Senator's Wife

Sloane Chase, a Washington, D.C. philanthropist, and Senator Whit Montgomery both lost their spouses two years ago in a tragic chain of events. The ordeal brought them together, and they are now married and trying to build a settled life. Sloane is back among White House dinners and political small talk, this time as the senator's wife.

She also faces a hip replacement. Lupus has been part of her life since her twenties, and the surgery is the latest reminder of it. With both of them keeping busy schedules, the couple hires a home health aide so that Sloane can recover with help close by and still keep her independence.

The aide is Athena Karras, who seems an ideal choice. She cares for Sloane and also lends a hand with the charitable foundation Sloane runs. Then Sloane's health starts to slide. Athena puts it down to a complication of the lupus, but the weeks pass and Sloane grows sicker.

Doubt turns into paranoia. Athena asks a lot of probing questions about the foundation and about Sloane's past, and Sloane wonders whether she is imagining the charged looks between Athena and Whit.

This is a domestic psychological thriller set in the political circles of Washington. It centres on a woman who cannot be sure whether her body, her mind or the person caring for her is failing her, and the unease builds as her illness deepens.