love this

    Maybe it was because I was about to turn the same age my mother was when I lost her. Maybe it was because my husband and I were running out of things to say to each other.

    But when the online study called “Marriage in the 21st Century” showed up in my inbox, I had no idea it would change my life. It wasn’t long before I was assigned both a pseudonym (Wife 22) and a caseworker (Researcher 101).

    And, just like that, I found myself answering questions.

    Before the study, I was Alice Buckle: wife and mother, drama teacher and Facebook chatter, downloader of memories and Googler of solutions.

    But these days, I’m also Wife 22. And somehow, my correspondence with Researcher 101 has taken an unexpectedly personal turn. Soon, I’ll have to make a decision—one that will affect my family, my marriage, my whole life. But at the moment, I’m too busy answering questions.

    As it turns out, confession can be a very powerful aphrodisiac.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJun 21, 2012
    ISBN9780007432110
    Unavailable
    Wife 22
    Author

    Melanie Gideon

    Melanie Gideon is the bestselling author of the novels, Valley of the Moon and Wife 22, as well as the memoir The Slippery Year: A Meditation on Happily Ever After. Her books have been translated into thirty-one languages. Wife 22 is currently in development. She has written for The New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Times (London), the Daily Mail (London), and other publications. She was born and raised in Rhode Island and now lives in the Bay Area. 

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    Reviews for Wife 22

    3.5/5

    320 ratings75 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 4/5
      This review is based on the Advance Reader's Edition, received through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer's program.One day, this novel will seem laughably dated, with its references to Facebook and Twitter and the Gap and searching on Google. Right now, though, it's those things that make it feel very current and now, and that is one of the book's most appealing aspects. I am drawn to epistolary tales and while this isn't written 100% in that style, it also makes use of standard narrative form, it feels that way, as the reader gets a voyeur's glimpse at emails and Facebook chats. This story about 40-something Alice Buckle, a wife and mother who questions her life and marriage when she is invited to participate in an online marriage research project, could be dismissed as just a "chick-lit" beach fluff; but I feel it's definitely worth reading. There's real depth to it, and it made me think and nod in recognition at much of it. As the emails and Facebook chats get more interesting between Alice ("Wife 22") and "Researcher 101", Gideon examines what it is to be a female in her 40s in America at this moment in time, what it is to be in love or not in love, what it is to be a wife and mother and friend...and what it is to wonder who you are underneath all those labels, who you were before you were "Wife 22" or mother of two.I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the conclusion (which I did not guess, and I'm not sure if that says anything about me or not), or about both the main characters. I also found myself wishing that the questions Alice answers in the project were not something you either have to guess at or look in the back for. I questioned some of her decisions, conclusions and actions. Yet I also liked her and felt like I got her, and I was hooked; this is one of those books that grabbed me from the start and didn't let go. Melanie Gideon's writing style, intelligence, thoughtfulness, and the desire to find out what happens next kept me avidly turning the pages. I read the entire thing in one day.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book and found it to be charming, entertaining and hilarious. The style of writing was interesting with the various Google search results (have you "Googled" yourself?), Facebook/E-mail/Twitter conversations as well as the answers to the study questions (I admit I didn't realize the questions were in the back of the book until I finished it and then I read through them all over again). Through the social electronic age we live in, you see the struggles and roles of the family play out with each other as well as their group of friends. I especially loved the scene with Alice and William communicating with Zoe on her Twitter account. The ending was a nice surprise, too. I look forward to reading more from this new author, and, to see how well they do with the movie development. The next "Bridget Jones's Diary"? We shall see.
    • 2/5
      Alice Buckle is discovering that marriage looks different after the age of forty. Her relationship with her husband used to be very close, very sexual, and very strong. But with two teenagers and mounting financial concerns, they are living more like roommates. She feels distant, disconnected, and lonely. Perhaps it is this desperation that causes her to sign up for a marriage survey. But talking about the details of her relationship unearths long dormant feelings. Is she happy with her life choices? Is there anything she can do to change them?Not terrible, but not good. The surprise "twist" ending was obvious almost from the first chapter which made it's tedious unwinding drag and drag. Alice is volatile and oddly childlike. I found it hard to sympathize with her. Her behavior is it times incomprehensible to the point that it suggests some sort of low-level psychosis. Just days before their wedding, her husband makes a comment she finds to be "too cold" so without hesitation she pitches her dead mother's engagement ring out the window of a moving car. Then she blames her husband for it's loss. Later when her husband gets demoted, she calls the woman who replaced him and begs her to "do something" to make the move less damaging. It was cringe-inducing. But perhaps her least sympathetic behavior is when her husband takes her and the family out to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary. She wasn't expecting a gift as they are in rough financial straights, but when he presents her with one she is disappointed that it's not expensive jewelry. Alas, it's only an expensive piece of technology. It's nice, but it's not exactly what she wanted. So she pouts. Like a baby would. Meanwhile, she gets her husband NOTHING AT ALL and doesn't seem to notice the hypocrisy. Gross.
    • 2/5
      Meh. I don't really remember why I picked up this book. In fact I'm a little embarrassed I did. It's not usually the type of thing I read (and maybe that's why I picked it), but I'd call it mediocre at best. The plot was superficial, cliched, and I had the "twist" figured out halfway through. The constant brand-dropping felt contrived and unwarranted, and the main character read more like a 15 year-old rather than the (wiser, less-whiney) 40 year-old she was supposed to be. I'd say I was mildly entertained but frequently annoyed and a little bored, too.

