I have read several books by Ms. Hepworth and she always has a good story to tell. Tully and Rachel are 30-something sisters in Melbourne, Australia. Their father, Stephen, is marrying Heather, a younger woman close to their age. Their mother has dementia and is living in a care home. As we get to know the entire cast, stories and secrets unfold. This is a very good book by a talented writer, with excellent character development and storylines. Recommended!

Sally Hepworth does it again! Such an excellent story with so many layers. I will be recommending this one to everyone!

Wow! This is such a compelling and addictive book, which I read in two sittings. I love the characters of Rachel, Tully, and Heather, and how their backstories are gradually revealed, shedding light on their present behavior. The suspense really picks up in the second half of the novel, causing me to set aside a few other things I probably should have been doing other than racing to the climax and finale! I'm not sure how to feel about the main characters' actions at the end of the story, or the ambivalence of the final paragraphs. I can't decide if it works or not, but I found it somewhat unsatisfying. On the whole, though, the book is a great story.

Sally Hepworth is a literary genius! I just don't know that she has ever written a book I haven't loved. Five stars for The Younger Wife. I just love a story that includes characters that you think you'd like to hate at the beginning of the book and you end up rooting for them along the way. Bravo!

This is a fantastic book that wasn't at all what I suspecting. I'm betting people will either love it or hate it for two reasons.... it wasn't what they were expecting either OR they hated the ending (which kind of turns the whole novel on its premise...if that's how you chose to read it).

I think I was very much setting up my mind for a thriller with this book, but I think it's more of a domestic drama with a mystery at its heart. (That mystery may be triggering to some readers. I can't really say more than that). While I was expecting this to be a story about an evil gold digger looking for her sugar daddy, this book really reverses that trope and takes this tale in an entirely different, fresher direction.

What's interesting to me is that all three women in the story, Tully, Rachel, and Heather, are all in crisis and dealing with trauma. How they heal themselves (in the light of the father's plans to marry someone new) turns up the heat on that process and pushes the characters in some new directions that nicely drive the plot forward. All of these women see "the truth" in a slightly skewed way based on their history. That's not a bad thing or a good thing, it's just a honest take on how full-realized characters (and flawed humans in real life) interact with their environment.

I can see where people hate the ending of this book. But here's why I don't (without spoilers.) In just a few pages, it leads you to think everything you've assumed in this book was wrong. But, to be clear, it doesn't TELL you that you were wrong. It merely INFERS it. For a book about he said/she said gaslighting, I thought that was a brilliant narrative choice. It makes you question yourself and that's the theme of the book.

The reality is that knowing "the truth" is never an easy feat when you're dealing with different perspectives and histories. I choose to believe that what we learned throughout the book was true, but was a truth that was terribly, terribly muddied. I appreciate that the author didn't clean that up for us and hand us an easy answer on a silver plate.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Dementia. A horrible, life stealing disease that takes the life from not only the sufferer but all those who love them. The husband falls in love with another, younger woman, when his wife of many years is put into an assisted living home for people suffering from the disease. He proposes to, and intends to marry quickly, the younger woman even though he is not divorced from his first wife. His daughters object and begin to investigate the younger woman and uncover family secrets. A really great book, one that is so reflective of today's world and the agony families of dementia patients suffer. I would recommend to anyone.
Thanks to NetGalley for proving this copy in exchange for my unpaid, honest review.

This was a pretty good thriller, with an interesting twist at the end. I enjoyed it, but it felt slow at times.

I absolutely adored this novel. The character development was truly extraordinary and I was left guessing how the author would bring the many storylines together up until the end.

I couldn’t believe my luck when I was approved for a copy of The Younger Wife. I loved it, I didn’t want to put it down From the moment I started it.
It kept my interest the whole way through the book. I had just finished the new Jodi Picout book and she is one of my favorite authors and I enjoyed it even more than that, which is saying a lot.
I would recommend anybody to read this book and give it a five star rating.
Thank you NetGalley for approving me for this book

Another solid thriller from Sally Hepworth. A great cast of characters that keep you guessing and an ending that some will love and others will hate. Could be a fun book club read and for sure one to talk with others about.

Almost unusual story. The characters are well developed and believable. There are lots of twists and surprises from the beginning to the end. the ending left me wondering about the entire story!

