This was a solid read that kept me intrigued, but I wouldn’t necessarily classify this as a thriller. This had more of a slow burn throughout that was a bit predictable. I liked the various narrations though felt some of their side stories were unnecessary and became the primary focus more than the potential abuse.

Perhaps my biggest issue, however, is the title of the book. A better title even would’ve been “the older husband” as this story is less about heather (and even the marriage) and more about Stephen’s role as a husband, ex-husband, and father.

Nonetheless, I’ll be tuning in to Hepworth’s next read. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another corker from Sally Hepworth. Two sisters coming to terms with their father remarrying a younger woman, while still married to their mom who has alzheimers. The evil stepmother seems to be playing her part or is all as is seems to be? I really enjoyed this book, especially all the twists and turns and unexpected ending was perfect.

Always love Sally Hepworth’s books and looked forward to this release. Loved the different perspectives and watching each character grow throughout as they reveal their personal secrets . Wish the ending was different, but overall a well written book by one of my favorite authors. Thank you, Net Galley for the advanced copy.

This was so good! I feel like Sally Hepworth is the only author that can pull of the domestic suspense genre this well.

The characters were well fleshed out. I loved how real they felt.

Not going to say anything else because of spoilers!

Sally Hewlett has done it again!

The Younger Wife is a novel that will turning pages AND guessing, right to the very end.

THE YOUNGER WIFE
BY SALLY HEPWORTH

Four stars for being compulsively readable. The ending was confusing and the character's seemed to be full of dysfunction. I had thought the premise to this one was interesting but it almost read to me that to have so many dark themes and flawed characters as I read on that I grew disenchanted. I felt like the more that I read the less likely could I believe it. In addition to that mix in the level of cruelty for which when combined with the ending I felt that all of this seems a bit far fetched and unrealistic.

A successful doctor in his sixties summons his young adult daughter's to have lunch with his girlfriend to announce over a toast that they are going to get married. Did I mention that the bride to be named Heather is younger than one of his two daughter's? Add to that conundrum he is still married to his daughters' mother. He plans on divorcing his wife Pam who is in a nursing home with early onset dementia. There seems to be an epidemic lately with women getting early onset dementia.

Tully who is married with two young son's is a kleptomaniac and lacked a warmth that seemed to border on as being quite disturbed. I warmed slightly to Rachael because I thought she was an excellent cook but she has her own problems and secrets. At first I thought the father's fiancee named Heather was a gold digger but she is hiding things as well. And the father whom at first seems caring turns out to have his own hidden secrets. For some reason I doubted that the mother of Tully and Rachael and the supposedly first wife was as unaware of things than what was written, but that was just a feeling I had.

I couldn't put the book down because it really does draw you in from the very beginning. At first I just felt so bad for the first wife, Pam and Rachael. Then towards the last 20 percent I thought that how could so many of these character's have so much going on with them? Really? Can there be that much darkness and flawed people in one family? And it strains belief and credibility that if what is implied was going on was really happening then how could it have escaped notice by everybody? It got kind of drawn out too long towards the ending and that ending ruined the book for me.

As I mentioned either this was just dark and if so the more that I read the more it seemed to make me feel as it was a bit unrealistic. I do admit that I couldn't stop reading hence my four star rating. It seemed just unrealistic so I feel that 3.5 stars rounded up after thinking about it seems like my most honest rating. I did love the book at first but the more that I read the more surreal it felt. I so much wanted to love this book. I always feel badly when my review isn't as positive as I would hope for it to be. I know how labor intensive writing a book is and I don't feel good when I have to admit that I am disappointed. I have to take comfort that the objective of a review is to be fair and honest. Isn't that the whole point? I couldn't help but feel bad for the mother with early onset dementia and now I am not even sure if it was as bad as described because of the ending and the Author's Note. I really did think that this was really promising until my reflections after finishing it. I don't like to read about darkness within so much of a story that I have to suspend belief. Suspending belief at times isn't always a bad thing but I don't like feeling like I am being spoofed. And the more I read the more I doubted the circumstances revealed could be so entirely hidden for so many years within a family never mind a community as well. It just didn't ring true for me. It just seemed so ludicrous that nobody had any idea of the horrible circumstances of what had been the main theme and how is it that not one person noticed? Also on the other side of the spectrum my sense is maybe deep down that was the reason for the two daughters to be so damaged. Maybe on some subconscious level the daughters knew but were in denial. There is a lack of authenticity to this plot that I felt it on a level that coupled with the ending I was left feeling disappointed. I do think that it is a great challenge to write a novel and I sincerely wish success for this Author and its publisher. I mean that with all my heart. 3.5 stars!


