Early praise for Taylor Polites’ THE REBEL WIFE in Booklist

Booklist
Advanced Review – Uncorrected Proof
Issue: December 15, 2011

The Rebel Wife.
Polites, Taylor M. (Author)
Feb 2012. 304 p. Simon & Schuster, hardcover,  $25.00. (9781451629514).

When her husband dies of a disturbing blood fever, Augusta Branson escapes the strict bonds of marriage
in the Reconstruction-era South, only to find herself trapped by unexpected debt. Her uncle steps in to care
for her but becomes frustratingly, then disturbingly controlling and mysteriously hostile. As Augusta
awakens to the political and racial tension around her, she realizes that she is caught up in an unexpectedly
complicated web. Her husband’s political machinations put her in danger even after his death, and a
plague-time anxiety begins to take over the town, furthering her desperation and creeping terror. Staying in
her socially acceptable place may be the most dangerous thing she can do, but breaking free in an
atmosphere of mind-numbing heat and simmering fear isn’t easy. Gothically atmospheric to the teeth, this
ominous tale also smartly derives much of its tension from the sinister social and political realities of
postwar Southern society. The suspense is exquisitely honed, verging on overdone but pulled back just in
time to make for a wonderfully chilling—yet over-heated—read.

— Meg Kinney