The Rebirth of the Tragic Housewife

From the back cover

After a depressive episode ends her life, Thea Kimmons wakes on the very night she gave birth, remembering everything: the natural birth that detached her retinas and left her blind, the job she lost, the years spent raising her child alone. Outside the ward, her husband Maxwell Jenkins and her mother-in-law Lane Menzie are refusing to sign for a C-section. This time she rolls off the delivery bed, grabs a mop, and demands the signature herself.

Recovering in the ward, she refuses to be the meek wife she once was. She tells Maxwell that if he will not stand up for her, she will divorce him and take the baby, the house, and the money. She insists on a confinement center, knowing that if she is away, Maxwell will bring his lover into their home.

From the confinement center, she watches the surveillance footage her best friend installed. On the sofa, in the second bedroom, on her own bed, Maxwell and a woman who resembles her share a life with Lane. Thea watches, and waits.