      Would I recommend it? Probably not.

      Edit: I just read that Gideon is a YA writer. Makes sense now.
    • 4/5
      This is a great read. Alice feels her life is meaningless and decides to participate in a marriage study. While participating she starts an online relationship with Researcher 101. After a while she begins to regret the relationship and decides to end it, but is not sure if she wants to end the relationship. The book shows us how we can find happiness if we're willing to turn over a few stones.
    • 4/5
      Fun, breezy, sharp, engaging, thought provoking!!
    • 3/5
      Marriage can be complicated, especially when the husband and wife don't talk to each other about their problems, but confide in total strangers. Wife 22 has decided to take part in a study about marriage and "falls in love" with her assigned "reporter." Interesting concept of what you are you willing to tell a stranger but not willing to say to your spouse.
    • 4/5
      In Wife 22, Alice is beginning to suspect that her marriage is losing its spark. In her early 40's and possibly embarking on a midlife crisis, she responds to a mail in her inbox, inviting her to participate in an anonymous online study, answering questions about her marriage. With each question, she finds herself opening up more and more to her anonymous questioner ("Researcher 101"), and soon begins to doubt her relationship with her husband, beginning to speak more freely and personally with her anonymous correspondent. I read Melanie Gideon's more recent novel Valley of the Moon a couple years ago and while I had a few minor issues with that one, I enjoyed it. This novel is completely different, but I enjoyed it a lot, probably more than I had expected to. I found Alice's character witty and relatable, and I was sucked in immediately. It was a quick read, but a fun one. I'm now rather anxious to see where Gideon goes with her next novel.
    • 4/5
      I love unconventional story telling, and this book does that with the plot unfolding through modern means of communications, emails and facebooks posts, along with a traditional narrative. The story is set within a marriage, with our narrator, Alice, and her husband stuck smack dab in the middle of their mid-life crises. They are going through all the familiar things that those of us in our 40's and 50's can relate to, boredom with our relationships and jobs, worrying about our children as they transition from children to adults, and looking for a bit of excitement and change in our lives.

      This book is sweet and very funny, and is a bit like a rom-com script and I thoroughly enjoyed every page of it. Gideon has created some memorable characters with her writing skills and I only wish that I could continue to being a voyeur into their lives a bit longer.
    • 4/5
      Not bad, but the ending wasn’t particularly difficult to guess.
    • 3/5
      Alice Buckle is a forty-something mother of two who feels her children do not need her as much, her husband is a little boring, her job is frustrating and not what she envisioned herself doing and all her friend’s lives seem so much more exciting than her own. At a cocktail party at her husband’s work she overhears his colleagues discussing a little competition they have going on … who has the most hits when they Google their own names. She goes home that evening and tries it – nothing! Feeling depressed about her own impact on the world she moves to check her email and finds an interesting email in her “spam” folder, an invitation to join an on-line survey about marriage. She checks out the credentials of the organization doing the survey and agrees to participate. Through this survey the reader learns about her life and how she got to this point. Alice herself finds she is discovering some long lost emotions and some new ones. Unfortunately, the new emotions mostly have to do with her communications with the researcher analysing her answers.

