Book Review: The Wives of Henry Oades

As Johanna Moran's debut novel, The Wives of Henry Oades is wonderful! The novel begins in 1890 with Henry, his wife Margaret and their two children leaving England to go to New Zealand. The country is still considered the wilderness and the Oades find themselves in an undesirably living arrangement. Soon after they move out to the country, Margaret Oades and her children are kidnapped by a Maori tribe. After years of endless searching and mourning, Henry decides to move to California. Eventually, Margaret and her surviving children escape the Maori, discover where Henry is living, and go to join him. When they arrive, they find that Henry has remarried. To make matters worse, the whole family is brought to court on charges of bigamy.

One of the perks of the novel is that it is told from various viewpoints without being confusing. The writing is also beautiful and the characters are wonderfully developed. The first two sections of the book flew by so quickly the I wanted to re-read them immediately. It reads with the pace of a thriller but with the depth of an incredibly thoughtful and insightful historical novel. The reason why I had to give this book 3 stars is because the final section seemed to pale in comparison to the first two. It felt rushed but at the same time a bit boring. Being that it was the final section, it left me feeling a bit unsatisfied. Still, I would completely recommend it to any lover of historical fiction or just fiction in general!

-DLP