The Next Mrs. Parrish

The Next Mrs. Parrish belongs to the psychological thriller genre, made popular by authors like Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley, Deep Water) and Daphne du Maurier (Rebecca, Jamaica Inn), and more recently by authors like Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl, Dark Places) and Lucy Foley (The Paris Apartment, The Midnight Feast).  It therefore focuses on building suspense, creating convoluted plot twists, and describing deeply dysfunctional relationships. However, rather than placing the full emphasis of the narrative on action-packed sequences, such novels rely upon the slow buildup of tension between characters whose private psychological landscapes become just as tangible as the physical setting of the story. In this way, much of the “action” takes place in the mind, and first-person narration is often employed to create a vivid sense of certain characters’ biased perspectives on the world. This tactic is used to great advantage in The Next Mrs. Parrish, in which Daphne’s narration conveys her deeply conflicted emotions over her decision to reestablish contact with her abusive ex-husband.