Damn. Just finished The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth and my mind is spinning. She has done it again!

This story centers around Stephen Aston and his soon-to-be wife Heather. As the title suggests, Heather is quite a bit younger, which comes with its own set of suspicions. It's a little more complicated than that though, because Stephen is still married to his wife of 30+ years, Pam, who is suffering from advanced dementia. Add Stephen and Pam's daughters Tully and Rachel into the mix, and you have a whole family affair. They all have secrets, anxieties, fears, and versions of the truth. So what is the truth?

I found this book to be masterfully written - I was on the edge of my seat basically the whole time. The author did a great job of making each character jump off the page, I empathized with them all and found myself confused about who to root for and who I believed. From the very beginning there were breadcrumbs being dropped in every direction and I found myself wondering how they would come together. In some cases I felt like certain story lines were wrapped up too quickly or I yearned for more detail, but I do understand why everything was included and helped the story come together as a whole.

This book will leave you scratching your head! Highly recommend - you will tear through this one and be left wondering what even happened at the end.

Thank You to St. Martin’s Press for the ARC! I really enjoyed the chance to preview this book and recommend it highly. Available April 5, 2022.

3.5 stars for me. I like Sally Hepworth but thought The Good Sister was so much better than this one. I had a hard time believing a lot of the characters’ choices but overall it was an ok read.

Tully and Rachel are skeptical about their father's new fiancee, Heather. She could be their sister after all. Plus, their mother is in a home with dementia. Heather starts feeling that something is amiss as Stephen, her fiancee starts treating her as if she is an alcoholic. This brings back memories of her abusive father and mother who used to mask everything by drinking alcohol while sitting on the bathroom floor. I really liked the different points of view of each character. Just as the reader things they know what is going on, Hepworth brings doubt into the picture. In fact, the ending is left a bit open after the incident at the wedding occurs. This part of the book bothered me as it could be interpreted in two very different ways. The book as a whole had all of the aspects of a fantastic thriller, however, I feel the ending could be clearer.
Thank you to Netgalley, Sally Hepworth, and St. Martin's Press for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this novel! Sally Hepworth does an amazing job with family dynamics in this domestic suspense/psychological thriller. Even though the story is a slow burn, the short chapters with alternating points of view make for a quick page-turner! The build-up was great but I wish the ending didn’t feel so rushed. I would have liked it if a few more loose ends were tied up. All in all, this book was an enjoyable quick read!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review!

A new, younger wife, two daughters, and a wife still living? This makes for the perfect thriller and page turner. The daughters have to come to terms with this, and with their own troubled pasts all the while protecting their mom who has dementia.

Super happy to have been chosen for an ARC.

He's getting married to the woman (who is younger than his daughters) that he hired to redesign his home, but he can't marry her yet because his existing wife is still his wife (even though she is in a home because of her dementia). The daughters have to come to terms with this, and with their own troubled pasts.

I struggled with this one a bit - it's got some rom-com vibes with darker undercurrents, but in some ways was a bit predictable and cliche. Yes, it's twisted, and yes everyone has demons (some that we are blind to, despite not being well hidden), but not all of them are that simple to resolve.

Another 5 star read from Sally Hepworth for me! She has the ability to pull me in immediately to her stories and her characters. Some I hate, some I love - but I am always vested in every one. An auto-buy author for sure.
Here Sally introduces us to Rachel and Tully, two sisters trying to cope with a Mother living in a shell of who she was - wracked by Alzheimer's, and now trying to navigate a new relationship in their father's life.

Heather is a beautiful, put together interior decorator who is entering Tully and Rachel's lives as their Dad's girlfriend and now fiance'. While their successful and fit surgeon father is in his 60s, Heather is in her 30's and is a year older than Rachel. The family dynamic is one of what I would term, "detached love." They all love each other yes, but they don't take the time to really see what is going on in each other's lives. One daughter deals with a trauma at 16 that she has kept silent about, by baking and eating through the pain. The other sister steals things just to get the "release" it offers. As one could imagine, the newest developments in their father's life do not do anything to help the mental status of either sister. Both girls hide their issues from the family, and to a degree, even from themselves. Add to that simmering doubts about Heather, about accusations their Mom blurts out in her demented state and a hot water bottle filled with cash that Rachel finds, and now friends, we have a captivating story.

