3 things The Hunting Wives did differently from the OG novel and nailed it

The Hunting Wives, streaming on Netflix, has emerged as a top show on the streaming platform with its intriguing plot of rich southern wives and their scandalous and controversial lives, including criminal activities.

The series is based on May Cobb’s novel of the same name, and tells the story of Brittany Snow’s Sophie, who finds herself embroiled in a murder mystery after moving to Texas. She becomes a part of a rich wives club called the Hunting Wives, and gets acquainted with Margo, Jill, and others.

While the Netflix series follows the book for its basic trope, it has introduced several big changes that have heightened the elements of mystery and drama, and added twists to make the show more compelling.

Here are the three big changes that The Hunting Wives made to the show that were not in the book, and we feel the changes were worth it.

Disclaimer: The article contains spoilers. Reader discretion is advised.

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3 ways in which The Hunting Wives is different from the original novel

The political narrative of the show

From the very first episode of The Hunting Wives, we are introduced to the political scenario of the community, as Margo’s husband, Jed Banks, campaigns. The infamous party he hosts is sponsored by the National Rifle Association (NRA). The sequence is one of the major changes in the show, as it wasn't there in Cobb’s novel.

In an interview with Variety, showrunner Rebecca Cutter shared how she wanted to add certain real details in the Netflix show, due to which there were heavy mentions here and there in the series, of the political environment of Texas.

Cutter said:

"I thought, ‘OK, well, if we’re gonna do this, let’s address some of the realities. In the book, Sophie’s from Texas, but in this version, she’s never been there, so we wanted to see if we could put it in a modern political setting and still get away with it."

She continued:

"I think the conversations were more just about the sensitivity of it all, and not trying to pick a side."

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The real murderer wasn't Margo in the book

In the Hunting Wives TV series, Sophie finds out that it was Margo (Malin Akerman) who killed Abby at the end of the Netflix series.

However, in Cobb's book, Jill (Katie Lowes) killed Abby after finding out she was pregnant with Brad’s child and did not want to go through an abortion, which, according to her, would have ruined her son’s life and killed her. The thought prompted her to kill Abby in the book, which is different from how the show handles the mystery.

In the show, Margo was pregnant and had aborted Brad’s child, which Abby found out and was killed due to it.

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Margo was killed off in the book

Other than the abortion twist in The Hunting Wives and the identity of the real killer, another major departure from the novel in the Netflix show is Margo’s storyline. In the book, Jill kills Abby due to her pregnancy, and later also kills Margo after learning about her affair with Brad.

However, in the series, Margo is still alive and only Sophie has found out about her killing Abby, while Jill died. This major change will be helpful in setting up the Season 2 narrative, with Sophie also holding her secret, having killed Margo’s brother, Kyle.

This twist upended the book's plot. It became one of the major twists as Margo is one of the best characters in the series, and with her alive, the story promises to be more intense if a next season arrives.

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