Four Respectable Ladies Seek the Meaning of Wife by Barbara Toner

A hilarious and heart-warming novel about the true meaning of ‘for better or worse’ – both in marriage and in friendship.

'Marriage isn’t always a bed of roses. And there are many ways to be a wife,' the vicar informs the town …

It’s 1930, and as the Depression overtakes rural New South Wales, what it means to be a wife tests the four respectable ladies of Prospect to their very limit.

Louisa Worthington fled to the city ten years ago, pregnant, poor and under a cloud of scandal. Now she’s back - blonde and brazen - with her heart set on the married son of the town’s mayor.

Adelaide Nightingale, newly widowed and starved of romance, yearns for adoration, security and a version of herself defined by beauty not business.

Maggie Albright dreams of empire building, but is hamstrung by her over-cautious husband, who grows less handsome by the day.

Then there’s Pearl Fletcher, happily married to Joe, the district’s most successful sheep farmer, but protecting a secret that could tear their family apart.

And hovering in the town’s shadows is a ghost from their past. A man newly released from jail ruthlessly bent on exploiting the ladies’ hopes and fears to get what he wants. And what he wants is Louisa . . .

Praise for Four Respectable Ladies Seek Part-time Husband
'Loveable to the end . . . with a cast of colourful characters.' Herald Sun

'Hilarious.' Marie Claire

'A light, funny, warm-hearted read with occasional notes of darkness.' Books + Publishing

Barbara Toner

Formats & editions

Trade Paperback

9780143787570

April 2, 2019

Bantam Australia

352 pages

RRP $32.99
Online retailers
Or

Find your local bookstore at booksellers.org.au
Audio Download

9781760891183

April 2, 2019

Penguin Random House Australia Audio

RRP $26.99
Online retailers
EBook

9780143787587

April 2, 2019

Random House Australia

352 pages
Online retailers

Extract

PROLOGUE

The point of life had been preying on the Mayor’s mind. Why was he on earth? Other than greatness, what was required of him? Only this, he’d decided. To be good and to be loved. That was it. But was he good? Was he loved? He thought he was. Yes, he was. Of course he was. He was as good as he needed to be and as loved as he wanted to be. And then he was dead.