Sisters Tully and Rachel are shocked when they learn that their father is planning on divorcing their mom who's in a specialized facility for dementia in order to marry his young interior designer Heather. Memories from the past resurface and they all begin to question if they know who their father really is

3⭐️s
Would I recommend? Yes

Publication Date: April 5, 2022
By St. Martin’s Press

Who should read this? Fans of family dramas and multi-perspective mysteries

Quick take: Sally Hepworth does such a great job of writing characters that I can completely dislike yet still feel for and find things to understand about them. It makes these characters feel like real people with nuanced personalities and traits. She also does fantastic job of crafting a compelling mystery using the perspectives of multiple characters. It’s so fun to see the same events happening through different lenses and how the characters’ interpretations of the events are shaped by their personalities and individual experiences.

One very different aspect of this mystery is that we, the readers, don’t know what the actual crime is until the story progresses quite a bit (is someone injured? Or murdered?). So my major criticism of the story is that I felt unsure of how high the stakes were while things unfolded. I enjoyed this one overall and would recommend Sally Hepworth to everyone!!

I appreciate the copy of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for this honest review.

I’m a fan of Sally Hepworth so I knew I would enjoy The Younger Wife. It kept me guessing the whole time and was so twisty.

I enjoy thrillers where you know something bad happened but you don’t know the specifics. The author then slowly gives you information so you try to figure it all out. Then, when it all comes together, wow! The Younger Wife was just that. Thriller fans will enjoy this one!

I loved this one! Loved the alternating chapters with the POVs of the three woman characters, as well as the occasional flash-forwards to the wedding day. Read this one in about a day and half. Wasn't in love with the ending but still really enjoyed the experience of reading it.

I enjoy the way Sally Hepworth writes, the way she’s able to pull me into her characters lives is an all consuming interest. I did have a few things figured out but with the way it was all worked out, I actually wasn’t disappointed. It was a very very good ending and a wonderful plot.

Stephen Aston is once again getting married. To a woman who is younger than his daughters, Rachel and Tully, are, and, after he divorces his first wife, of course.

This book starts out with a thud and a scream at Stephen and Heather's wedding, and keeps you guessing about who the victim and who the assailant are, the whole time!! Alternating POV's between Heather, Rachel, and Tully, as well as past and present, make for a deliciously dysfunctional family drama.. but, the ending!! Not a popular ending, and I can surely see why.

I am not a huge family drama fan, but she does indeed write them well! This one is well worth it!
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press!!

Stephen Aston is a top heart surgeon and he’s about to get married, but to do so he has to divorce his current wife Pam, who is suffering from dementia, to marry the much younger Heather. Stephen and Pam’s daughters Tully and Rachel have to come to terms with what is happening to their family…and it’s going to take some effort on their parts. Heather’s younger than both of them and they presume she’s after their father’s money. Heather has secrets of her own…and perhaps Stephen does, too.

The novel follows the build up to Stephen and Heather’s wedding day, and the tragedy that overshadows the event.

Ms. Hepworth does a great job of revealing the family secrets one by one, letting the reader get to know each character and their motivations. The story is told through the POVs of Heather, Tully, Rachel and a wedding guest makes a few appearances with her perspective as well.

The Younger Wife is a good book to put on your summer reading list if you’re a fan of the domestic suspense genre.

Ehh. This one has some good reviews but I just don’t see the allure. It doesn’t stand out as being different from others in the genre. It’s very predictable.The ending really didn’t provide closure like I wanted.
TW: sexual assault, abuse, manipulation/gaslighting

The Younger Wife was an absolute thriller. I was surprised by the twists and turns numerous times and will be back for more from Sally Hepworth.

Pub: April 5th, 2022 by St. Martin's Press

Thank you to my friends @stmartinspress for the gifted copy to read and review 🤍

If you need a book to add to your summer reading list, look no further than The Younger Wife!

I’ve loved every Sally Hepworth book I’ve read and regularly them recommend to friends because they’re the perfect mix of domestic drama and mystery.

In The Younger Wife, we’re introduced to the Ashton family. Stephen, the patriarch of the family, is set to marry the much younger Heather. Except there’s one little issue- he’s still married to his first wife who suffers from dementia. His daughters, Tully and Rachel, are not impressed. This sets the stage for a rich and engrossing family drama.

The book is primarily told through three perspectives: Rachel, Tully & Heather. I love this narrative style as you really get to know each character’s POV. Heather was my favourite, though she definitely wasn’t at the beginning! Her backstory and the hidden layers that are slowly revealed drew me in and made me feel like I was on this journey with her.

At the heart of what makes this a winning book is Hepworth’s writing. The characters and issues they face are real and relatable. She’s not afraid to address real world issues like mental health, domestic abuse and disordered eating. This is done in a way that’s intelligent and obviously well research. It’s part of a character’s journey and not used for shock value.

Hepworth also listens to her readers and actually changed the epilogue in the original arc to reflect feedback. How cool is that! ?

