I have so many thoughts about this book… so I made a list.

1. Sally Hepworth has become an auto buy author for me - and I don’t have many of those in the thriller genre! (Also, why are my two favorite Australian authors both named Sally??)
2. I was absolutely hooked on this book from start to finish!
3. The full narration cast and multiple POVs were great! (minus Tully’s voice- I wasn’t a fan, but I think she was meant to be a bit annoying)
4. As is typical of Hepworth books, they are a lot of family drama and mystery, but not scary at all.
5. Lots of triggers: kleptomania, physical and psychological abuse, rape(off page), eating disorder, dementia.

Here’s the thing: I’m not sure that this book made a lot of sense??? I am not sure what the point was and the more I try to figure it out, the more confused I feel. There were a lot of distracting plot lines. And the ending was surprising in a weird way… BUT!! I had fun reading it and would do it again!

The Younger Wife by
Sally Hepworth

“It’s funny how desperately the brain will seek an answer if it doesn’t have one.”

I thought about this novel long after reading the final page and closing the book. Just because all facts point to a particular assumption—that makes perfect sense—is that the way things are? Or not?

Fans of beloved Australian author, Sally Hepworth, will adore this clever, relatable, complicated family story. A heart surgeon divorces his Alzheimer’s stricken wife and marries a woman younger than his two grown daughters. But, this is not the cliched tale of the detested younger woman and the hateful daughters. The three women form a relationship based on respect and experiences.

Like some other readers, I was perplexed by the ending. And that’s why I can’t stop thinking about this book!

“Nothing Is As It Appears”
What a unusual, twisted, roller coaster, wild ride….can you see where I am going with this???????
Domestic abuse
Rape
Memory loss
Kleptomania
Marriage relationships
Secrets galore
Soooooo many unanswered questions! .I am still pondering and wondering…..did he do what they thought? For me, the ending just left things up in the air.
The story revolves around two sisters who have emotional issues galore, their mother who has dementia and their father (who is still married to their mother) and now has a much younger fiancé he wants to marry.
The Younger Wife is definitely a story that will stay on your mind for several days after finishing it.
A domestic psychological suspense you definitely should pick up to read.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

A wedding interrupted by a violent attack certainly grabbed by attention. I was also intrigued by the anonymous guest as the narrator. The novel moved at a slow and steady pace, but I was kept interested in seeing how the story would end.

While this could have been filled with stereotypes, I was glad to see that Sally Hepworth went deeper with the characters and I loved that young women with a new stepmother that is their age, could make their peace with that and include her into the family.

Alzheimer’s plays a key role in the story, as does physical and psychological abuse, but nothing was very graphic.

I loved the ending and was pleasantly surprised at what happened and how the characters handled it in a way that was respectful to all.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St.Martin’s Press for allowing me to read an advance copy. I am happy give my honest review.

I went into this read thinking I knew where it was going but was I ever wrong! It is a well-thought-out story with deft plotting and subtexts that take you on a great ride! Another hit for Sally Hepworth!

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC!

I’m definitely a Hepworth fan. Oh yes indeed! But, unfortunately, I’m not quite sure how I feel about her latest installment. I didn’t dislike it and I didn’t quite like it. Suffice it to say, I believe I’m on that dreaded cyclone fence once again. What is a reader to do?

Let’s delve into what I enjoyed about this story. Hepworth always brings the mystery to her stories. Tully and Rachel were dynamic characters dealing with real life family dysfunction at its finest. Dealing with a mother diagnosed with dementia and a father who is about to marry his newest fiancé and having their own skeletons in their closets. Tully has a way of “finding” things in her purse, under her shirt, stuck in her bra and Lord knows where else and not quite “sure” how they got there? Her husband is a well-respected lawyer and they’re living the dream that is until her husband comes home and tells her something that will shake their marriage to the core.

Rachel is the beautiful sister. She’s always receiving compliments and men gawking at her trying to press up on her and get in her space. She runs a very successful bakery and in the market for a new delivery employee. When she finds the employee she’s searching for, she got much more than she bargained.

Stephen, the father, the ever-wonderful good doctor who would do anything for his family. He’s distraught over having to put his wife in a nursing home to take care of her dementia problem—all the while, he’s divorcing Pam, the current wife, is totally unaware. Humph, that doesn’t stop Stephen. In fact, he has a much newer model he’s about to marry, Heather Wisher. Oh my, good old Heather. She certainly didn’t come to the table without her own bag of heavy issues. Like I said this family has a little bit of everything going on and it isn’t any wonder how any of them will survive it. This is what I love about a Hepworth story. She gives you a whole lot of little stories that melt together into one big picture.

Ok, so here’s where the disconnect comes in for me. Because I will not give any spoilers (it’s not my style), there are questions I have and can’t ask without giving away the entire story. What I didn’t like is the fact that I’m not quite sure where the mystery was? Every scenario I played in my mind didn’t come to fruition. That’s quite all right, that happens sometimes, but I felt the story could have been much darker or it appeared as if Hepworth was going for a darker story but at the last minute decided she didn’t want to do it, perhaps? I kept thinking she was going to go in a place I wasn’t sure readers would have been ready for and then she snatched the possibility away, almost like taking candy from a child. Ummph! That just got to me because I wanted her to really go there.

Hence, therein lies the problem. The ending left me with many questions and although she cleared up one huge mystery, there were several others that left me wondering “hmm?” That’s all I can say without telling you everything. I wish I could ask the author personally if what I’m thinking was what she was really going for, because if so, she did an amazing job, but if that wasn’t her intent, the story left me hanging and I didn’t quite like how I felt afterward. I so wanted my scenarios to be the version she was going for, but I felt like the author held back. This was not a bad story at all. In fact, I gobbled it up like I did her other book, but I could tell she was going for something different and it just didn’t quite work the way I would have liked.

This was a great, fast-paced thriller with a terrible ending. I’m a big fan of Hepworth’s other thrillers and this one definitely started off the same way. A story told from various time periods, including the present time at a wedding between the older, wealthy Stephen Aston and his much younger fiancée, Heather. There was a lot of character development of Stephen’s daughters, Tully and Rachel, as well as Heather as we watch them come to grips that Stephen may not be who he seems. It had all the trappings of a great thriller but was spoiled by a sub-par ending.

The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth starts off at the Wedding of Stephen to his much younger Bride-to-Be, Heather. While his two adult Daughters (Tully & Rachel), and his Ex-Wife (Pamela) with dementia look on, it’s plain to see that something is amiss from the start. Without knowing too much about each person, the slightly strange scene being relayed by a mystery character piqued my interest right away. I found myself wanting to know more from the very first chapter.

The story takes off from there and unravels as a Domestic Thriller with a twist with the majority of the book being told from the point of views of Tully, Rachel, and Heather. While many people don’t care for this style of writing, and I did find it mildly confusing a couple times throughout the book, I do mostly enjoy books told from the standpoint of different characters. I felt like each one had their own story that made up the fabric of the larger story. Each chapter gave more background to each woman, along with another piece of the story which kept building and left me wanting more and more. Sally Hepworth’s character building in this book was outstanding!







Semi-Spoilers:

While I did feel like the book became a tiny bit predictable towards the end and “the twist” was merely just an ending that abruptly stopped, with no real concrete answers at all, this didn’t ruin the book for me. I have to admit, after reading so many negative reviews about the ending in particular, I was hesitant to read this book. But I’m glad I did! I thoroughly enjoyed it overall, even with the ending. I’m looking forward to reading more by Sally Hepworth.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martins Press, and Sally Hepworth for proving me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Sally Hepworth and St Martin's Press for an advance copy of this book.

This was my first Sally Hepworth book so I wasn't sure what to expect. I am not sure if Sally does this in all her books but I really love the 3 different point of views/storylines - Heather, Tully & Rachel .

Sisters Rachel & Tully each have their own complicated lives while dealing with their mother, Pamela who has Alzheimer's and their dad (Stephen) who is a doctor who is suddenly engaged to a younger woman. Rachel has always been the beautiful & growing up the boys always were after her until suddenly she had no interest. Tully is married to Sonny with two boys who on paper seems to have a perfect life but her life is far from perfect. A bad investment deal turns into them losing their savings & Tully is a kleptomaniac. Heather is an interior designer whom is younger than both Rachel & Tully who essentially is an orphan. She falls for Stephen who is still a married to Pamela.

Things began not to add up when Heather was experiencing unexplained injuries that seem to occur when she would drink. Even when she would hardly drink, somehow Stephen would twist things around to make her think that she was crazy. Things really took a twist when Rachel was giving a hot water bottle that contained not just a couple dollars in but almost $100k with two names written down - Tully & a woman by the name of FIona Arthur. Stephen denied not knowing who Fiona was which of course turned out to be a lie.