I read this book in a day, I just could not put it down. To say I devoured it would be correct. The character development was so strong and the mental issues that the book covered were so important. I would not consider this one a Thriller, rather an excellent psychological drama. Character-driven with an air of mystery and mind-bending issues that had me second guessing myself and some characters several times during the story. To me, that is one of Sally Hepworth's outstanding writing traits - she puts her characters in situations that have you doubting their validity. She leaves seeds of doubt, and even in the end, you are not completely sure you were right in whatever you decided happened.

I 100% recommend this one. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance copy to read and review. Pub date: 4.05.22

Is it ethical to marry someone else while your current wife is in a long-term memory care facility? Even if you do everything in your power to continue to care for your wife and have her remain engaged in all family activities? Even if your new wife is younger than both your adult age daughters?

Stephen Aston believes he is deserving of happiness and seeks to divorce his wife with severe dementia while placating his two daughters at the same time he encourages them to get to know his new fiancee. He seems to have always been the perfect husband, the loving father, an upstanding citizen, so why shouldn't he pursue a new chapter with a new love? It appears reasonable enough until his daughters and even his soon-to-be-new wife start questioning the man he really is.

Filled with suspense and family drama, this book satisfies on many levels. The characters are interesting and relatable as each one has dreams, daily struggles and challenging pasts and we get to know them while they all try to understand, connect and support one another. Told with the right amount of humor, this is an interesting and entertaining read. 3.75 stars

The opening sucked me right in. I couldn't stop until I finished the book-- and once I did, I felt extremely sad.

You'll find 2 sisters that aren't especially close, their mother with dementia and their father with a new woman in his life. Tons of crap thrown at them at once and just the crap hits the fan so to speak.

There's drama, pain, secrets, suspense, fear and loyalty to those who might also hurt you.

I love how events brought people closer, healthier and a family unit- in a sense.

If you're looking for a twisted read with pain, lies, omissions, second guesses, rape/ kleptomania and much more this is your cuppa tea!!!

3 stars from me.

*Recv'd a copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

This one was slow going and I’m not sure if the pay off was worth it. However, the characters are well written so I didn’t hate it. But I didn’t love it either. My favorite of Hepworth’s novels is The Mother in Law.

I enjoyed this thriller overall . I loved the characters and their own pov perspectives. I did however end of feeling like I wanted more. More in the daughters lives, more on the first and second wives and maybe a pov of Stephan would of been helpful. I just don’t know how it can be so easy to forget something as serious as domestic abuse.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this arc.

I was very excited to read this book since I had enjoyed her book about the 2 sisters earlier this year. Sadly, this book just wasn’t it. I felt like the book was slow and very uneventful/anti-climatic. I will, however, continue to look out for other works written by her. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

A suspenseful thriller for the ages! This is a devilishly good, fast paced mystery told from multi perspectives to always keep you wondering what did happen at "The Wedding?"

A too good to be true husband, two daughters battling their own inner demons, and a younger wife stuck in the middle....what could go wrong?

My first time reading this other, and definitely won't be my last!

This was really good. Hepworth has hit her stride on thrillers set in Australia. She sets this one post COVID which I thought was interesting and loved some of the details she sprinkles throughout it to show how things have changed. I do want to say though that I am still flummoxed at the ending. Hepworth messes with you enough in this one to have you wondering what is real? I think I know what is real, but then you get to mini denouements and you are left messed up. Was Stephen Aston a bad man or was he a good man? 

