Dodging rumors from a previous affair with a student that ended in tragedy, British literature professor Carl wants nothing more than to avoid trouble. But when the beguiling Camilla saunters into his office, he’s defenseless against her charms, her confidence in knowing what she wants. Camilla pulls him in almost instantly, and the two fall into a deep, sensuous, intense love affair that leads to a quick marriage. No one else around them seems to understand the connection they share despite her age differences, and they are tested by long-buried secrets and new betrayals and a shared loss that threatens to destroy what they have built. Can they hold onto each other, or will the darkest parts of them shatter everything?
For a story that clocks in at just over a hundred pages, Marina DelVecchio’s THE PROFESSOR’S WIFE has one of those narratives that sticks around long after it’s finished with its audience. It’s haunting in a way that one doesn’t immediately expect when first meeting Carl and Camilla. The novella encompasses their entire relationship, starting first toward the end where an elderly Carl is caring for his younger, ailing wife. As the timeline cleverly switches between past and present, there’s this unsettling note that whispers underneath. That feeling only grows once the shiny newness of their relationship begins to wear off through devastating grief, lies, and sometimes horrific secrets.
Carl and Camilla are both complicated, flawed, difficult people—not always likable––each of them harboring a certain darkness that the other doesn’t fully realize. Camilla’s best friend Chelsea bears witness to this, acting sort of as the reader’s stand-in. It’s through her careful nature, her fierce protectiveness of her friend that this disquieting tension and compelling suspense is slowly crafted. And it’s DelVecchio’s prose that truly captivates—gorgeous in its own sensuous detail, evocative, and stirring. Her sumptuous writing is heavily laced with emotion, which makes their romance and the quiet horror that follows all the more affecting. Because of this, it should be noted that certain sensitive subjects like suicide and abortion are dealt with in graphic detail, so readers are cautioned to tread carefully. Suicide in particular is handled kind of roughly through Camilla’s own personal opinions on the matter, and that might be an issue for some. Overall, this heartrending psychological thriller blends dark romance with a sense of foreboding horror to deliver a mind-blowing twist that will stay with readers for a long time.
Sumptuous prose and a mind-blowing twist will make sure that readers don’t forget THE PROFESSOR’S WIFE, an unsettling psychological thriller wrapped in a provocative dark romance.
~Jessie Thomas for IndieReader