Book Review: Imperfect Women

17.08.2020

Book Review | Imperfect Women by Araminta Hall

Ever since reading Araminta Hall’s previous novel Our Kind of Cruelty, which I thought was a perfect psychological thriller, I’ve been eagerly awaiting her next offering. Here it is, Imperfect Women, a novel told from the viewpoints of its three protaganists: Eleanor, Mary and Nancy, our imperfect women.

The three women, best friends since University, are now fully grown adults with, between them, a variety of husbands, children and careers. While they’ve found plenty of happiness: in their offspring, in love, in friendly neighbours, they’re also all experiencing a degree of dissatisfaction in their lives, in themselves and sometimes simply as a result of being women in a world that isn’t always kind to them.

As the novel opens, this dissatisfaction has lead to something deadly, with Nancy’s husband Robert and Eleanor both being informed by police in the early hours of the morning that Nancy has been murdered. What begins as an attempt to discover what happened to Nancy quickly spins out of control, leaving Eleanor and Mary questioning everything.

Of course, in true Hall style, the book is a pretty solid thriller. While I saw a couple of the early twists coming, I was still kept guessing as to the identity of the killer right up till the very end. For me though the core of the novel is less about the murder itself and much more about individual choice and what it means to be a good person. All the characters make mistakes over and over again and its the women naturally that Hall focuses on. How women now have more options than ever before but how the expectations and outcomes are still wildly different.

I like this attempt at a departure from a straightforward thriller but, for me, Imperfect Women didn’t quite achieve what I think Hall set out to do. I was certainly gripped from early on and I read through the book fast so it was, as anticipated, a twisty, readable thriller although nowhere near as affecting as Our Kind of Cruelty. My main complaint however lies in the characters. In a novel where the individual experience is so important it was difficult to find a character that was explored in enough depth to truly come alive for the reader. All the women seemed deeply concerned with their position as women in society to the point that it felt laboured. Often I felt that the explanations Hall used to drive home why the women would feel that their being a woman affected their lives at each point in the novel were unnecessary and that either the story and characterisation had already clarified that for me or it was an opinion I didn’t to form for myself. The three women didn’t seem to have the understanding or memories of each other that you’d anticipate in a long-standing friendship and, although, some of that divide is later explained away it still felt that much of their relationship wasn’t properly developed.

This is not a joyful book. It’s dark and quite depressing. Even the moments where you see couples in love or mothers and children together are undercut by this sense of foreboding, the knowledge that something terrible has or will happen. The imperfection of the title is brought up again and again, with problems left unresolved, terrible conversations never finished and apologies rarely delivered. It’s a hard thing to have to confront although it’s horribly, painfully realistic.

All that said, there’s an important little beacon of hope in there too. From the character of the neighbour Irena (her gift to Ellie is the high point of the novel and the only moment I think will stick with me), to Eleanor’s charitable work to Mary’s fierce love for her children, there are constant reminders of all the good that exists in the world alongside its harsher aspects. Despite my reservations I'd still recommend this novel. I’m a fan of Hall’s writing and if you’re looking for a nicely crafted, female led psychological thriller that keeps you guessing I’d recommend it.

Thank you to Orion and NetGalley for an advance copy of the novel in return for an honest review. Orion Publishing has kindly provided a little sampler with a chapter extract: https://bit.ly/IWSampler