Book Review: The Third Wife of Faraday House by B.R. Myers

I’ve never read a book by B.R. Myers before, but she’s a Canadian writer, and the premise of her latest release The Third Wife of Faraday House intrigued me, so I took a chance on a ‘new to me’ author. It was a fun book to read with lots of elements that promise a good plot; a ghost story, a drafty house with a dark history, a romance, and of course mystery. Myers is better known for her teen fiction, and she also writes romance novels under a pseudonym, and I recognized elements of those genres in this adult novel too.

Plot Summary

It’s 1816, and Emeline Fitzpatrick is desperate to officially announce her engagement to a handsome member of the British Navy who she has secretly taken up with. Now an orphan she lives with guardians who are focused on finding her a suitable match, but when a scandal erupts over her relationship, she is sent away to a gloomy island to marry Captain Graves, an older man in search of a younger wife to bear an heir. Once at Faraday House, she discovers that much to her own horror, Graves’s second wife is actually still alive but terminally ill, so the household is waiting for her death before they can officially marry Graves and Emeline. The house is large, cold, and full of strange things, like a piano that plays itself, and ceilings that reveal bloody secrets in the middle of the night. The graveyard next to it bears the tombstone of Graves’ first wife, and a plot ready for the second, but the most disturbing of all are the strange tinctures of local mushrooms that they are relying on to treat the sickly second wife. One bright spot is the handsome yet mysterious Reverend Pellerine and his loyal dog Moses, but as the dangers of Faraday House seem to increase by the day, Emeline is forced to confront her fears and lack of independence if she wants to survive long enough to escape the strange island and its cruel patriarch.

My Thoughts

This story is all about atmosphere, and the creepy elements of Faraday House on its gloomy island all work together perfectly to create a world we want to inhabit with Emeline. The unexplained occurrences that she witnesses in the cold and empty rooms are quickly dismissed by the Reverend but feared by the house staff, and once Emeline realizes the mushroom teas could be poisonous and hallucinogenic, she begins to question her own sanity – is she seeing things too, is she being poisoned? The curse of Faraday House and the alarming rate that young women die there would be reason for anyone to get nervous, but Emeline quickly develops a friendship with the bed-ridden second wife, which begins to open her eyes to a different possibility; what if there truly is a ghost and it’s trying to warn her of something? I was impressed with how easily the narrative incorporated elements of fantasy into what is essentially a coming-of-age novel, artfully weaving suggestions of phantoms, curses, and karma into a tale of developing female confidence and independence.

The slow crescendo of the plot, and the exquisite gothic atmosphere were definitely my favourite parts of this book. The character building was a bit spotty for me though, and this is what I meant by seeing the young adult influence of Myers’ writing in this adult novel. Emeline is hopelessly in love with a British sailor who is clearly using her – this is obvious to everyone, except for her. She clings to the very unlikely option that he will rescue her from Faraday House, and she relentlessly depends on this fantasy to survive her first few weeks on the island. The potential romance with Pellerine is a potential escape from this, but how her relationship progresses with the Reverend stops just short of unbelievable, and the way her reactions change to this potential romance is most definitely unbelievable. It felt a bit clunky, but did not detract from my enjoyment of the novel; it’s just something I feel compelled to mention in a thorough review of the book. So in summary, this one was a winner for me. There’s always room for improvement, but I loved being transported to the gloomy estate of Faraday House.