Law of Jealousy

Eva Randall-Collier is among the most highly respected women in her African American church community. Married to the Reverend Peter Collier, an associate pastor at their prominent church, Eva is hailed as the consummate minister's wife, in a partnership believed to epitomize Christian marriage.Yet, the Collier marriage is not all it seems. An ambitious and deeply insecure man, Peter pushes to advance his ministerial career, while careful to keep Eva silently underfoot, lest her obvious talents outshine his own. He is cruel and manipulative in his jealousy of her, and after fifteen years, two devastating miscarriages, and a bout of depression that nearly costs her her life, Eva decides to end the marriage and rebuild a life of her own.Her departure from the marriage, however, will not be an easy one. As a doctoral candidate at a prestigious university, her resources are limited and housing is at a premium. Her situation is further complicated when she meets Daniel Etheridge-Porter, a handsome British journalist and writing instructor, with whom she forges a friendship and eventually falls in love. When her husband's abuse takes a violent turn, Eva flees her home, never to return. Incensed by her desertion, her husband begins maligning her, all in an effort to cover the abuse, while placing her on trial in their close-knit faith community. Ironically, she becomes the hapless "wayward wife," not unlike the biblical Sotah who is the topic of her dissertation.Set in contemporary New York City, Dunlop tells the compelling story of a powerful and redemptive love pitted against the undertow of ambition and religious hypocrisy.