Publication Date: April 5, 2022

Thank you to Net Galley, Sally Hepworth and St. Martin's Press for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#TheYoungerWife #SallyHepworth #StMartin'sPress #NetGalley

Sally Hepworth writes smart, thought-provoking, and at times unsettling, novels - and The Younger Wife definitely fits the bill. Tully and Rachel are dealing with the engagement of their father to a much younger woman. His impending wedding is of course a point of contention, but there's one other "minor" issue - he's still married to their mother.

Rachel and Tully's mother suffers from early onset dementia. She has been living in a nursing home for a while and their father has decided it's time to move on. Rachel is dealing with trauma from her past, a compulsive eating disorder, and tumultuous feelings over her father's new bride. Tully is battling kleptomania, anxiety, and her own feelings of despair about their father's relationship. Meanwhile, his new fiancé, Heather, is trying to decide if she's being gaslighted or if her worst fears are coming true.

I'll be honest, it felt like I was gaslighted while reading this - ha! Hepworth does such a great job of laying out the story while simultaneously planting seeds of doubt. Just when I'm sure I've gotten to the heart of the matter... the tides turn and I'm left questioning my judgements. The way that the story is wrapped up, but still left so open is what makes The Younger Wife the perfect thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book encompasses the drama of Aston family, Stephen, the Patriarch, is about to marry a new wife who is younger than his two adult daughters. There is an immediate twist. Stephen is already married, and his current wife suffers from dementia in an assisted living facility.

The chapters alternate character narratives while mixing some of the timeline. The reader can dip into the thoughts of several characters, and the alternating timeline will keep one guessing what will happen next. If you like family drama with a touch of psychological thriller in the mix, this book is for you!

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mind.

Another winner from Sally Hepworth! I’m a huge thriller fan and, while this fit the description, I really enjoyed that it didn’t follow the traditional thriller trajectory. Instead of twists and turns, I felt like I had the whole story fairly early in, but never knew the truth. I went back and forth, and flipped the pages as quickly as I could to find out what was REALLY going on!

THE YOUNGER WIFE is a domestic/suspense psychological thriller by New York Times bestselling author, Sally Hepworth. She is the author of six novels, most recently The Good Sister, which was an instant bestseller.

Her Novels Include:
The Secrets of Midwives (2015)
The Things We Keep (2016)
The Mother's Promise (2017)
The Family Next Door (2018)
The Mother-in-Law (2019)
The Good Sister (2021)
The Younger Wife (2022)

This is my review of The Younger Wife.
The story opens with a wedding ceremony between a successful heart surgeon, Stephen Aston and a much younger woman, Heather Wisher. Stephen is marrying a woman young enough to be his daughter’s sister!

Stephen Aston is getting married again. The only problem is, he's still married to his first wife, Pam, even though she is in a care facility for advanced dementia. So, Stephen divorces Pam, in order to move on with his new life. But his two daughters, Rachel and Tully disapprove.

Rachel is the younger sister, beautiful, charming, single and a “foodie” who runs her own cake business.

Tully is married to Sonny, a criminal lawyer and they have two young kids, Miles and Locky.

Heather is an interior designer and had been responsible for redesigning their mum and dad’s house, and enjoys yoga and gardening.

But as soon as his wife Pam’s dementia deteriorated, Stephen had her moved to a nursing home with a special wing devoted to dementia.