      Despite the fact that at times throughout the book I found Alice a little bit on the annoying side, it was a fun read. Definitely chick-lit for the over 40 crowd.
    • 4/5
      I really liked it! It was very cute and funny, and since the protagonist is only a few years younger than me, I could identify with the whole mid-life, empty-nester, just-the-two-of-us-again storyline. I figured out the ending about halfway through, but still a really enjoyable read.
    • 3/5
      I hate the dismissive "chick-lit" label because it can be dismissive of writing by and about women. However, this book seems to fit snugly within that genre and to offer some of the best parts of what that genre offers. The story is about a wife and mother in San Francisco who used to write plays but now teaches drama to children and who is secretly having an online affair.
      I liked that this book used a format that included a lot of emails, Facebook status updates and online chats, in addition to standard narrative. The use of these formats really echoes the way in which we experience our world today, not only through our own eyes and brains but also through the filters of the way we anticipate others reacting to what we see, through what we post on Facebook or Twitter or instagram.
      The twist in the story, which I won't reveal, made me really like the book more and really added a heart to what could have been a standard cheating novel.
      The author has written for young adult readers before and this is evident in the way that she handles the characterization of the main characters tweenage and teenage son and daughter. They are real people with distinctive personalities, not merely ciphers there to service the plot.
      This book doesn't really offer anything hugely new or unusual but it was a fast paced story that I really enjoyed and that felt true to life in a good way.
    • 4/5
      It was good! I really felt for the mother. Confused, funny, smart but no excuse for doing what she did. Not going to spoil it for anyone so I'm making this very short. Read this in a day and 1/2.
    • 4/5
      While I did win this book in a First Reads contest, it is definitely worth buying. I picked it up this morning to read, stuck inside after a snowstorm, and completed this afternoon. I started laughing on page one and finally chased my husband out of the room because I couldn't stop laughing. Alice Buckle could be any of us...trying to find meaning in life while actually living it! Not an easy thing to do. I think the previous reviews have done an excellent job outlining the major plot of this book so I won't repeat. If you want to just relax and enjoy a fun read with heart, this would be the book for you.
    • 4/5
      What a fun, realistic read! The way we are all so "connected" these days, this story could be about any of us. Loved the surprise ending. Has good discussion questions.
    • 3/5
      I was thrilled to finally snag a copy of the much talked about Wife 22. A novel about love, marriage, and family and one woman's inability to deal with all of the above.The story begins as Alice the protagonist is in her mid-40's and realizing her mother passed away when she was 45. Her 20 year marriage is already in shambles and she is dealing with two teenagers. All these components seem to have sent her off on a mini mid-life crisis. Since the story comes in at a point where Alice and William's marriage seemed to be falling apart, the reader is only left to wonder what the history was of these two. I wanted to know when did this ennui set in?I believe Ms. Gideon was writing about the consequences of lack of communication in today's marriages. As Alice & William settle in to the same old routine, relationships start to become more individualized. She uses a modern approach to their story, utilizing text messaging, emails, google and facebook to tell the story of Alice and William which ironically is also listed as a reason as to why communication has fallen apart.The story's concept was good. One has to get used to the different types of prose used. Overall, characters were developed nicely. I can't say that I really liked Alice but I understand the basis of the story and it is conveyed nicely in the book.
    • 2/5
      I unfortunately could not make it very far into Wife 22; the rather trite subject matter and mundane writing style put me off into delving into the novel any further.
    • 4/5
      This was a cleverly written novel that was innovative in the way the author wove social networking, searching, and regular prose to develop the story. The characters were entertaining if a bit one-dimensional. Overall I enjoyed the book but found the ending rather predictable. I'd recommend to someone who was looking for a light read.
    • 4/5
      Loved this light, fun, easy read!
    • 4/5
      was really enjoying it - light, breezy, adorable premise of wife taking part in marriage survey. did not like the twist, felt cheated and ruined book for me.
    • 3/5
      This was an enjoyable, quick read. I am perhaps a little slow on the uptake as the book was not entirely predictable until about half way through. I enjoyed the characters presented, but did not feel as though I really got to know any of them in depth. I would have enjoyed this book more if the characters were developed more. All things considered, it was a good book, and I liked the characters, but when the book was over, I was ready to put it down.
