What skill level are we talking about here?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316373052/qid=1134102220/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-6355297-4108665?n=507846&s=books&v=glance
Something like that is probably used in every basic photography course out there, and will teach you the fundamentals. But, once you know the basics there's only so much that can be taught from a book //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif The rest is looking at other people's work and interpreting the points of their style...books by Ansel Adams, Cartier-Bresson, and others would be good to look over.
Better yet, buy the wife a book from Mapplethorpe and ask her if she'd like to re-create them //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif And post them here //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif