I received this book for free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Marriage Vendetta: A Novel by Caroline Madden Published by Park Row on June 10, 2025
Genres: Fiction / Humorous / Dark Humor
Pages: 304
Format: ARC
Source: Edelweiss
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Chandler Baker's The Husbands meets Melissa Broder in this darkly funny, contemporary feminist debut about a resentful stay-at-home mother and her vengeful, unorthodox marriage therapist.
Revenge is in session.
Eliza Sheridan is at her wits' end with her husband, Richard. Not only did he uproot her and their daughter Mara's lives for his career, but he also hasn’t honored the one thing he promised before moving to Dublin: that he’d make more time for his wife and daughter.
So when Eliza receives an anonymous photo of Richard with another woman, she's just about ready to file for divorce. As a last resort, she pays a visit to a marriage therapist, Ms. Early, who Eliza quickly learns is a bit…alternative in her approach. As their sessions unfold, Ms. Early spurs her on to commit a series of vengeful acts against Richard—each more bizarre than the last—all in the name of “re-training” her husband. But when therapy takes a risky turn, suspicions grow and alliances shift... How far is Eliza willing to go to save her marriage?
Review
A Twisted Tale of Revenge
Caroline Madden’s The Marriage Vendetta isn’t your typical marriage-gone-wrong story. It’s more like if Gone Girl had a baby with Fleabag – and that baby grew up in Dublin with a really questionable therapist.
Meet Eliza, who’s packed up her life in England to follow her playwright husband Richard to Dublin. Classic supportive wife move, right? Except Eliza’s got enough buried resentment to fuel a small revolution. When she decides to try marriage counseling, things get weird. Really weird. The kind of weird that makes you wonder if her therapist got their license from a cereal box.
The genius of Madden’s debut novel lies in how she turns marriage therapy into psychological warfare. She poses an uncomfortable question: what if fixing your marriage meant crossing some seriously dark lines? Would you do it? The answer gets messier by the page.
Madden writes like she’s telling you gossip over drinks – if those drinks were spiked with something sinister. The Irish Writer Alan Glynn calls it “a dark modern Irish fairy tale with the occasional feel of an acerbic Restoration comedy,” which is spot-on. The Dublin setting isn’t just pretty window dressing; it’s like another character, brooding and complicated.
The story races forward with the momentum of a runaway train. Each chapter pulls you deeper into an increasingly twisted web of manipulation, revenge, and dark humor. Just when you think you know where it’s heading, Madden throws another curveball that makes you question everything – including whose side you’re actually on.
Sure, some readers might find the darker elements a bit much. But that’s like complaining that your whiskey is too strong – it’s kind of the point. This isn’t a story about finding marriage harmony through gentle conversation and compromise. It’s about what happens when therapy goes rogue and revenge gets creative.
The Marriage Vendetta is what you’d get if a relationship counselor wrote a thriller while having an existential crisis. It’s sharp, wickedly funny, and just disturbing enough to make you side-eye your own therapist. If you like your psychological thrillers with a heavy dose of dark humor and zero apologies, this one’s for you.
4/5 stars – A deliciously twisted debut that proves marriage counseling can be hazardous to your health.
