The Younger Wife

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This is a drama about family secrets, taking place as Tully and Rachel's father is about to marry a woman their age after their mother is admitted to a nursing home with dementia.

This moves along at a cracking pace and I particularly enjoyed the relationship between the sisters. I found the character development and the ending really satisfying!

What Is Reality? This is a phenomenal book that really brings forth the question: What is reality? In situations where you observe one thing but someone you trust says a completely different thing occurred - who can you trust and why? And what can happen if you trust the wrong person and/ or for the wrong reason? To me, this book worked quite well on all of these fronts.

Reading the other Goodreads reviews (briefly), it seems that there were massive edits in the ARC process. I can't speak to that. I can tell you that I originally downloaded the book way back in August 2021 - and only finished reading it nearly a full week after publication. (Such is the sheer volume of such reading I do.) I don't know if the back parts of the story - where apparently the subsequent editing was heaviest - were the edited versions or the original versions. What I *can* speak to is that *I* thoroughly enjoyed whichever edition of the story I read, and I thought this version did in fact work very well indeed.

But read the other reviews too. Read the book. And decide for yourself.

Very much recommended.

Thank you to Netgalley & St. Martins Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for honest feedback.

I am a huge fan of Sally Hepworths work but this book fell a tiny bit for me. While it had all the twists and turns of a normal thriller they didn’t feel as “shocking” as is typical for one of her books. The ending is left very open ended much like Colleen Hoovers “Verity” and I’m still trying to decide what I think but other than that this book was kind of “meh” for me.

Was it terrible? No, but there are better books by Hepworth that I would start with.

Awesome as Always

Another novel by Sally Hepworth that I loved from start to finish MINUS one character!

Sally Hepworth’s newest book, The Younger Wife, is a domestic thriller that follows the dysfunctional Aston family. Stephen Aston is a 63-year-old heart surgeon who is engaged to 34-year-old interior designer Heather. The only problem is that Stephen is still married to Pam, who is in a nursing home and suffers from dementia. Stephen plans on divorcing Pam so he can marry Heather, although Stephen says that the divorce is on paper only, that Pam will always be a part of his family. Stephen’s two daughters, 37-year-old Tully and 35-year-old Rachel, are not too happy with this arrangement and as family secrets start to unravel, they are determined to find out who their father really is.

That synopsis sounds more sinister than the book really is. While this was not a heart thumping read, it was a great mystery with interesting and relatable characters. The story opens with Stephen and Heather’s wedding. The whole family is there including Pam. After the ceremony is over, they all go into the back of the church to sign the registry and it is there that someone is hurt. We do not know who is hurt, how bad or who did it. All we know is there was a scream and then the pastor comes out to ask if there is a doctor in the house and the pastor has blood on her. The story then goes back in time
Each of the three main characters are flawed and have secrets which makes this a page turner because you are invested in the development of the Daughters and even Heather and Pam.
Tully is married and has two small sons. Not only has her husband lost a substantial amount of money in an investment, but Tully is also a kleptomaniac. I had a lot of sympathy for her because she felt there was no one she could talk to while trying to be perfect for everyone.

Rachel was my favorite character. After an incident that happened when she was sixteen, Rachel has given up on men, that is until she hires a new delivery guy for her bakery business, named Darcy. Darcy is able to finally break down the walls that Rachel has put up.

Heather was a character I thought I was going to hate, but actually ended up liking. This is the third novel I have read by Sally Hepworth it will be getting a high rating just like the others. So, if you like domestic thrillers about dysfunctional families with lots of secrets, then Sally Hepworth’s The Younger Wife is the book for you. # I Am Totally Obsessed!