I really enjoyed The Younger Wife. In fact I just bought another book by Sally Hepworth to read next.
If you enjoy books that keep you on your toes and constantly thinking, then this is a book for you. In fact, it still has me thinking and guessing after the book is over with.
Rachel’s and Tullys Mom was placed in a nursing home because of Alzheimer’s. When they were cleaning out her stuff, they found almost $100K hidden and had no clue where it came from. Their father who claims he loves his wife becomes engaged to a younger woman and divorces his ill wife. This cause more confusion in his daughters’ already complicated lives. Then they start seeing hints that he may have been abusive as a husband.
Is there Dad one of the good guys or could he be an abusive husband who beat his wife so much to cause Alzheimer’s? Did he abuse his previous wife they didn’t know about? Is his abusing his fiancé?
I really enjoyed the mystery.

4.5⭐️
I read the good sister last year and loved it. So I super excited about The Younger Wife!
The novel was well executed and the mysteries started almost from page 1.
I love the way Sally Hepworth writes. She has a special talent for creating mystery in all of her characters which I think makes the novel that much more suspenseful.
There was more than one thing going on and it had me going in so many directions. Great job Sally Hepworth! I can’t wait to read the next one.
I chose to listen to this book on audio and read it. The narrators were Barrie Kreinik, Caroline Lee, Jessica Douglas-Henry, and Zoe Carides. They were excellent and I highly recommend it.
Thanks Macmillan Audio and St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley.
I will post my review on Instagram, FB, Bookbub, Amazon, Goodreads and B&N.

With a title like The Younger Wife, you would expect the story to be about a younger wife.. right? This one isn’t, not completely. It’s more about how the family reacts to their father’s new fiancé, their own struggles and the possibility that their father is an abuser. There is a lot going on, with each character having their own crazy story, and then throw in a mother with dementia. Maybe too much?
I did not find the story thrilling or suspenseful, even though there is definitely bloodshed at the beginning of the book. I honestly didn’t care who had been killed, or why. I didn’t find the lead up that interesting. What I did like was Tully and Rachel. If it had just been a book about the sisters, as a simple fiction book, I would have loved it.
I did finish the book in one sitting. The chapters are short, usually with a tiny cliffhanger. I felt the book was a little rushed, and the ending flat.

I'm done with gaslighting (or supposed gaslighting), writers need to give this a break for a while. I'm also done with stupid women.

I went to a webinar in January where the author talked about her inspiration for this book (she discusses it in the author's note at the end). I thought it sounded like an intriguing concept and was anxious to see where she went with it. I have really liked the past few books of hers I read and was excited to read this latest offering.


The book starts with a wedding of an older man to a younger woman. His daughters are bridesmaids, and his ex-wife with Alzheimer's Disease is in attendance as well. The wedding party, along with the ex-wife who happens to be carrying a candlestick, heads to the back to sign the paperwork. A thud is heard and someone calls for an ambulance.

In general, there are some things I liked about the book, but I thought she did not go far enough with certain things, and went way too far with others. I liked the daughters, Tully and Rachel, but every single character in the book seems to have major issues that they have had for years and are just brushing them under the rug. Rachel's are very understandable and her story arc, while it could have been fleshed out and explored further, made the most sense and was my favorite part. Tully's kleptomania was drawn out way too long with too much time given to it in the narrative.

Now getting to the stupid women part--every single woman, when they are looking back and trying to determine whether or not Stephen is/was abusive, acted stupidly more than once. They didn't try to think for themselves. They took his word for everything. Around and around we went not knowing if the women were being gaslit, were drunk, were actually crazy, were stupid, or a combination of the above. I wish the author would have made at least one of them astute enough to get to the bottom of things, but all of the women were at least partially distracted by their issues.

Taken as a whole, I know that this was the very point of the book. It was to create this ambiguous situation where the reader has to determine what really happened. Hepworth is a fantastic writer, so I give her credit for the interesting way she created this puzzle. Yet, I just cannot get past that the men are all pretty much perfect and the women are all a mess.

