I don't know why, but this book gave me anxiety, in a good way. I really appreciated the alternating chapters from the major woman character's points of view, and I was really rooting for Heather and the sisters to get some help dealing with their various issues and past traumas. Mostly satisfied in the ending, and I raced through this novel every opportunity that I had. Definitely will recommend; 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 for the sake of this review.

The Younger Wife was a thrilling read that had me guessing until the end! Fantastic character development and clues spread throughout the novel.

Dr. Stephen Ashton is a well respected family man with two grown daughters and a wife suffering from early stages of dementia. After moving his wife into a long-term care facility for her comfort and safety, Stephen meets and falls in love with Heather Whisher, an interior designer who is helping him remodel the home he shared with his wife Pam.

Stephen's two daughters are uncomfortable with their fathers new love for more reasons than one. First, she is younger than both of them, and second their father is still married to their mother. When Stephen announces that he and Heather are getting married and to do that he must divorce Pamela, the daughters are taken aback. Tully and Rachel were raised to be proper young ladies so they don't raise a fuss, but they both wonder what Heather's ulterior motives are for marrying a man twice her age. They also start to question the strange discoveries they begin to make about their mother.

Everyone in this story has secrets which are carefully revealed like peeling an onion. As hints are dropped the reader begins to piece the puzzle together and discovers nothing is as it seems. When an accident takes place on Stephen and Heather's wedding day all are left to wonder how you can know someone your whole life, but not really know them.

I loved this book! The writing was clever and the characters felt like real people. It has gone to the top of my recommended thrillers list. This is the first Sally Hepworth book I have read, but I cannot wait to read more. Her writing reminds me of Liane Moriarty and Shari Lepena and it is fantastic. Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Sally Hepworth for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I found this to be a very quick read. Having the points of view of multiple women made the story very engaging and provided well-rounded insight into the background. The fact that nobody recognized Rachel‘s trauma at 16 was a little unbelievable and I would have preferred that the author delve into the repercussions of that a little bit more. But having to cover the main story of Heather and Stephen didn’t allow for too many diverging plot lines.

I love Sally Hepworth’s novels, she knows how to write family/domestic suspense. With that being said, this one has to be my least favorite books I’ve read by Sally so far. This one started out strong for me and was a page turner. I loved the storyline and everything was good right until the very ending. Then I felt a huge letdown, there was so much more potential for this novel and it just fell short for me. This would have been 5 stars if it wasn’t for the ending.

Thank you St. Martin’s press and Net Galley for an ARC in return for my honest review.

Family relationships come into focus in this novel addressing issues of human fallibility, after effects of sexual assault, and mental health. Characters are well drawn, their depth becoming clear as the story progresses. The drama demands attention, encouraging readers to keep turning pages to find out how the family's stories conclude.

This was my first book by Sally Hepworth and it sure won’t be my last! Boy, Hepworth knew how to add just enough domestic suspense/ drama to keep me on my toes. I loved the chapters that included “the wedding” because I knew the reader was closer to finding out what truly happened. I thought the characters were all very likable but really enjoyed Rachel’s perspective the most- a girl after my own heart!

Thank you so much, NetGalley & St Martin’s press for my eARC!

The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth (c/o Netgalley) (mystery/thriller, April 2022) The story opens with a wedding, where a tragic event takes place. Rachel and Tully’s mother is in a nursing home with dementia. Their father is dating and soon engaged to a much younger woman. Each of the women have their own struggles that they are secretly hiding. Each of their stories brings light on the surprising conclusion. I have been a huge Hepworth fan. This was an engrossing, fast-paced read. However, I just didn’t love this one though as much as her others.

This was a delicious read on a rainy afternoon. Witty, realistic, and just a little bit dark.

I liked how Hepworth gave us depth with the characters - how on the surface they seemed to have it all - perfect relationships, beauty, wealth, and the sort of family you read about in Hello magazine. Yet, underneath there simmered mental health issues, long, dark secrets, and nothing was as it seemed.

Can't wait to pick up more from Sally Hepworth. Thanks, NetGalley for the ARC.

This was an interesting, strange book about families and their dysfunctions.

Stephen Aston is getting married. Everyone is there - his daughters, his friends, even his ex-wife. That might seem very strange, and her behavior is even more strange - going up to the altar, and going with the group into the sacristy to sign the register. But his ex-wife Pamela has Alzheimer's disease and while some see it as callous to divorce your sick wife and remarry with her there, Stephen (says he's) included her because she likes a party and would be happy to be there with her daughters.

But the wedding ends in tragedy, as from the sacristy comes a scream. Stephen is dead. And no one is talking about how he died.

