The Silent Wife

Todd Gilbert is a 46-year-old entrepreneur and property developer. He grew up with an abusive father who had an alcohol addiction and a compliant mother. Like Jodi, Todd has an exceptional ability to rationalize his behavior. Early on, for instance, he convinces himself that his childhood friend Dean will not object unduly to the news that Todd has been romantically involved with Dean’s college-age daughter to the point of getting her pregnant and planning marriage. He thinks of Dean as “loyal” and believes that Dean will support Todd because of their long friendship, not comprehending that Dean’s first loyalty will be to his daughter. Todd’s actions towards Jodi are occasionally cruel—evicting her from her beloved home and cutting off all of her credit cards without notifying her—but Todd manages to think of himself as a good person doing his best in difficult circumstances. He frequently thinks that other people should be “reasonable,” by which he means behave in a way that serves his interests.

Todd has a strong desire to build a legacy, both personally and professionally. He aspires to develop a significant commercial building that will put his name on the map. His desire to leave something of himself behind also comes in the form of his longing for children. Several years prior to the events of the novel, Todd asked Jodi for children and fell into a deep depression when she maintained that she didn’t want to have kids. Todd’s previous affairs had been casual and pursued on the side, but when Natasha tells him that she’s pregnant, she offers him something he thinks will be better than the comfort and freedom he has with Jodi: someone to carry on his name. He is especially delighted when they find out that the baby is a boy, as a son appeals to his sense of masculine pride.

Like Jodi, Todd is fairly static in terms of character growth. He is a deeply flawed man prone to self-centered rationalization of his own bad behavior. Like Jodi, he mostly manages to avoid consequences until he’s killed by one of the people he’s wronged. Because he is so rarely held accountable, Todd remains comfortably within his usual habits and is not forced to grow or change. He does experience internal conflict when he must decide between Jodi and Natasha, but his decision only reinforces his existing beliefs about himself and the world.

Natasha is Todd’s college-age girlfriend and the mother of his unborn child. Both Todd and Jodi have known her since she was born. In the novel, she appears only through the lens of Todd and Jodi’s perceptions of her, and is a screen for their projections. Early in the novel, Todd describes Natasha in glowing terms, highlighting her youth and insatiable sexual appetite. As their relationship progresses, Todd’s descriptions become more critical: her wedding planning is wasteful, her housekeeping is slovenly, and her habit of keeping Todd on a short leash is controlling. He thinks of her as being irrational when she is upset by his actions, even when he hits her and she falls to the floor. Jodi sees Natasha as, at best, misguided; she has a hard time blaming her for the affair with Todd because, in Jodi’s eyes, Natasha is still a young teenager.

Todd, on the other hand, gives Natasha agency despite—or because of—their age gap. What exposure the reader does get to Natasha shows her to be motivated and clever. She manipulates Todd by taking control—for example, Natasha arranges the weekend away at the country inn and persuades Todd to go, though Todd has never before gone on a romantic getaway with one of his extramarital partners. She asserts that Todd promised her a June wedding, though Todd doesn’t remember having any such discussion. Conveniently, his portrayal of Natasha also absolves Todd from some of the blame for his own actions.