I know I'm an outlier with my opinions for this book, I think it would make a good book club choice so that readers can discuss their thoughts and predictions.

Stephen Aston is a successful heart surgeon, who falls in love with his interior decorator, Heather, after his wife is put in a nursing home with late stage dementia. When his daughters Rachel and Tully meet the new girlfriend, their dad drops a bomb that they aren't just dating, but getting married. The sister's have a hard time picking a place in this family dynamic. When Rachel finds a big chunk of change in her moms belongings with a mysterious name attached comes into play doubt starts to come in that her dad wasn't this perfect man she always thought he was.

This book was fast pace. I couldn't put it down! I enjoyed the multiple perspectives and the dual timeline. Each character had major flaws and it lead for an entertaining story, but also a lot of trigger warnings for readers. Some of those include Kleptomania, Eating disorder, Rape, Domestic Abuse, and Financial dilemmas.

While I enjoyed the book up, the last chapter really threw off the whole book. The chapter is in there to plant a seed of doubt against their dad's abuse, but I didn't find it successful. I would have left it out all together as I don't think it added to the story. Or If she really wanted to put it in there I would have put it in the middle when our opinions were being made to plant the doubt then.

Overall, I'd give this a 3.5-3.75. Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review. This book releases 4/5!

📖🎧BOOK REVIEW🎧📖
🌟🌟🌟🌟.5
PUB DATE: April 5, 2022
AUDIO: 9 HRS 18 MIN
PAGES: 352

OH MY STARS! Have you read this author yet? If not, what are you waiting for?

My first book by Ms. Hepworth was “The Mother-in-Law” and she had me hooked from the first chapter! She is an auto-read for me and I don’t waste time reading the synopsis. I can always count on her for an excellent read. The books I’ve read have been built around domestic drama and dark family secrets and filled with plenty of havoc.

The Aston family is a prominent family with loads of juicy, secret skeletons in their closets! The father—Stephen—is a distinguished and well-loved doctor. His two daughters—Tully and Rachel—are grown and living happy lives. Or are they? Tully is a mental mess, with hidden issues that go back to early childhood. Rachel has her own secrets. She’s a successful businesswoman but doesn’t date…..ever.

Their mother—Pam—has dementia, and is living in a care facility. Poor Pam rarely recognizes anyone. And she forgot to share her secrets before they faded away.

And now there is a fiancee—Heather. Stephen throws everyone for a loop when he introduces them to Heather for the first time. And announces they are engaged. First of all, he’s still married to their mother. And second, Heather is younger than both daughters.

Excerpt:
“Their smiles are painted on, unconvincing, but then who would be pleased to see their father marry a woman young enough to be their sister? And while their mother looks on to boot.”

This is only a taste of the enticing secrets in this turmoil-filled thriller! I highly recommend.

I enjoyed both the audiobook and e-book. Sincere thanks to Macmillan Audio / St. Martin’s Press for this complimentary ARC that was provided through NetGalley. This review is my honest opinion.

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#somanybookssolittletime #favoriteauthor

The Younger Wife was a little difficult for me to get into, but after several chapters the characters' personalities emerged and I was hooked. I think Sally Hepworth handled the tough subjects well. I liked how she didn't give a lot of detail, but it was still enough to feel emotionally connected to the character and understand things about them.

I would recommend this to fans of thrillers. I will be reading more of Sally Hepworth's books.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Younger Wife started out great. Some good characters, a puzzling relationship, a major injury at a wedding. But somewhere it fell apart. I truly enjoyed getting to know sisters Rachel and Tully and their soon to be step mom Heather. They worked through some tough situations together and showed how women can be there for each other. But I was expecting a more twisted ending that offered some clarification about Fiona, Pam and Stephen. I seriously could not believe that was the end of the book. Please rewrite and send out a memo.