The story is told from the viewpoints of the new wife Heather, Stephen's daughters Rachel and Tully, as well as a couple of others. It is an interesting study of how one person's opinion can color the memories of others. The ending was a bit unsatisfying (for the sake of not spoiling the book, I won't say why), but it was a quick and enjoyable read otherwise.

Thanks to Netgalley for this advance copy.

Sally Hepworth did it yet again! Highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to be on the edge of their seat from the beginning to end. As always, a home run from Sally!

Genre classifications do so much in setting expectations and I find that they constantly set Hepworth up for failure. This unthrilling family drama starts off at a solid pace but then drags it’s way across the finish line with an ill conceived casting of doubt on one of many serious topics that were haphazardly thrown into this book and then glossed over.

I found it lacking in depth and intrigue, with lackluster characters and force-fit storylines as if they were randomly picked out of a hat and Hepworth tried to make them all fit together inorganically.

I don’t know why I keep expecting to like her books more. They are what they are, and they’re just not for me.

Sally Hepworth’s books have a way of grabbing your attention right from the time you pick them up until you turn the very last page. Her latest, The Younger Wife, did exactly that for me. It’s a domestic suspense novel about a very unconventional family that is extremely dysfunctional. The father is a well respected doctor. The mother, who is being divorced, is suffering from dementia. There’s 2 daughters who have issues of their own and then there’s the younger wife-to-be, who was their interior designer. What a hot mess! The story is mainly based around whether the father is an abusive man or not. I have to admit, the ending really left me wondering. I think the author wanted you to come to your own conclusion or belief. It was a little different but a story I really enjoyed and would recommend. I’d like to thank St. Martin’s Press for accepting my request and NetGalley for the arc to read, review and enjoy. I feel you can never go wrong reading a Sally Hepworth book, she’s always got a story that will keep you entertained. I’m giving this a 4 star rating!

It took me a while to find time to read this one because of work, but I finally had some free time this week so was able to finish the last 80% in two sittings.

I really enjoyed 99% of the book, but I feel very strongly that it was wrong to end a book about a gaslighting abusive husband with questions about whether he really was. I would have also expected there to be a section at the end with hotline numbers or websites for people to refer to if they or someone they know is being abused.

This is one of my favorite authors - The Mother In Law and The Good Sister are two of my favorite books of the past few years. I’m afraid the ending of this one will preclude me from saying the same thing about this one. Still giving it 4 stars because I liked the rest of the book.

I’ve enjoyed every Sally Hepworth book I’ve read and this was no exception. I enjoyed the developing characters of Tully and Rachel and their unraveling stories. I’m still unsure about Stephens character even after finishing the book, I’m not sure what’s true or not. I think that may be the point of this book, for one to trust their instincts/gut. Overall a great, fast, expected read from this author!

I have been a die hard Sally Hepworth fan since her first book, The Secret of Midwives was first released.

Hepworth knows how to grab this reader's attention. That opening chapter had me itching to read more and unravel what was going on. With alternating POV it shows a family with lots of secrets. Though I couldn't really connect with these women I did get to know them. There were twists and turns, numerous times I thought I knew what was going on only to be foiled again.

I wouldn't call this a thrilled but rather a domestic drama. Women with issues and to be honest I get the root of these issues for 2 of them but not the other - maybe I missed something important but I don't think so.

The Younger Wife is a story of relationships, tons of gaslighting and over coming. I don't expect my books to have a happy ending all the time but I do like a solid conclusion that leaves me feeling satisfied and unfortunately this one didn't. In fact I would have giving this book 4 stars and maybe even more but I feel cheated and let down (for so many reasons that I can't go into).

Australian author Sally Hepworth will continue to be a go to author for me. I did love the acknowledgements and the seeds that planted this book.

My thanks to St. Martin's Press (via Netgalley) for an advanced digital copy in exchange for a honest review.

Thank you to the author & publisher for gifting me a physical ARC & ebook (thanks to NetGalley as well)
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Sally Hepworth is for sure my top fav authors! Where her previous book, The Good Sister, introduced a character on the spectrum of autism with flair, this book deals with the myriad forms of abuse with panache.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗶𝗳𝗲 novel opens with something terrible happening on the wedding day of Stephen, the doctor and patriarch of the family in this book, and Heather, the much younger wife. We are then transported back to the family dynamics of Stephen’s 2 daughters, Tully & Rachel, as well as their mother, Pamela, who has Alzheimer’s. As you would expect, each character grapples with secrets or issues that the others aren’t aware of. To make matters worse, Rachel and Tully have a very hard time adjusting with the fact that their dear father is going to marry a woman of their age, when Pamela is still actively involved in everyone’s lives, and can’t really consent to this marriage. The chapters are divided into Rachel’s, Tully’s and Heather’s POVs, finally leading back to the wedding day when the unspeakable event happens.