I thought the book flowed great & really kept me on my toes and left me wanting more. And like most thrillers everyone was a suspect.

**SPOILER ALERT**
Where it fell flat for me is that we really didn't get a conclusion on whether or not Stephen really was abusive to any of his wives or was he just a master manipulator? Maybe that is part of the reading where we are left up to our own interpretation but I just don't do well with open ended endings. Especially for a thriller, I need it wrapped up in a pretty bow. I also did not get the point of bringing in Fiona Arthur with the exception of her being his first wife & that he "hurt" her and yet he was still her love of her life? I just thought she would play a bigger role than what she really was.
**END OF SPOILER**

I was though really happy that Rachel has begun to work through her relationships with men & seems to have found a perfect match in Darcy (I was waiting for him to somehow be involved in the mystery). Tully was such a complex mess and I loved her. I don't think I have ever read a character quite like her before. I was so proud of her development by the end of the book and love that her husband stuck with her through it.

CW: alcoholism, domestic abuse, miscarriage

I am rating this a 3.5 as I just was wanting more from the ending.

The Younger Wife kept me interested throughout, however, I am not really sure that I enjoyed it. The book focuses on two sisters, Rachel and Tully, their father Stephen and his young fiancée, Heather, and their mum, who is in an assisted living facility with dementia.

The family dynamics are odd to be sure, but that is only the beginning. The sisters each have big secrets and we learn that Heather does as well. While I was invested in learning what was really going on with these characters, i found the whole scenario slightly unbelievable and to beat it all, I really didn’t like the characters or the storyline.

Then there is the ending….I’m all for a twist but I just did not love the ending.

Thanks NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for access to this ARC.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for gifting me a digital copy of the latest book by a favorite, Sally Hepworth - 4.5 stars rounded up! The audiobook was expertly narrated by Barrie Kreinik; Caroline Lee; Jessica Douglas-Henry; Zoe Carides - they added much to the enjoyment of this book!

Ahh...the younger wife. Steven Aston has just announced to his grown daughters, Rachel and Tully, that he is engaged to much younger Heather. While that may be a lot to absorb, Steven is still married to their mother, Pam, who has dementia and is in a nursing home. Needless to say, the daughters aren't totally welcoming. And everyone has secrets.

Told in varying viewpoints, from the wedding date and in the past, we learn all those secrets. I loved these characters (most of them at least!) and I couldn't put this book down until I figured out all the twists. I've read some reviews that questioned the ending, but to me things were clear enough and I liked it. I love books that have you questioning everyone's motives behind their actions and behaviors. There's also some good life lessons in here as well - the harm that held secrets do to ourselves and relationships and believing in ourselves. I enjoyed the afterword as well, with the author's story of the book's beginnings.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Another one of the author's books that did not disappoint.

Tully and Rachel's mother is slowly losing her life to dementia. In the process, their father decides to divorce their mother, only to find the younger wife, that the title is based on.

Throughout the story, there a red flags about their father - a secret from the past also unfolds, further adding to the concern.

When tragedy strikes, all of the secrets come to the surface. Who is at fault? What is the truth?

You'll have to read to find out! Recommend for someone looking for a quick, suspenseful read.

Wait... What?
Hmmm...
I can see why the reviews on this are all over the place.
The characters all have a messy character flaw that makes you wonder about their reliability.
The plot of this book was so juicy. The opening was jaw dropping - with a 60 yr old man marrying a 30 year old woman in front of his family and friends and even his ex wife of 30 years who now has Alzheimer's so he divorced her!
It was told from 3 different perspectives, but with so much side drama thrown in (think eating disorders, kleptomania, abuse, sexual abuse, alcohol abuse, anxiety, financial loss, social status, arrests, the list goes on).
For me it was a page turner, right up to the end. But then -?? I wasn't a fan.
You will have to read to yourself to decide.

I'm a big fan of Sally Hepworth's tension-filled domestic thrillers, but this one fell short for me. I think this story and the characters will work for many readers, but I had a hard time connecting to the characters and their stories and actions, and I didn't love how it was all wrapped up (or not) in the end. I think it was purposefully ambiguous, and I feel that does a huge disservice to the female characters (which ones vary, depending on how the ending is interpreted). One part that I really thought was interesting, however, was the story that was the basis for the novel is told in the author's note at the end. I do look forward to reading what Sally Hepworth writes next. Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance digital copy!

