Loved it! Tully and Rachel are faced with their father’s upcoming wedding….to a woman no older than them! Oh, and did I mention his wife (and their mother) is still alive? What a whirlwind! This book had me turning pages late into the night! Really enjoyed!

A great psychological thriller! Sally Hepworth's books never disappoint. Tully and Rachel are sisters who fear that their dad has been abusing their mother, and now his fiance whom he is marrying too quickly in the sisters' opinion. Their mom, suffering from dementia, is still living!

When almost 100K is found in a hot water bottle the questions just pile up. Add in one sister who had been raped as a teenager, and another who is a kleptomaniac, and you'll think how much more dysfunctional can this family get?

This is my first Sally Hepworth novel and she did not disappoint. This novel, which is told in multiple POVs, is part thriller, part mystery but also includes significant and triggering topics such as abuse, assault, various struggles with mental health and many other taxing issues that can occur within a family. The story follows two sisters, one a single pastry chef (the food metaphors are a lot of fun) and the other, a family mom. Without spoilers, each are dealing with their own personal issues. What ties them together is their parents. Mother, Pam who is now living with dementia in a nursing home, and father Stephen who has decided to marry (and in their minds replace their mother) a woman younger than them! The novel opens at the wedding. A tragic accident has occurred. And through the weaving of time and narration, secrets unfold, and lives change. I found the characters relatable, well written and Hepworth’s approach to rather painful issues was heartbreaking yet sensitive to her readers. The added layer of strong character development really carried the mystery aspect and in the end I got that hollow pit in my stomach where I know this one will stick for a while!

I was so incredibly excited to score a digital arc of The Younger Wife last month. So, thanks for that @netgalley and @stmartinspress. I loved Sally's last novel "The Good Sister." Sally is a really good writer - she gives different voices to her characters and is a crisp and efficient writer. I read The Younger Wife in one day. Sadly, I cannot recommend it. While the writing is good, the story is just not a good one. Is he an abuser or is he not an abuser? Is he gaslighting all the women or are they hypersensitive, paranoid women? It's just not a story I want to read. I've seen a lot of good reviews for this one, but those themes are not interesting to me.

Sally Hepworth's latest novel, "The Younger Wife," has ALL THE TWISTS AND TURNS! Any fan of domestic suspense, unreliable narrators, and unexpected events will adore this novel.

Heather is about to marry the man of her dreams - Dr. Stephen Aston. There's just one problem: He's already married. His wife has dementia and Stephen plans to divorce her and marry Heather. He figures his current wife may not even realize what's happening, and his two adult daughters are less then thrilled. Their soon-to-be stepmother is their age. What does she want with their father? And why does their mother keep mentioning what a bad man their father is? Can they trust what she says when they know she has dementia?

I thought I had it all figured out, but I was very wrong. I knew that at least one person in the book had to be a psychopath, and at least one other person had to be 100% grounded in reality, but I honestly couldn't tell which person was crazy and which was sane. At one point, I think I started questioning my own sanity!

This is a book the reader will NOT have figured out before the ending is revealed. I was shocked, and that's saying something for a person who reads a ton of suspense and mystery novels. If you want a twisty book with red herrings, this is the book for you!

I really liked this book…until the very end which seems to come only for shock/twist value. I mean…then what the heck happened in the church, and were ALL these women wrong and, quote, crazy. The ending is a hard no for me, hence the harsh rating, otherwise it was a no-brainer 4 or 5 stars.

This was my first Sally Hepworth book and my first thought when I started reading it was that it was another novel using the formula of a different character in each chapter. That formula is getting old. And since each character was told in the third person, there is no need for it.
Because there was no resolution at the ending, it left me completely unsatisfied. I wondered how they could go on with their lives. Textbook anti-heroines.

The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth

9781250229618

352 Pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Release Date: April 5, 2022

Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Women’s Fiction, Family Dynamics, Relationships

The book begins at the wedding and then we go back in time one year to when Stephen Aston meets his bride. He and his wife Pam are redecorating their home and hire Heather. Pam is suffering from early onset dementia. Their two adult daughters, Rachel and Tully have their own issues. Rachel was raped at 16 and has not been able to date or have an intimate relationship. Tully is a kleptomaniac, married to a lawyer with two little boys. She just found out that her husband Sonny invested their money poorly and lost all their money.

