Mrs. Wiggins

Mary Monroe

eAudio - 2021

Reminiscent of her captivating, scandalous Mama Ruby series, New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe crafts a story set in the Deep South during the Depression, in this tale of a woman determined to have a respectable life no matter what it costs to keep it ... The daughter of a prostitute mother and an alcoholic father, Maggie Franklin knew her only way out was to marry someone upstanding and church-going. Someone like Hubert Wiggins, the most eligible man in Lexington, Alabama and the son of its most revered preacher. Proper and prosperous, Hubert is glad to finally have a wife, even one with Maggie's background. For Hubert has a secret he desperately needs to stay hidden. And Maggie's unexpected charm, elegance, and relig...ious devotion makes her the perfect partner in lies ... Their surprising union makes the Wiggins' the town's most envied couple complete with a son, Claude, whom Maggie idolizes. Until he falls in love with the worst possible fiancée. Terrified, Maggie won't let Daisy destroy her son. And when her employer's brother sexually harasses her, Maggie knows something needs to be done about him as well. In fact, she realizes there are an awful lot of sinning "disruptive" people who should be eliminated from her perfect world ... But the more Maggie tries to take control, the more obstacles are thrown in her way. And when it seems like the one person she always expected to be there is starting to drift away, Maggie will play one final, merciless game to secure what she's fought so hard to earn ...

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Subjects
Genres
Historical fiction
Published
[United States] : Recorded Books, Inc 2021.
Language
English
Corporate Author
hoopla digital
Main Author
Mary Monroe (author)
Corporate Author
hoopla digital (-)
Other Authors
Shari Peele (narrator)
Edition
Unabridged
Online Access
Instantly available on hoopla.
Cover image
Physical Description
1 online resource (1 audio file (9:hr., 8: min.)) : digital
Format
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
ISBN
9781705026571
Access
AVAILABLE FOR USE ONLY BY IOWA CITY AND RESIDENTS OF THE CONTRACTING GOVERNMENTS OF JOHNSON COUNTY, UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, HILLS, AND LONE TREE (IA).
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

Maggie Wiggins seems to have the picture-perfect life, but beneath the neat facade is a mess of secrets and lies. Her husband is the gay son of a beloved local preacher, and their marriage of convenience serves to conceal his sexuality and protect her after she suffered years of sexual abuse. Amid the brutalities of Jim Crow laws in Lexington, Alabama, Maggie persists in hiding her truths to stay safe. But when her only son's life is threatened, she decides that she has had enough and takes matters into her own hands, moving beyond deceitful to deadly. Set from 1917 to 1939, Monroe's latest work of historical fiction, following Across the Way (2020), instantly pulls readers into Maggie's complicated world of danger, identity, and injustice. Her willingness to do anything for her loved ones is relatable, and the emboldening influence of her desperation and the incremental gravity of her deceptiveness heighten the narrative's mesmerizing effect. Although scenes of rape and sexual abuse shape Monroe's unflinching dramatization of difficult but important themes of sexuality, sexual trauma, and survival, they do not weigh down the story, but rather enrich its resonance.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.