Freida McFadden

Victoria Barnett has it all. A great career. A handsome and loving husband. A beautiful home in the suburbs and a plan to fill it with children. Life is perfect -- or so it seems. Then she's in a terrible accident... and everything falls apart. Now Victoria is unalbe to walk. She can't feed or dress herself. She can't even speak. She is confined to the top floor of her house with twenty-four-hour care. Sylvia Robinson is hired by Victoria's husband to help care for her. But it turns out Victoria isn't as impaired as Sylvia was led to believe. There's a story Victoria desperately wants to tell... if only she can get out the words. Then Sylvia discovers Victoria's diary hidden away in a drawer. And what's inside is shocking.

A Novel

The Wife Upstairs

I’ve never done anything heroic in my entire life. The leading candidate would be this cat I used to feed in an alley next to my building. But I’m not sure if feeding a stray cat counts as heroic. Also, I heard that cat eventually bit somebody, so maybe I was just aiding and abetting a bad- tempered cat.

“Fine.” I look down at my ruined interview outfit. “Totally fine. Absolutely, completely fine.”

You know what’s a bummer? When you’re happy, but somehow, your friends can’t be happy for you.

“I don’t need friends,” he said. “I’ve got you.”

“You don’t have to help me. You don’t always have to be the hero, you know.”

“Well...” I pick at a loose thread on the quilt. “You just... you do a lot. For Victoria. For your parents. It’s nice of you, but... it’s just a lot for any one person.”

“Looks like you needed me after all,” he says. “And this time, I was here.”

The Wife Upstairs quotes

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