Tully and Rachel Aston look upon Heather as nothing but a gold-digger after their father’s money. Heather is the same age as Rachel and even younger than Tully. What had attracted this woman to their dad? Money? Status? So many unanswered questions… Heather has secrets that she's keeping close, and reasons of her own for wanting to marry Stephen.

Each chapter is devoted to the POVs of the three women: Heather, Rachel and Tully, and is used to great effect. This is a family drama where dark hidden secrets are slowly revealed on a need-to-know basis. All the characters have secrets that they choose to stay hidden.

With their mother unable to speak for herself, Tully and Rachel are determined to get to the truth about their family's secrets, and who their father really is.

This was a well-developed domestic/suspense psychological thriller that keep me hooked from beginning till the end. Well worth the read! Highly recommended!

Many thanks to the author and St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for my digital copy of this book.

I have to give credit where credit is due, you know you've read a pretty decent book when at the end it's like whiplash and you're like "huh, wait, what happened??"
First off, I would classify Sally Hepworth's, The Younger Wife, is a psychological family drama maybe rather than a psychological thriller, which I'm not saying is a bad thing. I absolutely loved the characters and their connections plus this book has a little bit of everything from twists and turns, secrets, romance, friendship to some of the harder subjects like dementia, alcoholism, rape and abuse. And somehow through all this the author is able to incorporate humor and love into her writing. If I had one negative, it would be the ending, it threw me.a bit. If you're looking for a fast paced thriller this book may not be your cup of tea but if you're looking for a slow burning family drama with lots of deep dark secrets this will be right up your alley!
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this Arc in exchange for an honest review.

I was intrigued by the story from the get-go and read this quite quickly. I thought it was going one way but was surprised at how it ended. I didn't think that the storyline between Rachel and Darcy was developed enough though and it left me wanting to know more. I also found Tully to be quite unlikable as a character.

The one thing about this book that I did not like was the random talk of Covid. I know this is the time we're in at the moment but the references to it were so random and felt like they were just thrown in there. They just didn't fit. It would have been much better had they just not been in there at all.

This book has a whole bunch of places where you will stop and say "wait, what?". It is a classic story of an older man who has a fiancee who is younger than his two adult daughters and all the drama that creates. Add in the fact that his wife is still living but suffering from dementia and you have a book that will really hold your interest to see how he resolves that situation. But wait, there's more. Throw in some random comments by the wife (are they true or a result of her dementia), some found cash and another woman's name written on a piece of paper with the cash and you're not real sure where this story is going or where it will end up. And then even when the story is ended and all the pieces tied together, the author sticks an Epilogue on the end that makes you go "wait, what?" one more time just for good measure. I definitely recommend this book and will personally look for more books by this author.

Thank you so much for this ARC!

I absolutely love Sally Hepworth and was so thrilled to read and review The Younger Wife.

This book reads very quickly and is told from 3 known POV's and one mysterious POV. I enjoyed reading each character's thoughts and learning about their personal experiences that lead them to the issues they are each battling.

The storyline was definitely interesting - man divorces his wife with dementia, marries woman younger than his children but still maintains some sort of relationship with his ex wife (and invites her to the wedding!?). WEIRD. Does this make him a REALLY good guy or a REALLY bad guy. You will have to read to find out!

I read this book incredibly fast and with pleasure. Even when it was done, I did not know how it ended. The story stayed with me for days. The twists come fast and don't feel cheap - what is unique about this book is that it makes you reflect on your judgment and mindset. Must read!

Wow. I just finished this book and I have to say, I'm a little bit all over with it.
I won this as an ARC from Netgalley so while reading it I didn't get to see the cover, but now that I know what the published cover looks like I like the book even more.