    • 5/5
      The formatting of this book was a little difficult to get into, but once things got going, I couldn't put this book down. It was a good read, with an unusual outcome. Highly recommend this book by Melanie Gideon.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this clever, technology-driven novel about a suburban mom's mid-life crisis as she approaches her 20 year anniversary to her husband. The author uses online postings through Facebook, text messages, and other technological communication devices to move the dialogue along. I could totally relate to the main character, Alice Buckle, as her life and mine are so similar (same-age kids with similar personalities and genders, 20 year marriage, poorly trained dog, etc.). The story was witty and fun and I really loved the tension between Researcher 101 and Alice (Wife 22), as she participated in an anonymous research study on marriage. Alice's voice seemed very real and believable. While I predicted the ending early on in the story, I still enjoyed watching it come to the climax. I would highly recommend this story for anyone who enjoy contemporary novels that have technology synched with a good dose of nostalgia, family life and romance.
    • 3/5
      The beginning is a 4 and the end is a 2 so I'm averaging it out to be a 3 star book. Very funny and touching but also very cliche. Can't say why though as it would be a terrible spoiler and it is an easy no-stress read so you should go for it.
    • 3/5
      Review based on ARC:Also, my book group, Desert Girls, read the book. See the group's review at desertgirlsbooks.blogspot.com.I thought the book was OK. I didn't hate it, but I found it cliched and predictable.I found the characters to be somewhat dull and 2-dimensional, and a lot of them seemed to have a lot of anger and negativity. The so-called best friend of the protagonist seems to love her friend by offering good advice, but seems to turn her back on the emotional sufferings and baggage of bad decisions. She was a friend who seemed present only when it was convenient for her to be so. The various "mother" figures in the book were interesting and ... well, probably the only likeable characters that were really there. The writing and the story-telling, however, were quite good. I thought Gideon did a *great* job interweaving various social networking, texting, emailing, etc. to tell the story. I also felt that there were a lot of realistically drawn characters, but I felt that the "resolution" was altogether too easy for the lack of self-reflection and growth the characters seemed to exhibit or experience in the story.Overall, I would recommend to someone who likes suburban stories about the emotional struggles that we experience as a result of our own decisions. The book isn't challenging, but it's funny at times, light at times, thoughtful at times, and written well enough to not throw.
    • 3/5
      Entertaining and easy to read. Terrible ending.
    • 4/5
      This novel really is somewhat of a Bridget Jones’ Diary for midlife, although being in my mid-thirties I was quite captivated by it. The form of the novel is unique; it’s written partly in first person present tense, partly in screenplay, partly in answers to questions that the narrator has Googled, and partly in Facebook chats. The basic plot is that Alice Buckle, a 44-year-old wife, part time drama teacher, and mother of two, is invited to participate in a research survey about marriage. As she, Wife 22, engages in answering the questions and strikes up a dialogue with her correspondent, Researcher 101, her doubts and questions about her 20 year marriage come to the surface. Alice is a thoroughly human, flawed, and endearing protagonist. She alternately rails against the way technology has taken over our lives, and wonders whether she herself is addicted to Facebook. She begins to communicate things online to Researcher 101 that she could not dream of sharing with her husband, causing her to more deeply question her marriage and the path her life is taking. As she recounts her courtship with her husband, she becomes increasingly aware of how far they have drifted apart, and must grapple with whether they can find each other again. The novel turns out to be a nice blend of romance and comedy, with some drama thrown in. It’s equal parts hilarious and heart-tugging. Alice and her family could be any of us, and that’s what makes her story so relatable. A delightful read.
    • 3/5
      I could actually relate to Alice Buckle so of course I enjoyed it. This is what I consider a beach or pool read. You can pick it up read a few chapters and then not pick it up until the next weekend. If you like sweet happy endings then this is the book for you!!
    • 5/5
      Really fun book about a woman who participates in an online marriage survey and finds herself drawn into a "relationship" with her researcher. The story crackles with wit and believable characters and situations. It might have been tied together a little too neatly at the end, but I really enjoyed this novel.