Suzanne Leal, author of The Deceptions and The Teacher’s Secret, is back with another page-turner that will have you intrigued and drawn in from start to finish.
Ellen Wells didn’t have the best childhood, growing up with her parents in a very traditional and religious home with strict rules and terms. She still struggles to understand the religion at the forefront of her life. When things started to get unbearable for her she absconded on her own, to start a new life for herself.
When Ellen starts a job as a teacher in an all-girls school her life starts to look different, especially when she meets Gordon, a fellow teacher, who turns her life around as they become friends, eventually falling in love.
While she thinks that her life is finally in order and she can be happy, two police officers are at her door and Gordon is reported to have had an illegal encounter with a student. Ellen refuses to believe that’s true and goes above and beyond in getting to the truth of the matter.
Sanctity, hopefulness and trust permeates The Watchful Wife. It’s a book I simply couldn’t put down, which is filled with mystery, twists and turns. It’s about the power to fight for what is right and wrong with resolve and love. Highly recommended.
Reviewed by Bianca Malyan
About the author
Suzanne is the author of novels The Watchful Wife, The Deceptions, The Teacher’s Secret and Border Street. Her debut children’s novel is Running With Ivan, a story of time travel and adventure. A regular presenter at literary, corporate, community and school events, she is the former chair of the fiction and poetry panel for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards and is a board member of BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival. From 2017 to 2019, she was the senior judge for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. A keen traveller, she is a fluent French and German speaker.
Suzanne’s third novel, The Deceptions, was inspired by a story told to her by her former landlords and neighbours, Fred and Eva Perger, Czech-Australians who had survived the Holocaust. The wartime experiences of Fred Perger also inspired Suzanne’s debut children’s novel, Running With Ivan. A fascination for the intrigues of the schoolyard inspired Suzanne’s second novel, The Teacher’s Secret, which follows the joys and tribulations of the beachside village of Brindle and the local school at the centre of this close-knit community.
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