I haven't read Eileen Goudge in quite a few years, but I always liked her novels. I hesitated a bit with The Replacement Wife because the plot revolves around a woman with terminal cancer. I have to admit that at this stage in my life I prefer more upbeat reading.
When Camille Harte's cancer returns she is informed that she is terminal. As a professional matchmaker, she decides that she needs to ensure her family's future by finding a new wife for Edward, her husband of 20 years, and a mother figure for her 2 children. Edward, a physician, is deeply in love with Camille and has no desire for another women to take her place, but Camille persists in her plan to match him up with her future replacement.
Most of us think sometimes about what would happen if we lost the person closest to us and wonder if we would find love again. Some have already been through that experience and experienced the wonder of starting life over again with someone new. In The Replacement Wife, Edward is forced into trying to form a new relationship while the woman he loves is still very much alive, before he has had the opportunity to grieve or to adjust to a life on his own. He also resents that fact that Camille is assuming that he will fail as a single parent and be unable to cope with her loss. The ultimate result is unexpected, both in terms of Camille's health and the couple's future. The reader will be sympathetic to the well-meaning but misguided wife who, in wanting the best for her family, creates an impossible situation for all of them.
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