A well done book that will keep you entertained the whole way through. It was a great story that was full of little twists and turns. Defiantly one to add to you to be read pile.

This is a great novel. It has an unusual structure.
The characters are well developed and flawed. This was an enjoyable book

Thank you to NetGalley and Text Publishing for providing me with an electronic advance reader copy.


Imagine if your life suddenly intersected with major world events, both positive and negative. That's Edith Devine's reality, and things take an interesting turn when her sophisticated new neighbor, Frankie Heyman, enters the scene. Hoping for a fresh start and a potential friendship, Edith wonders if this could be the change she needs.

When Frankie's controlling husband hinders her dreams, Edith steps in to help her pursue them. The story unfolds as a remarkable tale of love, sacrifice, and friendship.

I found this story clever and couldn't put it down. The blossoming friendship between Edith and Frankie was a highlight, showcasing the positive impact it had on both their lives. Edith found companionship and an escape from her routine, while Frankie broke barriers to reach her goals. Their mutual sacrifices and successful collaborations were captivating, but the story also explored the challenges when their friendship faced difficulties.

This is an excellent book for anyone who would like to have a snapshot of women and working women in the 1950s. I am sure that today's generations cannot even conceive of the way it used to be. This book is also a good story of two women who see their roles on the homefront differently but support each other with sisterly camaraderie, and that is what makes the book so much better than your average book.

I would highly recommend this book for its' originality and viewpoint.

A quirky and thoroughly enjoyable story set in the 1960s.

I really enjoyed following the stories of these characters and loved how it all played out in the end.

Highly recommend

Thank you to NetGalley and Text Publishing for an advance reading copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is a solid 4 star book for me! Synopsis: The Secret Wife is set in 60's Australia, a time in which women couldn't make their own decisions or interest themselves in careers outside the home, and rather expected to be housewives. The book tells a story of two friends (Edith and Frankie) who challenge that thinking. It felt almost "Wife Swap-y" to me - basically, Frankie pursues a modeling job (as I said, women weren't allowed to have careers at that time), so Edith comes Frankie's husband Ralph's secret housewife while Frankie and Ralph are out working. From there, we have a story of two unique women who want more of life than what's expected of them, and at the same time, as a history lover, we learn that a lot of major moments for the women align with major world events.

Overall, I liked this book. The end was a bit rushed, maybe "meh" for me, But regardless, I looove a book with strong female friendship, and the love between Frankie and Edith was so pleasant to read.

I’ve enjoyed this book immensely and would recommend it to anyone looking for a contemporary novel that involves strong characters and a wonderful setting in Australia in the 60s. Edith is a housewife who is happy to meet Frankie, the glamorous woman who lives next door with her husband Ralph. Edith is very conscious of big events happening in this era’s history as it concurs with her life. So when Frankie needs her help to be more autonomous from her abusive husband, Edith put her religious conservative principles aside and go all the way to be there for her friend.

The author succeeded in bringing the reader in the story, I became immersed in their lives and still after the book was finished, I kept thinking about Edith, Charlie and Frankie. Great book!

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. A great Novel. Love the cover so much! Recommend.

I enjoyed this book. I liked reading about how real world events affected the characters. I also liked the 60s setting. Definitely a good read!.

The structure of this book (the historical tie-ins with the plot) was so interesting and really kept me reading. I liked the two main characters at the beginning of the book, but it felt like they both devolved and became more pathetic in their own ways as time went on. The main storyline hinges on the fact that one of the women starts her own business and turns it into an incredibly successful and lucrative career without her husband ever knowing anything about it - it's just so... impossible.

The ending didn't sit right. It was a slow burn of a book only to end with a quick fizzle into nothing.


Link to my review on Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4583032761

I loved "The Secret Wife" by Mark Lamprell! A unique, unexpected novel, taking place in the 1960's, with the most endearing mix of world events and space travel along with women's roles and progress. Most heartfelt friendship as well with surprising twist, this novel was great. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the copy for review. All opinions are my own.

This was a change of pace in comparison to my normal book reads but I definitely enjoyed it.

Set in Australia in the 60’s this book takes you an a journey of Charlie, Edith and their two daughters as they move to a new home to start another chapter in life.

Everything in this book has a purpose and Edith believes that whatever is happening in the world will determine what kind of a day she will have.

This was a strange read, but it took you on an adventure through all of your emotions. The writing was style was wrong and I enjoyed reading this book.

I loved the details and the setting in this particular time period. While it wasn’t the ending I hoped for, I loved how the story showed the power of one woman.

# The Secret Wife is by author # Mark Lamprell. Taking place in the 1960's it will make females today so happy things are different. A story about unconditional love -friendship. 💜🐾🐾
Thank you for the advance copy,
# Netgalley and # Text Publishing

#Holly💜🐾🐾

Really engaging read - explores a range of subjects in depth and in a manner that makes it hard to put the book down. I thoroughly recommend to anyone who wants to read a book to get them out of a rut as this was the book that did that for me.

What would you do if so many of the world's biggest events suddenly began to collide with your own world, both good and bad? That's what life is like for Edith Devine, and she can't help but notice the coincidence when her new, sophisticated neighbor, Frankie Heyman, arrives in town. Edith can't help but be curious about her new neighbor, could this possibly be the start of a friendship that gets Edith out of her funk?

When Frankie's overbearing husband refuses to let her get a job, Edith steps in so that her friend can pursue her dreams. This is an extraordinary story about love and sacrifice, and friendship.

I thought this was a very clever story and I couldn't stop reading. I especially loved witnessing the friendship between Edith and Frankie blossom, but also loved to see how this friendship impacted both of their lives. For Edith, it was a means of getting out of the house, and simply having a friend to talk to. For Frankie, this friendship meant breaking down barriers and pursuing her goals that were previously out of reach. I loved how these two sacrificed so much for each other, and how they worked together to so successful with their schemes. It was fascinating to see how quickly things unraveled when their friendship was on the rocks.

Not a bad book! It was a DNF even though i felt i wanted to stop a few times. It was a slow read and not a lot happened, but i was still interested. I loved the women characters in the book.

A highly addictive, beautiful read. I was massively engrossed from the start, and thought the characters where beautifully created. Only thing I wasn’t so keen on was the ending! It didn’t really make sense to me.

I was a not a fan of this one. I think this would be a better read for another person. I would not recommend this title to those that I know.

I really enjoyed this novel about two women in post-war Australia: one, Edith, happy to be a home bird, the other, Frankie, desperate to escape. Unfortunately, they each have the ‘wrong’ husband; so the solution is that Edith becomes Frankie’s secret wife, cleaning her house to Frankie’s controlling husband’s OCD-level standards.
While Frankie creates a business empire, Edith keeps both their homes spick and span.
Edith has a traumatic past. One way of making her life comprehensible is to link what’s happening on the world stage with her own personal story: a disaster such as the assassination of JFK heralds a new calamity in her own life; while the appointment of India’s first female prime minister must be a sign that housewives should be able fulfil their destinies.
For this older reader, this historical backdrop meant a fun trip down memory lane and a lot of “I remember that!”
I found it hard to believe that the author is male – sorry to be sexist. He captures so amazingly well the frustrations of women who had gone out to work in the war and learnt valued skills, only now to rein in their ambitions and be happy to be homemakers – a dilemma so well described in Betty Friedan’s pioneering ‘The Feminine Mystique’. The second wave of feminism is starting to build, sweeping Edith and Frankie along with it and challenging their life choices.