The story is fast paced, and the characters are well developed. The characters are all flawed to some degree. The scene of Tully stealing in the hardware store was funny but sad. It is written in third-person point of view except for the wedding portions. These are told in the first-person point of view by Fiona. I loved this story. It made me question who was right and if anyone was abused. If you like dysfunctional family relationship stories with a twist, you will enjoy this one too.

I enjoy Sally Hepworth books and this one was no exception. As families' go the Ashton family has a LOT going on in their past and present, which does it make it a bit hard to relate to the characters. There's past tragedies, financial problems, medical and mental issues, etc. It was an enjoyable, if unbelievable, easy read and I appreciate the chance to read it before release through netgalley.

The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth tells the story of Stephen Aston who is getting married again to a woman younger than his children. Problem is he is still married. His wife is in a nursing home with dementia. Stephen is very family oriented. He knows his adult daughters will love Heather. In a family that looks perfect from the outside, secrets start to unravel. Soon it is evident that the perfect family had many issues.
The perfect book for a weekend read. I was hooked from the first chapter. What I would think was happening would be something different. Hepworth’s research into kleptomania was evident and the descriptions of the feelings and emotions that go along with it was very well written. As I read the last page, all I could think was wow did that just happen. Thank you to the Sally Hepworth, St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Steven Aston is getting re-married to a woman younger than his daughters while getting suddenly divorced from his wife with dementia when accusations of abuse start. I was really excited about this since I usually enjoy Hepworth's domestic suspense, but I found this one severely lacking in the suspense. It was slow growing and a very vague ending.

I am huge Sally Hepworth fan. That being said, I did not think this was her best work. I couldn't connect with the female protagonists, and I felt very conflicted about the male protagonist. The sisters who are grappling with their father's new wife are believable in their responses, but both of them are unusual which I think is why it was hard to connect with them. The ending was surprising and well written but left you with a strange feeling. I would have wanted there to be additional resolution with that much of a surprise.

I enjoyed this book. Though I was left with questions at the end which may have been the point. I liked Tully and Rachel’s characters and appreciated Heather and her back story. Overall it was a fast read and I liked it but not as much as The Good Sister.

I loved this story! The characters were really written well and developed wonderfully. This was a hinge tasting premise and I couldn’t put it down. I just had to know how it would all end! Highly recommended.

Thanks NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for access to this ARC.

This one started me guessing right off the bat and I was anxious to see where the story was heading. I empathized with Tully and Rachel, seeing that they each carried their own secrets and things they needed to work through. I find myself devouring every Sally Hepworth novel I’ve read, and this was no exception. Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for this e-ARC.

The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth is a wild ride! Stephen Aston is marrying a much younger woman, one the age of his daughters and we start at the wedding and work backwards learning about his wife with dementia who he has divorced, his daughters Tully and Rachel and how they feel about their soon to be stepmother Heather and what has led to this moment. This novel will keep you on the edge of your seat as Ms. Hepworth spins a tale of family intrigue...each of them have secrets they're not willing to share which lead to the shocking twist at the end of the novel. You won't want to put this one down once you start reading!

Thank you to the author, St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Blown away!! I didn’t know what to expect going into this book. A typical story of an “evil stepmother” and the daughters who hate her, perhaps. Noooo. Instead it’s a story of a family with secrets and a warped view of reality. Starting with a crime committed at a church to the final page, Hepworth keeps you reading. There are so many elements to this story and it keeps you guessing to the very end. Even after reading the book, I’m still wondering “good or evil”.

Fun, fast-paced and filled with rich character development-- Sally Hepworth continues to be one of my favorite authors for a suspenseful read. The Younger Wife is told through multiple viewpoints, and each character is fresh, flawed, and very real. I was pulled into this story and was kept wondering what the outcome would be for the two main mysteries. An amazing page-turner! Sometimes things aren’t quite what they seem...

The Younger Wife, by Sally Hepworth, was an absolute ROMP of a book. I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading it and had trouble putting it aside. A light read, touching on some darker subject matter, The Younger Wife was well written and the characters largely engaging.

I recommend this book for an easy, well written read.

Thank you to St Martin's Press and Netgalley for an ARC edition of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book, so much different layers of many plot lines tied beautifully together. I thought the book was going to fall down a predictable path of the unreliable narrator, but the author didn't. I flip- flopped many times trying to guess the twist throughout the book, and I was not disappointed.

The ending was a bit wild, leaving readers unsure of the final answer- did he or didn't he? I guess we'll never know the truth.