60 pages • 2 hours read
Mary KubicaThe Other Mrs.
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Authorial Context: Mary Kubica and the Popularity of the Psychological Thriller
Mary Kubica exploded onto the popular literary scene with the 2014 publication of her New York Times bestseller, The Good Girl, and has replicated her winning formula seven times since then. Her repertoire mostly features stories with strong female leads that are told through fragmented and unreliable narrative voices. According to the MasterClass article on psychological thrillers, the genre “often incorporate[s] elements of mystery and include[s] themes of crime, morality, mental illness, substance abuse, multiple realities or a dissolving sense of reality, and unreliable narrators” (“How to Write a Psychological Thriller.” Masterclass, 2021). Thrillers trace their origin to late 18th- and early 19th-century Gothic literature, as well as 20th-century film auteur Alfred Hitchcock. While this type of literature has never gone out of style, it began trending in the early 21st century and remains one of the most popular genres of literature, film, and TV series two decades later.
Mary Kubica is one of several women who dominate today’s scene, and along with writers like Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins has introduced a new subgenre: the domestic noir. This focus on marriage and domestic relationships and interpreting the world through a female lens has hooked readers, who are estimated to be 80% female (Gilbert, Sophie. “Why Men Pretend to be Women to Sell Thrillers.” The Atlantic, August 2017). One reason for the genre’s popularity is hinted at in an adage about crime writers: “a male writer will note what a crime looks like, whereas a female writer will explore what it feels like” (Gilbert). Many male writers also write successful domestic noir or female-oriented crime fiction, increasing their popularity by adopting female or gender-neutral pseudonyms such as Tania Carver or Riley Sager.
Thrillers in general are appealing to audiences because they allow readers to be armchair detectives who can piece together clues, evaluate characters’ decisions, and feel the tension of the climax followed by the catharsis of resolution. Some find domestic noir appealing and innovative for its focus on crimes against women such as child abuse, domestic violence, sexual harassment, and intimidation, similar to the popular true-crime genre. According to Professor Deborah Philips of the University of Brighton, domestic noir places high emphasis on its cathartic elements by allowing the female protagonist “to exact an often brutal retribution” (“Gaslighting: Domestic Noir and the Narratives of Coercive Control.” Women: A Cultural Review, vol. 32, no. 2, 2021, pp. 140).
Literary Context: The Unreliable Narrator
The unreliable narrator is a popular literary device in many genres but is commonly found in gothic-influenced writing such as horror, mystery, and psychological thrillers. There are several reasons why a narrator can be unreliable; one can be deliberately deceptive, such as a liar or a villain, or unintentionally misguided, such as a child or someone with a mental-health condition. The unreliable narrator is so commonly used in psychological thrillers that they have become a genre trope. The term was coined by literary critic Wayne C. Booth in his 1961 book-length study The Rhetoric of Fiction, which explains that the first-person unreliable narrator “must either misreport, misinterpret, misevaluate, underreport, under-interpret, or under-evaluate” (Martin, Emily. “How Crime Writers Use Unreliable Narrators to Add Suspense.” Novel Suspects). All of these are narrative techniques frequently used by crime and thriller writers to create suspense in the story since withholding information—intentionally or otherwise—makes it difficult for the reader to solve the mystery.
Scholar William Riggan’s 1981 book about unreliable narrators identifies four kinds in its title: Pícaros, Madmen, Naïfs, and Clowns. In addition to these, some narrators simply lie outright. In Kubica’s novel, four of these can be found: “madmen,” naïfs, and liars can be found. Sadie’s mental-health condition (a more acceptable way to describe her diagnosis) puts her in the first category. She is unable to interpret events accurately and is, at times, uncertain of her own reality. Her alternate personality, Camille, can be placed in the same category, and although she is more aware of reality, she also misinterprets things. While Mouse’s narrative is told in the third rather than the typical first person used by an unreliable narrator, she does fall into the category of naïf or innocent, as she is only able to interpret events from the perspective of a small child. All three adult narrators in Kubica’s text are shown to be liars, living double (or triple) lives and actively telling lies as a way to manipulate others (as seen with Will and Camille) or survive (as seen with Sadie and Camille).
Cultural Context: Fictional Portrayals of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)
Dissociative identify disorder (DID) is one of the most commonly depicted mental-health conditions in cinema and literature, often in unrealistic and stigmatizing ways. The trope often creates dynamic roles and rich stories full of suspense, flashbacks, varying points of view, and plot twists. The revelation of the character’s condition provides a dramatic moment of catharsis, and in thrillers often solves the mystery. However, poor research and prevailing stereotypes result in the condition being blended with or mistaken for schizophrenia, and it is often unfairly connected to violent behavior. The lack of clarity authors and directors have about the condition is compounded by its controversies within the psychiatric community, which continues to debate the disorder’s causes, manifestations, and treatments. Esme Wang, who writes about her experiences with schizoaffective disorder, discusses the ramifications of these portrayals in her 2019 essay collection The Collected Schizophrenias, which include difficulty receiving effective care and increased risk of violence from strangers and loved ones.
Some popular texts have been favorably received by both the general public and DID advocacy groups, including The Three Faces of Eve and Sybil. Kubica’s The Other Mrs., by contrast, maintains popular tropes about violence and mental-health conditions, though it also highlights how those with DID or other disorders can be especially vulnerable to manipulation. While Will is the antagonist and manipulates Sadie and Camille throughout the novel, Camille is shown to have a violent streak just below the surface. She readily kills Carrie and Morgan to appease her jealousy and protect Will. Like Camille, Sadie is capable of stabbing someone to death. While she is cleared of any criminal wrongdoing, she is still guilty of the act. Despite its positive themes of female empowerment and a greater degree of nuance than other stories that use this trope, Kubica’s novel can be seen to further stigmatize those with mental illnesses.
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