The Marriage Rules by Samantha Hayes
Genre: Psychological thriller
Read: 10th April 2025
Published: 9th April 2025
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
The rules are there to keep their family safe. But what happens when they get broken…?
Fiona Fisher lives a quiet and contented existence. A former nurse who married Jason, the doctor of her dreams, she is now a mother to his two daughters and living in the sort of cosy village home she’d always wished for.
Life is pretty much perfect in every way. As long as they stick to their rules…
Everyone in bed by eight o’clock sharp.
No loud music, no news on the TV, no social media. The house phone for emergency use only.
Locks on every door. No leaving the house.
And absolutely no talking about the past.
But one day, someone starts breaking the rules…
This insanely twisty psychological thriller will have you flipping pages all night long. Anyone who held their breath as they raced through The Housemaid, The Wife Between Us and The Girl on the Train needs to drop everything and start reading!
MY THOUGHTS:
Who is making the rules...and who is breaking them...?
Ok first up, this is one seriously twisted read! Where nothing, and I mean NOTHING, is as it seems. From start to finish you think you know what is happening...but you don't.
The basis of this twisted tale are the all important rules. Rules, rules, rules! You must obey the rules! So so many rules! So what are the rules?
Rule 1: No lying.
Rule 2: Never talk about you know who.
Rule 3: Family confessional every day at 6pm.
Rule 4: No leaving the house without good reason.
Rule 5: Bedtime confessional.
Rule 6: Never talk about the past.
Rule 7: No alcohol, apart from one drink at the weekend.
Rule 8: Grieving hour every Sunday at 5pm.
Rule 9: No phones/tablets/laptops/internet after 6pm.
Rule 10: No watching the news. No social media. No loud music.
Rule 11: Bedtime strictly 8pm.
Rule 12: No flaunting or flirting with the opposite sex.
Rule 13: No breaking of the marriage rules. Punishment severe.
From the outset, the rules seemed a little one-sided and I was left feeling a bit miffed at the attitude and the enforcement of the said rules - to the absolute letter. And the punishment? Well...that was a bit off the scale too.
But to Fiona and Jason it is normal. It keeps them safe. From what or who, isn't clear. At least not right away. Still, Jason has always lived by a set of strict rules which has served him well, even when his father abandoned him after the sudden death of his mother at 13 and shipping him off to boarding school. The rules helped keep him structured and disciplined; helped keep him safe. So when he met Fiona at the Radmoor Psychiatric Hospital where he recently gained the position of psychiatrist, the pair seemed to feel a chemistry almost at once. The only problem was, Jason was already married. To the head psychiatrist, Dr Erika Nordstrom. Despite this, the pair began to plan a future together.
And then, Erika is dead and the couple move away with Jason's two daughters Tilly (15) and Ivy (8) to begin a new life together. The girls miss their mum and Jason insists on them calling Fiona "mum" or "mummy" but neither girl is thrilled at the prospect, nor by their father's strict set of rules. But he only wants to keep them safe...if only they follow the rules.
But when Fiona befriends neighbour Sascha and her daughter Cora becomes friendly with Ivy, Jason begins to see cracks appear in the life he has carefully curated for them. Sascha won't take his nonsense and tries to encourage Fiona not to either but that won't do. So when Sascha disappears, her house resembling a crime scene, Fiona begins to question what really happened to her friend.
Now when I began this read, I was increasingly frustrated with Fiona and totally annoyed with Jason. Those rules bordered on abuse; especially given his punishment for breaking them. But then the story unfolded some more and I realised that nothing is at all what it seems.
This is not an entirely predictable read because I guarantee it will shock you. I doubt you will see some of the twists coming. I definitely didn't see that last one but pretty much worked out the rest. Even so, even a seasoned thriller reader such as myself will be surprised at the turn of events and that one clever final twist.
This is a dark, chilling and claustrophobic read and you will be kept on the edge of your seat as you race to the end to that final reveal. Did you work it out?
This is one of those books that is hard to review because to say too much will give the whole game away. And you don't want that happening, believe me. But bare with Fiona and her submissiveness. It will all be worth it in the end.
I would like to thank #SamanthaHayes, #Netgalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheMarriageRules in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
When not writing, Samantha loves to cook, go to the gym, see friends and drink nice wine. She is also studying for a degree in psychotherapy. She has three grown-up children and lives in Warwickshire.
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