I was able to review The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth and St. Martin's Press
for providing me with an advanced ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Two sisters have to navigate their father falling in love with a younger woman while their mother languishes in a dementia ward. The story highlights family dysfunction and the repercussions of how a seemingly functional family discovers some hard truths about the picture perfect family they thought they had.

The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth

A big thank you to @stmartinpress for the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy of The Younger Wife! Publish date for this book is April 5, 2022 and it is currently available for pre order.

Rachel and Tully get the shock of a lifetime when their dad announces over lunch with his new girlfriend that they plan to marry. Heather, this new fiancée, it bears noting is younger than both girls. The girls immediately feel a sense of betrayal as their father is still technically married to the girls’ mother, Pam, who is in failing health due to her battle with dementia.

This is the third book I’ve read by Sally Hepworth and they never fail to impress. This one had me hooked from the jump with the scene at the wedding. Hepworth does a sensational job of balancing suspense with family drama in a combination that is just right for my tastes. This one definitely ended up taking a different turn than I was expecting, but not in a bad way. The epilogue, while frustrating to some, was so powerful to me. It highlights the persuasive power of gaslighting. The victims of his abuse didn’t even see it for what it was due to his slick nature, a master manipulator. Even though the end with Heather becoming so close with the girls and their family, it was nice to see her get a happy ending.

This book tackles some heavy topics, which was what I loved so much about The Good Sister. However, I do want to tack on a TW for those issues. Domestic abuse, rape, binge eating, kleptomania, depression, manipulation and gaslighting were all explored as it was revealed that no one in this group was free of some kind of coping mechanism to deal with stress and turmoil. These girls didn’t know what their own sisters were experiencing for years and we as a society need to do more to de stigmatize mental health issues.

I highly recommend this for anyone who enjoys psychological suspense, thrillers, and family drama.

4.5/5

This was a good read. It was a pretty quick read as well. A nice change of pace from some of the other things I've been reading lately.

The characters were a nice mix of likeable and unlikable and there were enough twists and turns that it kept you guessing. I wasn't expecting the big twist at the end at all.

I'd definitely recommend this to others.

I received this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first read from Sally Hepworth. I found the first third of the story to be a bit on the slower side but it did pick up from there. Out of all of the women in the story, I found Rachel to be the most relatable and authentic. Honestly, the other characters were not ones that I cared much about.

The storyline itself was interesting but a bit out of control. For me, there were too many unknowns that didn’t sit right.

4.5 stars

Hepworth has easily become one of my favorite and go-to authors! I've enjoyed past books, and her latest is no exception!

The author weaves in numerous red herrings and enough twists to keep the reader engaged and guessing. It wasn't quite what I was expecting in the end ... and that's a good thing! Multiple POV's let the reader see that everyone is keeping secrets in this family full of relatable dysfunction. The author is a master in this genre, and I can't wait to read future books!

Sally Hepworth does a great job in her books getting the reader invested in the characters and The Younger Wife is no exception. From the beginning all the characters intrigued me and I kept finding myself wanting to learn about their past. The book is about a family in which each member has their own troubles they are trying to overcome whilst trying to accept their Dads newly younger wife. The story kept wanting me to read more and more and the epilogue was an excellent wrap up. I enjoyed the book overall because I felt most lose ends were tied up and most questions were answered. I would have liked to read a few chapters from Stephen, the dads perspective but overall, great read.

