Jen's Journal

An Impossible Wife is a great commentary on the challenges of mental illness, not only for those living through it but for anyone around it as well. Told as an interview story from the perspective of Mitch and Sonja’s daughter, this story takes readers into the most vulnerable and intimate relationship I’ve read in a while. 

It is obvious a ton of research was done in order to successfully write this novel. It was written in a way that assured the reader the author knew what they were talking about, but was elegantly incorporated into the story. While the theme of the novel was intriguing, the story itself was not as I expected. From the very first chapter, the story seems rushed. Not nearly enough time is spent developing and expanding Mitch and Sonja’s story. The chapters seem to contain only as much information as needed and not nearly enough time is spent discussing the challenge that is mental illness. The greatest flaw I found reading this novel is that it took Mitch so long to give up on Sonja. For the majority of the novel, Mitch appears to be the ideal husband, standing by Sonja no matter what she puts him through. While this makes him seem like the perfect husband, it is not realistic. If this novel was extended to include more details of their life together, and Mitch was expressed as having a more natural human reaction to all this, An Impossible Wife could have been a great novel. 

I wish I could recommend this novel to anyone dealing with mental illness, or anyone who knows and loves someone with mental illness. As it is written though, the novel seems incomplete and unrealistic. I do like the hopeful ending the novel resolves to, I just wish the author took time getting there.