Cate Ray Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Interview

Cate Ray talks about her novel Good Husbands which explores the reactions of three women--strangers to one another--when each one receives a letter alleging that her husband is the letter-writer's father, and that she is the result of a rape.

Cate Ray is the author of four previous suspense novels published in the U.K. under the name Cath Weeks. Her fifth novel, Good Husbands, explores the reactions of three women--strangers to one another--when each one receives a letter alleging that her husband is the letter-writer's father, and that she is the result of a rape.

When and how did you land on Good Husbands as the title for this book?

I'd like to say that I conceived this title, but I didn't! My brilliant editor and her team at Park Row came up with it and it just felt right the moment I saw it. It signals the fact that you're about to enter domestic noir territory, plus it practically begs for a question mark: Really? Good husbands?... a question that reverberates throughout the story.

The husband with skeletons in his closet has been a hugely popular figure in entertainment for quite a while now, with a particular explosion over the past few years with #MeToo. Why did this feel like an issue you wanted to address now, and why through these particular characters?

I think stories like this will continue to hound us until we address what they're trying to tell us: that we still haven't solved how to handle sexual assault allegations in a way that is ...