What a fun time I had reading Wife 22 by Melanie Gideon!
While I 
love the classics, I love all the new ways that authors are incorporating social media into their stories to resemble our real lives. Mels, my new bestie, has done this with Wife 22. The main character, Alice, a middle aged wife and mother like many of us, uses Facebook frequently. The teenage daughter even uses Twitter, however, not in a way that any parent would allow. In this way, Facebook kind of became another character.
Here’s why I loved Wife 22 so much: Alice Buckle is a middle aged wife and mother of two teenage children, married twenty years. Alice could be someone you know; she could be your best friend or she could be you. She’s not perfect: sometimes she confides too much in her children and sometime she doesn’t know what to wear. Alice loves her family, her job, and her friends, but still at this stage in her life, she feels like she’s lacking something. Alice is such a lovable goof that you can’t wait to read each page to see what stupid thing she’s said or done now.
Given Alice’s knack for messing things up, it’s no wonder that she agrees to sign up for an anonymous marital survey, is named Wife 22 during the process, and consequently develops feelings for Researcher 101. Meanwhile, Alice’s husband William loses his job, her daughter Zoe might have an eating disorder, her son Peter might be gay, and a family friend comes to stay with them. What a mess!
Wife 22 will make you giggle and snort and evaluate your own thoughts of growing older. I would have Alice over for a glass of wine and a girls night out anytime! Mels too!
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I give the book 3 paws.
