'Extraordinary. A story about belonging in liminal spaces, and longing for things seemingly just out of reach. A searing, beautiful book.' Kiley Reid, author of Such a Fun Age

Susan ‘Zuzu’ Braeburn is almost forty. She has the life she’s always dreamed of – a beautiful house, a child, a successful partner. But something between her and Agnes has been off for a long time, and she can’t help but wonder ‘what if’.

What if she had chosen to live with her father instead of her mother after their divorce? To pursue art over law? And, most importantly, to pursue her feelings for her male best friend from college, Cash, instead of marrying Agnes?

When an unexpected loss takes her back to her hometown, over a single wintery weekend, the questions in Zuzu’s mind become too loud to ignore. She grapples with the choices she’s made and the knowledge that she doesn’t have infinite time to make changes in her life.

The Other Wife speaks to unfulfilled desires and the euphoric nostalgia that’s particular to the beginning of middle age; it is heartfelt and daring in its reckoning with the quest for joy.

"I’ve followed Jackie Thomas-Kennedy’s work since I first read striking stories she published in literary magazines. The Other Wife, her first novel, chronicles the shifting desires of a woman in her late thirties who’s not sure she’s made the right life choices." - Electric Lit, 48 Books by Women of Color to Read in 2025

"Rich in Zuzu's lifelike conversations and interiority, Thomas-Kennedy's debut is a humbly expansive marriage story and a tale of growing older in lockstep with a version of yourself that gets to stay young" - Booklist

"This one is easy to dip in and out of between naps, chats and bodysurfing" - New York Times

"This original love story paints a compelling and real picture of how our minds pinball through time, seeking in the present some of the thrill and love and validation of old patterns and dynamics, meanwhile forgetting what gifts we do have. Zuzu is a compelling and relatable character, and the novel explores themes of mixed-race identity, fidelity, queerness, and the pull of comfort versus thrill. Just like Agnes claims, we would follow Zuzu anywhere" - Oprah Daily

"Thomas-Kennedy delivers a deeply thoughtful character portrait built around flashbacks, introspection, and the eternal complexity of the human condition." - GoodReads - 42 New and Upcoming Debut Novels for Your Reading Radars