Jealousy

The novel explores the devastating effect jealousy and competition can have upon the relationships between women, and on the lives of the women involved. Initially, the novel sets up a situation in which Jane is attempting to infiltrate Eddie’s life to take the place of his deceased wife, Bea. Jane is a rough-around-the-edges pseudo-con-artist who wants to improve her lot in life by dating Eddie because he is unimaginably wealthy. When she learns that he is a widow, she immediately goes home and looks up Bea on the internet so that she can compare herself to Bea. In Jane’s mind, Bea becomes a mythically perfect woman—the exact kind she wants to be.

Jane becomes so obsessed with Bea that she begins to want to become her, which is an extremely unhealthy desire that is fueled by her jealousy of Bea and her desire...