Stephen Aston is getting married. He's getting married to a woman his daughters age, while he still as a living wife. His wife, Pam, resides in a nursing home with dementia, but still very much married and alive. The daughters, are slow to warm up to dads new young girlfriend, but have so much going on in their lives, they eventually learn to like her, or atleast, accept her.
When Rachel finds something of her mothers that contained a large amount of money, she begins to doubt everything she knew about her family. Not knowing what to believe, or who to believe, she questions and talks to everyone she's close to for answers.
All the women in the novel are struggling with some form of illness or issues. They all come together in the end even if it's not for the best reasons.

For me, it was a quick read. The characters were good. Hepworth writes it portraying three different females, Heather, Tully and Rachel. Rachel was by far my favorite, with her ability to be the glue for the family even though she herself was struggling so significantly. I liked her happy ending.
The author does go into many relatable issues or triggers for some, I suppose. Rape, abuse, domestic violence, theft, dementia, binge eating. Shows examples of gaslighting and portraying of how things can be from the outside looking in. Some times, we just never know what's going on in someone's life.
I liked the novel. However, I'm still torn on the ending. I think I would've preferred the author ended it with us believing what she alluded to throughout the book. That way, atleast the actions of the girls were justified, instead of us questioning things that weren't really there all along.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press Group for the ARC.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 5/5 stars

Sally Hepworth has been an auto-buy author for me since The Mother-In-Law and The Younger Wife may be my favorite of hers yet. Hepworth has mastered the perfect blend of mystery and romance with a character-driven plot. Want a twisty mystery? Check. Want a sweet romance? Check. Want complex characters and relationships? Check. Her books have it all and I love them so.

The Younger Wife is about Tully and Rachel Aston, sisters dealing with their mother’s dementia diagnosis, as well as other things, when they are blindsided by their father’s news. He is marrying the younger, mysterious Heather..and divorcing their mother (who is in a care facility). Every person is keeping secrets in this family, but one’s secret is especially dangerous.

Tully and Rachel are two complicated characters with a complicated relationship, but you immediately love them both. Their romances are easy to become invested in, but never take away from the main plot. The opening of this book is so good and sucks you in right away. It drives the story forward and adds extra tension on top of everything else. I never wanted to put the book down and, by the end, did not want to say goodbye to these characters.

Overall, The Younger Wife is a book that has everything I love - mystery, romance, humor, and heart. Already a 2022 favorite.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Full review to be posted closer to release date.

What a propulsive and intriguing reading experience. I was sucked in right away by the characters and each of their unique personal struggles and I found myself invested in all of them. I love Sally Hepworth’s voice that she gives her characters and her humor. I think this book will be very divisive over the ending. While I did not love the implication of the ending, it definitely did not ruin the book for me and I really enjoyed the back and forth mental gymnastics journey to get there. Thank you to the publishers for my galley!

This book is really amazing! It's a bit slow paced so it can be a bit of a challenge but the family tensions are played of beautifully.

So, this is definitely a different type of book. I kept hearing about it and I knew I had to read it.
This definitely isn't a domestic thriller like I had thought and that's okay, it was kind of more like a contemporary type of book with a lot of family drama.
Let's start off with Stephen and Heather, Stephen is in his 60's and he's a stand-up guy and a doctor. He is going through a hard time because his wife Pam has dementia and he hires Heather an interior designer to help redesign their home. Well push came to shove and Pam ends up in a facility and Stephen and Heather(who is in her 30's) start dating and they decide to get married.
Now, to add to this mix let's add Stephen and Pam's two adult daughters Rachel and Tully. Tully is having financial issues along with some other issues while Rachel on the outside looks like she's all put together she is having her own issues with relationships and things like that.
Now Stephen is in the process of divorcing Pam so that he can marry his new honey, and then things in the family start unraveling. Secrets that were left in the past are starting to come to light, new accusations about spousal abuse and some concerning circumstances are starting to arise all while the family is getting ready for the wedding, financial disasters among finding out the truth that Stephen, Heather, and Pam have been hiding.
Now, if you like the edge of your seat thrillers like I usually read then this probably isn't the book for you but if you enjoy family drama and deep secrets then this is definitely the book for you!
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this one! It definitely kept my attention and filled an afternoon full of family secrets and drama!