The Doctor's Wife: A Novel

This is a modern day story of exploration of self, doubts and liberation. Characters were well developed and the story was very visual. You could feel ache of all involved and understand feeling broken and longing for wholeness. Highly recommended

I would have given this book a 5 but I thought he underestimated the attachment a mother has for her child and what a women's reaction would be if she were hit and raped by her estranged husband. Other than that I liked the character development, the love story and the narrative. I definitely want to read a book from this author again.

It wasn’t a book that I would recommend just because the story was long, it seemed to me more about sex than about the characters involved. I kept reading hoping it would get better, but it just dragged on and on. I'm not sure what the author's point was with the main characgter. I didn’t care for the ending

I love Brian Moore’s books. The first book I read of his, was, “I Am Mary Dunn”. In that wonderful novel, he also wrote in first person as Mary Dunn. His portrayal of Mary’s personality was amazing. Must read it again!!!

I liked the French setting and the fantasy like romance. The motivations of the main character were rather confusing to me and I found the end unsatisfactory. I would give the novel somewhere between a 3 and 4 star. You could call this a beach book.

This is the first book I have read by Brian Moore, and I will definitely read his other books as well. The story "flows" so that you want to keep on reading, and I did enjoy it. But the ending is peculiar and somehow "not in character" for the "Doctor's Wife" nor for the doctor's wife, Sheila. I wonder if the author had not figured the plot out ahead of time and got bored of his characters so much so that he took the fastest, and not very convincing, way out to wrap the story up.

Great old book in great condition! Great service as usual.

A fast paced intricate novel about choices and their consequences. A bit graphic in the sex descriptions . great book for a book club lots to discuss here.

I think a lot of reviewers here have missed the point of this book which is predominantly about freedom and independence. The main protagonist Mrs Redden, Sheila, is a highly intelligent woman who has been ground down by her marriage to self important man who delights in telling her she is stupid and making her feel small. She books a second honeymoon in the South of France for herself and her husband but, as she suspected, he wriggles out of going with her and leaves her to go alone. After a stop off in Paris, to meet a friend, she meets an American man 11 years her junior and he follows her to the south of France. I am interested that so many reviewers comment on the explicit sex scenes, which I thought were tastefully done, but not on the savage rape scene later on. This books shows how much men controlled their wives in years gone by, at the time it was written women's tax returns were sent to their husbands, which is hard to believe these days. As I previously stated this book is about independence and, as such, I feel it had the right ending.

This is a well written, multi-faceted novel that holds the reader's attention. Having lived in the south of Ireland for some years, I share an uncomfortable interest in the north. I was also in Belfast (mercifully briefly) in 1974, when the book is set, and aware of just how difficult things were. The author, from the Roman Catholic community there, handles this backdrop well and, as far as one can, dispassionately.But all that is in a way incidental (though important). Most of the action is set in France with an American involvement. It is pleasantly dated (not least on how telephones were operated) and reminded me of another Irish book with a French backdrop, Edna O'Brien's "August is a Wicked Month". Perhaps in an earlier era "The Doctor's Wife" might also have been banned in Ireland. It has perhaps too much explicit sex.The story is not a happy one. In fact it's quite depressing. But it's well worth reading.

Reread this after some years. Liked it just as much. Great story and understanding of the characters. Moore writes very well about women characters and their interactions with men. This was about a Doctor's wife leaving home and his struggle to understand why.Both characters realistically portrayed. Very enjoyable read.

This is a touching story of a woman, who married for the wrong reasons, and has been just going on with her life. Her husband, the good doctor is not easy to live with. You can understand why she falls in love with a much younger man. She has an affair and decides to leave her husband and son. And yet when she realises the implication of her decision, she makes a complete break.However you cannot help feeling that the author is a little impersonal eg. Sheila is Mrs.Redden, her brother Dr. Deane.

A well written story, quite refreshingly different to the normal family account of life and strife.I did not want to end but could not put it down anyway, so a contradiction.Well done and thank you