Now here’s where the book may seem controversial or even polarizing to some. The ending. I don’t want to give away too much about that ending that would spoil your reading. I will just say that the ending made perfect sense to me (but I expect some to disagree with me) and that the author wants the reader to think deeply on the moral dilemma of that ending, and the topic of abuse which is very relevant to our times. Now my lips are sealed.

I buddy read this book with @bookybethw & other thriller besties, and we had a great time analyzing that ending, and the story overall. This book makes an excellent buddy read book, and is one of the best domestic suspense stories I’ve read. 5⭐️!

I enjoyed this story. I felt it was an easy light read even though there were a lot of heavy topics in the story. Sally Hepworth does a great job writing about mental health issues in her characters. The three main characters in the book were battling their own demons and it wasn't a story of the "wicked stepmother". This book and The Good Sister are 2 of my most favorite books that I have read in 2021..

The only thing I didn't like and I find a lot of author's doing this in their newest book is adding something about COVID-19. I find it annoying and unnecessary to have it added into storylines. Reading is an escape and bringing up COVID-19 as we are still in the pandemic ruins that escape.

⭐️⭐️ Problematic. We can do better.

We are introduced to the Aston family on the day that patriarch, Stephen, is marrying Heather, his much younger bride-to-be. Aston daughters Rachel and Tully aren’t too happy about this, particularly because their mother is suffering from dementia and Stephen divorced her even though they had enjoyed a seemingly loving and happy marriage. During the ceremony, tragedy strikes. But who is hurt, and who is to blame?

I was hoping that this domestic thriller would be a great palate cleanser after consuming some heavier material. I try to pick books that I think I will like and I take no pleasure in writing negative reviews. Unfortunately, all it did was leave a sour taste in my mouth.

I almost never include *SPOILERS* in my reviews, but in this case it is necessary to explain my issues with the book.

The main issue with this novel is the ending. It suggests that a woman who has suffered past trauma may be incapable of distinguishing between reality and her imagination. Suggesting that a victim of past abuse might be so damaged and so “crazy” (the book’s term) that she would hallucinate future abuse and no longer be able to trust her own judgement or perception is beyond insulting. Here, all three female characters are portrayed as unstable and second guess themselves about whether or not a close male family member is abusing them or not. The fact that the reader is left wondering whether there was actually abuse or whether the ladies were overreacting at best or delusional at worst is not a “fun” plot twist. Rather, it flies in the face of the me too movement and everything we have been working towards since then in terms of believing women and empowering them to speak out. And not only is the ending problematic, I just didn’t buy it. There were so many red flags flying above this guy that I couldn’t see straight.

This book wants to be like Colleen Hoover’s Verity but it’s a far cry from it. You can pick a better book than this to support. Trigger warnings for physical abuse, assault, rape, kleptomania, and dementia.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review. This book is scheduled to be published on April 5, 2022.

This review will be published on November 19, 2021 on Instagram and Goodreads. @sanfranliterarygal

I loathed and loved the ending. Bravo Hepworth - creative and bold move. Can’t say I saw it coming which I found refreshing and frustrating. Heavy topics dealt with but boy the ending was something else. Hepworth definitely pulled a fast one, again BRAVO, I’m still shaking my head in disbelief.

Something Happens at the wedding of an older man and a younger woman, attended by the man’s adult daughters and his dementia-suffering ex-wife.

We go back in time and see the run up to the wedding through the eyes of the two daughters, Tully and Rachel as well as Heather the bride. All three women have their secret traumas which they deal with in different ways. Tully shoplifts, Rachel bakes and eats her feelings, and Heather has spent years disguising her working class origins.

Pam, the ex-wife, also has a secret: she has filled a hotwater bottle with nearly $100,000 in cash and two names: Tully and the mysterious Fiona Arthur. When Rachel discovers this, she sets about sleuthing to find out who Fiona is and why her mother hoarded all that cash.

While the novel is certainly intriguing, I found it difficult to understand the tone and I wondered if that's because it’s Australian. It felt like it was maybe meant to be comic, though it wasn’t really funny. The traumas of the women are taken seriously but seem to be rather simplistically explained and solved. Stephen, the patriarch, is the catalyst of the mystery and is something of a blank sheet, deliberately I think, because he is interpreted by the women through their own lenses. I liked that the resolution was ambiguous but it also made me cringe a bit.

Overall, an ok book and while I’d probably read other novels by Ms Hepworth, I wouldn’t seek them out.

Thanks to St Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the digital review copy.