"The Younger Wife" follows three women (really 5) in Stephen Aston's life. Stephen is about to be remarried (to a younger wife) named Heather. The beginning starts with their wedding and after the ceremony, something happens. We don't know what, but the unnamed narrator (for a time) wonders who did something and could it be that Stephen or his young bride is hurt. Then we hurtle back almost a year to follow Stephen as he introduces his two daughters (Tully and Rachel) to Heather. We quickly find out that the girls' mother and Stephen's wife, Pam has Alzheimer's and both girls in different ways are dismayed at their father moving on from their mother to a new life with Heather. The book follows Tully, Rachel, and Heather as each woman has their own demons to contend with along with wondering about Stephen and is the image that he has long portrayed the real one or is he really another man underneath.


I loved all of the characters. Tully is a mess, but I understood her a lot. Her anxiety and how it manifested made her very real. I wonder if COVID made this character a bit worse or not. Hepworth brings up COVID and I am trying to recall if Tully said anything beyond how now no one likes to touch hands and everyone waves. Tully loves her husband, her two sons, and does not have sibling rivalry going on with Rachel which was great to see. If anything we get to see those two characters grow closer throughout the book and really gain an understanding of each other.

I could have read a whole book about Rachel and then Darcy. Sigh. Her storyline was a hard/tough one and I do wonder about the pivotal event in her life if her father guessed or not. It's one of the lingering questions I had.

Heather and her backstory was also tough to read. But you are left wondering what is real and not real with her and her interactions with Stephen. Which was very well done of Hepworth. I am still confused!

The book's dialogue and flow works great. In between chapters of the three women we get the unnamed narrator for a bit here and there until they suddenly are known to readers and to the women in the story.

The ending was a one big what is real and did this happen or not. And then you get a clue somewhat, but it is still left open for interpretation. I don't know guys. This was a great mystery and I loved how it made me think.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review an advanced reader's copy of this book.

The Younger Wife was a satisfying, fast-paced romp of a read. Sally Hepworth has become a reliable favourite for books that I can't put down! She has a way of writing dark subjects lightly, and her characters are always richly developed, full of flaws and quirks— which I love. I find with her writing, I never quite know how things will turn out in the end, and The Younger Wife was no exception.

The book is told from the perspectives of Tully and Rachel, two adult sisters, as well as from the perspective of their father's new fiancé, Heather. Tully and Rachel's mother has dementia and is in a nursing home, so understandably, their father, Stephen, wants to move forward with life and has found love with Heather, who is notably younger than him, which doesn't sit well with the sisters. I found the characters well-fleshed out, especially Tully and Rachel, but I'd have loved to know more about Heather to more deeply understand her.

I appreciate how Hepworth always has you reflecting on your own character judgments and reconsidering what you once believed. If you've enjoyed any of Hepworth's previous books, like The Good Sister or The Mother-in-Law, you'll be delighted with this one as well.

What an awesome suspense! The story is told from the POV of various characters, and actually circled around more than one mystery. Love how I was drawn in from the first chapter. This is a quick read, but had me turning the pages until I reached the end. Loved it.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first book to read by this author but I cannot wait to read more! The characters stay with you long after you finish the book. Such a great story and fast read. Highly recommend!!!

3.5 Stars
I received a digital copy from NetGalley for an honest review.
I found the story engaging with short, fast chapters from multiple POV’s. I sometimes find one narrative more enjoyable than the other(s) but I found them all compelling in this book.
I loved the first 70% off this book, couldn’t put it down but it lost a bit of steam near the end. Although, I didn’t love the ending, I felt the rest of the story was extremely readable and interesting.

The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth was quick, easy read. I really like the author’s writing style. The characters are well-developed, if a little naïve. The book is written in multiple viewpoints which helps the reader understand motivations and actions. This book does tackle some heavy topics that may not have been handled in a way that will make everyone comfortable. All in all, a good read that is engaging from start to finish.

***** I received an ARC from NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my honest review. *****

I am a huge Sally Hepworth fan, so I was really looking forward to reading The Younger Wife. As with all her other books, this one drew me in from the opening pages. There are several mysteries going on in this book…including who was killed and who was the killer at a wedding depicted in the first chapter…and whether or not the husband/father at the center of the plot is an abuser. But it is primarily a very well-done family drama I am definitely recommending this one to friends and colleagues.