10/10 recommend this book and Hepworth’s backlist. And make sure to follow her on social as she’s absolutely hilarious !

Thanks to St Martin's Press, NetGalley & Sally Hepworth for this ARC.

Really enjoyed this mystery, family drama book. Kept me intrigued and entertained till the end.
Hope to see more by her soon.

#NetGalley #TheYoungerWife #SallyHepworth #StMartinsPress #ARC #Goodreads

The Young Wife is the third book I have ready by Sally and it was very disappointing. When it comes to dysfunctional families, Sally is usually amazing. My problem with the book is one of the main characters was physically abused it came out as if she was delusional when it was clear as day. It is as if women are incapable to see when partners as abusive even when the partner does extremely kind things. There are more things I did not enjoy about this story but I will end my review here.

Thank you, St. Martin and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Really enjoyed this book and want to continue to pick up more by this author. Pacing was a little slow but I think it can be overlooked.

I'm definitely a fan of Sally Hepworth and have read several of her books. This was another great one for me. I'm down with the domestic suspense/low key thrillers she puts out!

Told from the POV of three different women this book had me hooked for the beginning right through to the end.

Another hit for Sally Hepworth. Do yourself a favour and pick this one up!

Blurb

THE HUSBAND
A heart surgeon at the top of his field, Stephen Aston is getting married again. But first he must divorce his current wife, even though she can no longer speak for herself.

THE DAUGHTERS
Tully and Rachel Aston look upon their father’s fiancée, Heather, as nothing but an interloper. Heather is younger than both of them. Clearly, she’s after their father’s money.

THE FORMER WIFE
With their mother in a precarious position, Tully and Rachel are determined to get to the truth about their family’s secrets, the new wife closing in, and who their father really is.

THE YOUNGER WIFE
Heather has secrets of her own. Will getting to the truth unleash the most dangerous impulses in all of them?

Unpopular Opinion

To me, this was a family drama with a slow burning mystery. I am a thriller fan and this was not a thriller at all. Why it was marketed as one, I do not understand that at all. I did like the first half but then after that it lost its fizzle.
I loved The Good Sister! That one was excellent. I did not like The Mother In Law, and that was another one that was marketed as a thriller and that one was not a thriller either to me.
I did not care for any of the characters. I was so disappointed in this book. Then comes the ending!! OMG! It just turned it into one hot mess!

I want to thank Netgalley, Minotaur Books for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

I always enjoy a Sally Hepworth novel and THE YOUNGER WIFE was not an exception.

The Aston family is dysfunctional and full of secrets. The sisters Tully and Rachel have a difficult time when their dad Stephen is about to marry Heather. Heather is younger than Tully and Rachel but the bigger problem is their mother Pam is alive; Pam has dementia and Stephen plans on divorcing her. Heather is marrying into the right family, she has her secrets too.

The characters are defined and I invested in their stories. I would recommend this book to any one as it covers many genres and covers them well.

I did not like this book. I found it to be much closer to a contemporary drama than a thriller or mystery. And in contemporary dramas, I need to be invested in the character’s daily lives. However, I found the character’s daily lives in this book to all feel rushed and overly dramatic, which made the characters feel more like cartoonish versions of real people. This version of characterization would have been fine if the plot had been more thrilling, as I expect overly dramatic characters in thrillers. However the thriller plot really only started in the last 25% of the book. The books pacing issues created a confusing mix of family drama with twisty thriller that didn’t fully commit to either genre and ultimately produced a book that neither family drama readers nor thriller readers would enjoy. I also did not like the final twist, as I felt it undid any interesting work that the book was doing with mental health and gaslighting.

Wow. Unreliable narrators, second guessing yourself and what you're told, pitting your beliefs about what people are when they're someone of high esteem, mixed with the craziness of any family and you've got yourself one heck of a good story!

I loved all of the characters in this book. Each one was so well rounded and real. There wasn't a single one that I didn't fall in love with. It was hard not to fall into this story, too, because it was so realistic. Thr family drama was so real that it didn't once feel off or like it was too much.

Sally Hepworth has done it again. This was a riveting story that will leave the reader just as confused as Tully, Rachel and Heather. After all, do you believe what you're told or what you mind says you saw/felt? I guess we'll never for sure.

Tully and Rachael have lived an ideal life. Or so they thought. Their Father ,a successful doctor ,is dating a woman,Heather, just slightly older than they are despite still being married to his wife, their mother.
When things start to go wrong in their lives they are looking back and remembering some unexplained “accidents “.
Rachael and Tully are coming to terms with tragic events in their young lives that are threatening their relationships. Fortunately they have strong,supportive partners.
Things start to come together when their Mother, who is in a nursing home suffering from dementia, starts to reveal some of her life with her husband.
This book capture me from the beginning. I thought the ending was riveting.

I have loved every book Sally Hepworth has written. I keep waiting to find one that I don't like as much as the last one but they keep getting better. I loved the way she developed the characters and the story was so well done. I was on the edge of my seat through the entire book. I could not put it down!