My first Sally Hepworth novel and won’t be the last. Successful surgeon Stephen Aston is getting married to the much younger Heather, even younger than his daughters Tully and Rachel. First he must divorce his wife of many years who is in a nursing home with dementia. The story is told from the points of view of each of these three women all with terrible secrets and emotional issues. It all seems very straightforward until there appears to be some cracks in the mirror. Misdirection, slight of hand and poof …we have some very unreliable narrators. Although this book doesn’t seem to shine a favorable light on womanhood it was still quite entertaining.
Thank you Netgalley and St Martins for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this one! I’m not huge on thrillers, but Hepworth writes stories that always get me hooked. This one in particular had some characters I really enjoyed. All three of the leading ladies were good and I enjoyed them. Add in a story that kept me guessing until the end and it made for a great read!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Fantastic thriller mystery of a family who is experiencing traumatic changes , all while dealing with their pasts. Hepworth does a great job of winding up this story of the Aston family as they learn how to deal with their matriarch's dementia. Dad, a famous heart surgeon moves on quickly and finds the next woman of his dreams, but it's too bad she's as young as his own daughters. The two daughters, dealing with their own issues , now they have to go through their dad's new wedding , all while losing their mother to her dementia. And of course the younger wife, she has the potential to have a perfect life, but will the ex or the daughters stand in her way. Add a violent act to the mix of things and let the fun begin!

Quick paced and exciting and enjoyable characters, this is one perfect cocktail of a book!
Rated 4/5 stars because of the ending. It wasn't completely disappointing but it did leave me with questions.

The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth-a book that started out so perfect and kept you reading and reading-just to get to the ending and be like bleh.

We meet the Heather (the bride), Stephen (the groom), Tully and Rachel (Stephen’s daughters) Pam (the EX wife—whuttt) and a wedding attendee who is later revealed in a crazy first chapter where someone is seriously injured or maybe even killed because the officiant has blood on her. Ok, you have my attention. We then jump between recent history and present wedding day in a fast paced telling to keep you drawn in-WHO WAS HURT?! WHO DID IT?!

And then comes the ending. While it was ok and brought the story closure it just felt… rushed and forced. I may be in a minority-I don’t know, but I just got that vibe.

All in all an entertaining read and if you are a Sally Hepworth fan, definitely check it out!

*I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion*

I'm feeling so conflicted about this book. I've read and enjoyed all of Sally Hepworth's previous novels and The Younger Wife was a good read up until the ending. The issue I have is not knowing whether the conclusion was a creative choice along the lines of typical thrillers or if it was done with the intention to be thought-provoking and convey a message. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt and say it's the latter but my advance reader's copy did not include any type of Author's Note with insight to her thought process. I hope the finished edition of the book will include some clarification as it's too heavy of a topic to leave it open to interpretation.

The story hooked me from the beginning as the setting is a wedding and the celebration comes to a halt when there's a scream and moments later someone appears in the room with blood all over them. Then we go back and see everything that led up to it. The story follows Tully and Rachel who are sisters. Heather is right around their age and is engaged to their father, Stephen. It's a family drama although it also falls in that domestic thriller/suspense category as well.

One of the things that draws me to Sally Hepworth's books is she doesn't shy away from tackling tough subjects. The three female lead characters were dealing with separate issues in their lives. Tully's storyline is one that doesn't pop up much in fiction which is fascinating because it's not like her problems are extremely unheard of in real life. Glad the author was able to explore that a bit.

Heather is marrying the man of her dreams. Yes, he's older, but he's a doctor and has a nice home and daughters her age that she can see herself being friends with. His wife with dementia is just a matter of a small divorce and then all her dreams of security and a family will come true. Stephen's adult daughters, Tully and Rachel, don't know what to think about Heather and their dad's upcoming wedding and worry about the outrageous claims their mom is making from her care facility. Throw in some hidden money and some poor coping habits, and this family is a mess. When someone goes to the hospital from the wedding (this is at the start of the book and then it goes back into the buildup), what will happen to their new family?

Sally Hepworth has outdone herself. I liked this domestic suspense book much better than her most recent book and maybe even better than The Mother-in-Law. I've read a lot of cookie cutter thrillers and this one is not only a better story, but well crafted. I love it when a book dwells in the ambiguity (I know some people hate this). I felt like this was layered and so propulsive; it would make a great discussion book. 4.5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.