3. 5
The Younger Wife is a domestic drama that centers around Stephen, his 2 daughters, his ex wife and his about to be wife new, younger wife. For me, the theme of women being lied to, gaslighted and treated like they are crazy is just tired and it doesn't hold my attention. With that said, it is a well written domestic saga that has some twists and turns. It also has one of the best boyfriend characters I have seen in a while - Darcy is a breath of fresh air and I would love to see a followup on him at some point. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Matin's Press for an early release copy in exchange for my honest opinion. The Younger Wife will be released on 4/5/22.

Absolutely riveting and compulsively readable, The Younger Wife is a fantastic domestic suspense. This book perfectly marries a multi-perspective narrative with an ever-moving sense of anticipation about what will come next, making this a quick and delightful read. I love this book because it starts out as a story about man dating a much younger woman, but then turns into a story about gaslighting, about the selves that we hide from others, about grief and healing, and about how we reconcile ourselves with our upbringing. A perfect suspense that leaves you questioning everything you thought you knew. Five stars!

I received an ARC of THE YOUNGER WIFE by Sally Hepworth to be published April 5, 2022. This novel is a suspenseful family drama with many twists. Tully and Rachel face the odd predicament of accepting their father’s fiancée, Heather, a woman years younger than they are. The family has suffered the lose of their matriarch, who now resides in a care facility, due to dementia. Their father wants to remarry, but must first divorce his current wife. Heather sees her fiancé’s family as perfect. Beautiful, successful daughters of a doctor who have always enjoyed the good life. But appearances are deceiving. A hot water bottle stuffed with a small fortune and several secrets threaten the happiness of the sisters and their soon to be stepmother. Shocking and exciting, this novel will have you guessing until the end.

This novel starts out with a startling mystery right from page one and then goes back to events prior to that. Every character is hiding something and the story weaves everything together so beautifully that it kept me wanting to know more.

This book had me staying up late just so I could read one more chapter, and then another, and another. It was so engaging I couldn't put it down!

The opening is narrated by a wedding guest commenting on the groom, Stephen Aston, with his two grandsons as his best men, and his two adult daughters, Rachel and Tully, as the bridesmaids. Stephen is in his early 60's, and marrying Heather Wisher, twenty-nine years younger than Stephen and a few years younger than his adult daughters. Also, in attendance is Pamela, a recent ex-wife with Alzheimer's.

It's not a very conventional wedding and the wedding party not very conventional either! Following the ceremony, the wedding party goes into the sacristy to sign the register. A scream erupts!

The story then fast forwards to a year earlier, alternating between Rachel, Tully and Heather. Rachel is the younger of the two daughters, and has kept a secret since she was sixteen. She makes her living as a baker and eats her feelings as a way to cope. Tully is a mother of two young boys, living in an influential neighborhood without a care in the world. Tully, also hides a secret, something she's done since she was a child. Heather is an interior designer and worked hard to get where she is in life. She tells everyone that her parents died in a car accident and is haunted by her past.

Three women with more in common than they think will each face their past. A water bottle will become a catalyst to a missing piece of the puzzle.

I found all the characters to be well developed and intriguing. The story kept pulling me along to learn more about each one. I enjoyed seeing Rachel closing a chapter in her book to start a new one and Tully for trying to be strong to overcome her biggest obstacle. I wanted to shake Heather for not seeing what was right in front of her and what felt like she was responding to her heart not her head. A terrific domestic thriller!

I received an ARC from NetGalley via St. Martin's Press and I have voluntarily reviewed this book.

So I’m just gonna start off by saying that the ending of this book was so terrible. I saw so many other reviews that said the same thing, but I didn’t believe them because Sally Hepworth can do no wrong in my eyes.

I won’t go into specifics because of spoilers…but yeah. In my opinion, the ending almost ruined the rest of the book for me.

I still gave this one four stars because Sally Hepworth’s writing is wonderful and I still enjoyed reading it. The dual POV was amazing and I was equally invested in all of the characters (probably because they were all extremely damaged and I loved it).

I think I was most invested in Heather’s story (she’s the younger wife). I have a lot of unanswered questions about her and I would love some sort of followup story. But I also loved reading about the daughters, Rachel and Tully, and the issues that they faced individually as well. Oh, and Darcy was perfection and is my new book boyfriend. (Make no mistake, Rhys from the ACOTAR series has not been replaced. He is my book husband. Darcy is just a side dish.)

ANYWAY.

I would definitely still recommend this book, but just go into it knowing that the ending will probably make you very, very mad. That is all.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC! A review is posted on my Goodreads and my Bookstagram account (link is attached).