[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-320243-105":59,"doc-detail-320243-en":131},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":124,"head_meta":126,"extra_data":128,"updated_unix":130},105,"en","the-wife-upstairs-rachel-hawkins","The Wife Upstairs - Rachel Hawkins","","Jane starts her mid-February dog-walking job for wealthy clients, beginning at the Reed home with the collie Bear and immediately noticing the gap between outward appearances and private indifference. In the rain and cold, she observes the elaborate houses, charity performances, and performative sympathy around her, while managing the discomfort of the work and the personal reminders of past labor. The neighborhood’s luxury masks entitlement, routine cruelty, and a sense of obligation that feels hollow to Jane.",{"@graph":69,"@context":123},[70,84,106],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":10,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/story-novel/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-wife-upstairs-rachel-hawkins/320243/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-wife-upstairs-rachel-hawkins/320243.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Genevieve","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-04","2026-09-21",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":105},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",141,{"@type":107,"mainEntity":108},"FAQPage",[109,115,119],{"name":110,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":112},"Who is Jane, and what does she do in the opening scene?","Question",{"text":113,"@type":114},"Jane is a dog-walker who takes her clients’ dogs out, starting with Mrs. Reed’s collie, Bear, at the Reed home in mid-February.","Answer",{"name":116,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":117},"How does Jane perceive the Reed household and its charitable social life?",{"text":118,"@type":114},"Jane notices that Mrs. Reed’s sympathy and the charity events she attends feel performative, masking indifference and self-centered motives.",{"name":120,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":121},"What theme is emphasized through the setting and Jane’s observations of the neighborhood?",{"text":122,"@type":114},"The passage highlights how luxury and outward virtue can hide entitlement and emotional disconnect, while Jane focuses on appearances and what people actually want.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":125,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":127,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":129,"site_id":62},320243,1793603259,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":132},{"doc_id":129,"user_id":133,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":8,"category_name":10,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":105,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":140,"language":141,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":142,"faqs":143,"seo_title":144,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":145,"read_time":146},1374391974585,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","Begin Reading  \nTable of Contents  \nAbout the Author  \nCopyright Page  \nThank you for buying this  \nSt. Martin’s Press ebook.  \nTo receive special offers, bonus content, and info on new releases and other great reads, sign up for our newsletters.  \nOr visit us online at  \n[us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup](us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup)[ ](us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup)[For email updates on the author](For email updates on the author), click here.  \nThe author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use only. You may not make this e-book publicly available in anyway. Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the author’s copyright, [please notify the publisher at:](please notify the publisher at: us.macmillanusa.com/piracy)[ us.macmillanusa.com/piracy](please notify the publisher at: us.macmillanusa.com/piracy).  \nFor Mama, who is thankfully nothing like the mothers in this book  \nThere are always two deaths, the real one and the one people know about.  \n—Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea  \nPART I  \nJANE  \n1  \nFEBRUARY  \nIt is the absolute shittiest day for a walk.  \nRain has been pouring down all morning, making my drive from Center Point out here to Mountain Brook a nightmare, soaking the hem of my jeans as I get out of the car in the Reeds’ driveway, making my sneakers squelch on the marble floors of the foyer.  \nBut Mrs. Reed is holding her dog Bear ’s leash, making a face at me, this frown of exaggerated sympathy that’s supposed to let me know how bad she feels about sending me out in the rain on this Monday morning.  \nThat’s the important thing—that I know that she feels bad. She still expects me to do it, though.  \nI’ve been walking dogs in the Thornfield Estates subdivision for almost a month now, and if there’s one thing I’ve definitely figured out, it’s that what matters most is how everything looks.  \nMrs. Reed looks sympathetic. She looks like she absolutely hates that I have to walk her collie, Bear, on a cold and stormy day in mid-February. She looks like she actually gives a fuck about me as a person.  \nShe doesn’t, though, which is fine, really.  \nIt’s not like I give a fuck about her, either.  \nSo I smile, tugging at the bottom of my army-green raincoat.“Came prepared,” I tell her, taking Bear ’s leash. We’re standing in the front foyer of the Reed home. To my left is a giant framed mirror propped against the wall, reflecting me, Mrs. Reed, and Bear, already straining toward the door. There’s also a distressed wood table holding a bowl of potpourri as well asa pair of diamond hoop earrings, flung carelessly when Mrs. Reed came in last night from whatever charity function she’d been attending.  \nCharity functions are big around here, I’ve noticed, although I never can figure out what they’re actually raising money for. The invitations I see lying on end tables or fastened to refrigerator doors with magnets are a word salad of virtue signaling. Children, battered women, homeless, underprivileged: various euphemisms that all mean “poor.”  \nNo telling what Mrs. Reed was supporting last night, really, but that’s another thing I don’t actually care about.  \nAnd I don’t let my eyes linger on the earrings.  \nBear ’s leash is smooth in my hand as I give Mrs. Reed a little wave and head out onto the wide front porch. It’s painted cement, slick in the damp, and my ancient sneakers nearly skid across it.  \nI hear the door close behind me, and wonder what Mrs. Reed will do this morning while I’m off walking her dog. Have another cup of coffee? Chase it with a Xanax? Plan some other charity function?  \nMaybe a brunch to raise money for kids who don’t know how to yacht.  \nThe rain has tapered off some, but the morning is still cold, and I wish I’d brought gloves. My hands look raw and chapped, the knuckles an angry red. There’s still a light pink burn mark splashing across my skin between the thumb and forefinger of my right han","cbCaii3rYt29LA2t","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaii3rYt29LA2t","pdf",4330626,274,"English","# Part I - Jane\n## February","[{\"question\":\"Who is Jane, and what does she do in the opening scene?\",\"answer\":\"Jane is a dog-walker who takes her clients’ dogs out, starting with Mrs. Reed’s collie, Bear, at the Reed home in mid-February.\"},{\"question\":\"How does Jane perceive the Reed household and its charitable social life?\",\"answer\":\"Jane notices that Mrs. Reed’s sympathy and the charity events she attends feel performative, masking indifference and self-centered motives.\"},{\"question\":\"What theme is emphasized through the setting and Jane’s observations of the neighborhood?\",\"answer\":\"The passage highlights how luxury and outward virtue can hide entitlement and emotional disconnect, while Jane focuses on appearances and what people actually want.\"}]","The Wife Upstairs - Rachel Hawkins | PDF",1789949478,422]