As always, Sally Hepworth delivers. The Younger Wife will keep you guessing and have you wondering about the secrets that all people keep!
All opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I want to thank St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth.
“Perhaps the very worst people still had some good in them. And perhaps the very best had some bad.”
The Astons may be the most dysfunctional family ever. Stephen, the head of this family, appears to have a problem with his temper and also hasn’t been totally honest about his past. His wife Pam has dementia. She can’t account for the hot water bottle with a note and a hidden treasure. Daughter Rachel hides her secret by baking and then devouring a lot of the goods. Daughter Tully is a kleptomaniac. Stealing calms her down. Oh yes! Stephen gets engaged to Heather who is around the age of his daughters.
Has Stephen been abusing the women in his life? “Accidents” seem to happen.
Ms Hepworth has created wonderful character development. Perfect novel for women’s book clubs.
Do NOT put the book down at the end of the story! Keep reading. I’m still not sure what I think.
The Younger Wife publishes April 5th 2022.

The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth is a fantastic novel, delving into a family where every character is hiding a secret. Two daughters are invited to lunch by their father to meet his younger girlfriend. During lunch he announces to them their engagement which comes as a shock to the daughters, as their father is still married to their mother who has dementia and living in a facility. This story moved quickly, and I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next. Each character has their own story line, and each personality was very well written., blending together for a whizz bang ending. I really enjoyed this novel, and will be recommending it to all my library patrons.
Thank You to Net Galley, the Author Sally Hepworth and St. Martin’s press for allowing me to read this great novel. Two Thumbs Up For Me!

Pam's dementia has gotten to the stage where her husband Stephen, a revered heart surgeon, is unable to care for her. Their grown children Rachel and Tully are managing the seismic changes, just. Then Stephen announces he will marry Heather, a woman closer to his daughters' age than his , after divorcing his still-living wife. The wedding does not go off without a hitch. Hepworth deftly peels back the layers of the story, building suspense and tension to the final reveal. Great for fans of psychological suspense.

This was not your typical older guy divorces his wife to marry a much younger woman. Secrets have a way of coming out in unexpected ways. Rachel and Tully love their mother and are shocked to hear not long after putting her in a nursing home that their dad is going to marry Heather, a woman younger than them. Each girl from their vantage point see the events that are happening. When the money is found in an unexpected location Rachel begins to wonder what was going on in her parents marriage. Will Stephen and Heather get married? Will Rachel figure out where the money came from?

This was a suspenseful story that kept me reading until the end. Thank you Netgalley for complimentary copy.

The Younger Wife had me changing my mind over and over about character's intentions and true wishes...which is why it was a fun read. Family dynamics with divorce and remarriage are complicated enough, but when the new wife is younger, the original wife has dementia and there's a lot going on with two sisters and their father--this one will keep you reading. I had not read anything to Sally Hepworth, but am definitely now a fan. #netgalley

Absolutely did not see that coming! Ok, so, when I first saw this title I did a little eye-roll thinking it wasn't a read for me . . . then I happened to notice that the author was Sally Hepworth, who wrote The Good Sister (loved it, gave it 5 stars) and thought I should at least give it a chance.

Do not start this book with any preconceived ideas of what it might be, because I did and I was completely wrong. This story was so entertaining, from the first page to the last, don't try to figure it all out and just enjoy the ride. I laughed myself to tears because Sally made the effort to remind me that sometimes life can be so wildly mercurial and shockingly ironic.

The next book she writes, no need for me to read the blurb or even see the title . . . I'm totally in!

As a side note: I have seen this book advertised as a thriller . . . I think the domestic suspense or cozy mystery genres would be a much better fit. I worry that placing this story in the hands of a hard-core thriller reader may result in unmet expectations and a disappointing rating. In the correct reader's hands, this book will receive the appreciation it deserves.

I'd like to thank the author, NetGalley, and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read an advanced copy of The Younger Wife for an honest review. 5 stars.

I couldn’t put this one down! Rachel and Tully are shocked when their father gets engaged to his much younger interior designer. But no narrator is reliable as we wait to learn who was killed in the opening scene of the book-and who did it.

I always enjoy Sally' Hepworth's writing. She writes family relationships so well. The mystery that weaves through the Younger Wife is an interesting one. It's an old story trope: an older man finds a younger woman to marry, and his grown daughters are understandably upset by it. But that's where the trope ends and the book heads in some unique directions.

I gave this 3.5 stars simply because I don't quite agree with how Hepworth handled the twist. I was concerned by the ending and how it approached gaslighting. But overall it was a good story that kept me reading past my bedtime.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.