The Dictator's Wife by Freya Berry

 

I listened to the unabridged audio version of The Dictator's Wife by Freya Berry and narrated by Olivia Vinall earlier this month.

Listening time forThe Dictator's Wife by Freya Berry is 12 hours, 12 minutes and is really well narrated by Olivia Vinall.

Freya Berry is a new to me author. I came across her novel through Chirp's website as part of one of their limited time audiobook deals. I was intrigued by the publisher's plot summary for The Dictator's Wife, which this was the main reason I decided to give this novel a try.

The main character is Laura, who is a junior lawyer at a prestigious law firm in the UK. Everything in this novel is told through Laura's perspective, which I found unique as I would have thought that the first person point of view would have been from Marija Popa's (the dictator's wife) point of view instead. 

Laura's boss/senior lawyer lands the case of a lifetime, which is to represent Marija Popa in the trial of the century. Marija Popa is under house arrest in a (fictional) Eastern Block country and she is being accused of knowing more about her husband's suspected crimes as dictator than she claims to know. It's the job of the lawyers Marija Popa has hired to prevent her from being jailed or worse, executed by proving her innocence.

Laura is asked to be part of the legal team that defends Marija Popa. She leaps at the offer as it's the career opportunity of a lifetime for a young lawyer such as herself.

Additionally, Laura and her parents defected from the country Marija Popa's husband ruled when Laura was a young child. Laura's parents did everything they could to do to forget their past and disassociate themselves from their roots (ie refusing to speak their native language, not living among other immigrants from their own country, etc.)... Interestingly, enough as Laura grew older, she felt that her mother didn't truly love her. Before they moved to England, Laura's mother was a sweet, kind, loving mother to Laura. But after their move to England, Laura's mother wouldn't touch Laura or show her any sort of affection. Laura's mother would never explain the reason why she changed. Nor would Laura's father give an explanation either. So, Laura thought by returning to the land her parents fled might help her understand (or figure out) her parents behavior change in addition to working on the trial.

There's a lot that goes on The Dictator's Wife. At times, I felt like their were two storylines going on in this novel. We must figure out whether Marija Popa is innocent or not. Marija Popa is larger than life itself. She's beautiful and charismatic... Marija was well liked during her husband's rule by not only the people of her country, but also by the leaders of other countries and their spouses. Even celebrities loved Marija Popa. But who is the real Marija Popa? We eventually learn whether she's good or evil. Laura also finds her answers regarding her parents behavior and their association with Marija Popa herself. 

Although, I found the narration by Olivia Vinall for The Dictator's Wife to be excellent and the storyline itself to be intriguing, I was a tad disappointed overall with this novel. I had expected more from this novel in all honesty. The Dictator's Wife is a good read, don't get me wrong, but it just fell flat in some areas and some of the character interactions were not fully explained or resolved satisfactorily.

The following is the plot summary for The Dictator's Wife by Freya Berry I discovered on Amazon's website:

ONE WOMAN KNOWS THE TRUTH.
CAN YOU TRUST HER TO TELL IT?

Laura flies to her parents' homeland for the defence case of her life. Facing trial is Marija Popa, 'the Black Widow'; a constant at her husband's side until the day his people rose up and executed him. Beautiful and beguiling, Marija insists she knew nothing of her husband's dark affairs.

For Laura, the case has a personal meaning. Her mother has never spoken of the horrors she witnessed under the old regime, and remains a shadow of the woman she used to be. As Laura prepares for the trial, she realizes that to find the truth, she must enter the web of the dictator's wife. But what secrets lie within?

I am giving The Dictator's Wife by Freya Berry a rating of 3 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!