The Hunting Wives: Netflix series vs. book differences explained
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The Haunting WivesWhen a series adapts its plot and storyline from the book, it’s either that the showrunner sticks completely to the lines on the pages or adds new twists and drama to make the show more creative. Yet, Netflix dropped another book-to-screen adaptation this July. It's The Haunting Wives!
The show is based on a novel with the same name, written by May Cobb. Collaboration between director Rebecca Cutter and the author May Cob has brought this thrilling show to the screen with eight episodes already.
Starring as the lead are Brittany Snow and Malkin Akerman, where Evan Jonigkeit, Dermot Mulroney, Chrissy Metz, Jamie Rey Newman, and Katie Lowes are a few of the other cast members among others. The plot revolves around a woman named Sophie who moved with her family from Boston to a fictional town named Maple Brook in East Texas. What drives the story ahead is when Sophie, who tries to fit in with the people in Texas, meets powerful socialite Margo Banks, who leads the group of housewives.
Behind this powerful circle of ladies lie the deadliest secrets. Sophie, the newcomer, gets to know each one of them and eventually learn that what seemed so elegant and classy at the start is now all about betrayal, guns, murder, and secrecy.
From pages to screen: Difference between the book and the series of The Haunting Wives
- Changes made in Sophie’s (Brittany Snow) character: In the book, Sophie’s profession was that of a magazine editor, and on screen, she was shown as working as a PR professional to make viewers accept why she got easily adjusted within the social group. Even in the book, the place where Sophie used to live with her family was Chicago, not Boston.
- Abby’s pregnancy: In the book, Abby was pregnant with Brad’s child and was murdered because she was not up for having an abortion. However, it seemed almost the same in the series, until the real twist entered. In the show, it was revealed that Margo got impregnated by Brad and went to the clinic for an abortion. And when Abby (Brad’s girlfriend) got to know about it, she went to confront Margo, but got killed by Margo as she wanted to protect her image in the town and was not okay with people getting to know that she was having an afair with a high-school teen.
- Changed the killer of Abby: In the book, Sophie gets to learn that Jill (Brad’s mom) is the killer of Abby, but the series twisted the ending by making Margo the real killer, who even tried to frame Jill as the culprit by keeping Abby's phone at Jill’s place. Sophie, being innocent, was the first to get on the trail as Margo killed Abby with Sophie’s gun.
- Finale episode’s ending changed: What sets the series to continue with another season is that Sophie ran the car over Margo’s brother Kyle in the last episode. She was drunk and to avoid threats from Kyle (as she discovered Margo’s truth of being Abby’s killer), she threw the body off the cliff. In the book, it is seen that Sophie has begun therapy after confronting her mistake of cheating and getting separated from her husband, but surely that’s not what Rebecca wanted to end the series with.
In an interview with the US, Akerman shared,
‘’Rebecca Cutter and May Cobb have a really great relationship. They’ve been talking through a lot, and May was kind of like, ‘Go for it.’ She was on set and was really elated to see her characters come to life, and really loved the direction that Rebecca went in with the characters and the changes. It’s fun to have some of the changes from the book so that people who are fans of the story can go along and be surprised as well. Hopefully it’s not too far gone where it doesn’t veer too far off the book so that they know the characters.”
The open-ended scene of The Haunting Wives will surely bring more murder, mystery, and secrets in its upcoming season. These major changes from the book to the screen, made by Rebecca, added more mystery and suspense, perfectly aligning with the series’ plot.
TOPICS: The Haunting Wives