This book is like a handbook on gaslighting. Stephen is getting married. Again. The trick? His current wife is still alive. She has dementia and is living locally in a care facility. His daughters, Tully and Rachel, aren't real thrilled about Stephen's fiancee Heather, but each has their own secrets they are dealing with so they begrudgingly start to get to know her. What unravels is a story full of twists and turns that are extremely well written by Hepworth.

I think what I love most about this book is all the relationships in the book. Hepworth writes sisters and the ups and downs that can come with sisterhood so well. I loved Tully and Rachel and how they supported one another while still being so very different. I also really enjoyed the relationships they each had with the men in their life. Tully has a secret she has been hiding from everyone...even her husband...and it's starting to bubble out of control. As it comes to light, it was heartwarming to see Tully wrapped up by those who love her. Rachel's story is absolutely heartbreaking and so very real. The way that her relationship with Darcy grows through his patience and understanding is fantastic.

And then there's Heather. Heather who thought she had grown up and escaped one nightmare only to find that she's questioning whether she is in another. The entire book has you questioning Stephen and whether he did or didn't do certain things. Which is what a gaslighter wants. It's so craftily written and really shows how truly dangerous someone like Stephen can be. I would caution readers about the content in this book as there is rape as well as both physical and emotional abuse.

I truly feel Sally Hepworth is in a class to herself. Her writing always has you questioning until the end (and even beyond). I highly recommend this book and cannot wait to see what she brings to us in the future.

Stephen is dating a younger woman. He announces to his daughters that they plan to get married. The unusual thing about this is that he’s already married. But his wife is incompetent. Suspicions surround the characters, as there are secrets and addictions, among other things.

I quite liked it!
I loved the characters, but specifically grew to like them more over time. They were so human with so many faults. I loved how the book called out specific notes about how things changed during the Pandemic and how that affected how people acted in certain situations or why they found themselves on certain situations. Made it feel more real.

Apparently there’s an element or two in the ARC that I read where the ending was changed a bit. I was initially mildly annoyed by the semi-uncertain ending, but also grew to like it. It made me keep thinking about it. The small change(s) I’ve read about seem to simply provide a confidence and confirmation in the end. I’m sure that nice to have as well.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book. I’m sad it took me so long to make it a priority, but I’m so glad I read it!

The Younger Wife
by Sally Hepworth ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Based on how many different things were going on at the same time I expected a big finale or a twist. Also, that ending broke the whole mood of the book. I understand what it meant but still. I loved Sally Hepworth previous book and her writing style but I didn't love this one.

The book starts with the wedding of Stephen Aston and his young wife Heather. Right after the wedding, a crime happens and we are taken back a few months before the wedding to get to know each character. Stephen is a prestigious heart surgeon that got a new girlfriend as young as his daughters Tully and Rachel. His former wife has dementia so he decided that it was time to replace her, get divorced and merry the woman that was designing their home: Heather. Heather has her own family dramas and traumas and the biggest one is domestic violence, where her father killed her mother. Tully and her husband are going through a bad financial situation and on top of that Tully is a Kleptomaniac (An impulse control disorder that results in an irresistible urge to steal). Rachel was r@ped when she was a teenager and never told anyone. She bakes cakes and eats a lot to try to cope with her feelings and her past. I think Rachel deserves her own book! Lots of family dramas and different stories going on and then we're taken back to the weeding to understand who killed who. That part was fine, just the very ending and the lack in telling more about the first wife that killed it for me. Still an enjoyable book and I still like the author's writing style.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review

This was another fun domestic thriller by Sally Hepworth! While the plot twists are subtle, the character development and storyline leave just enough doubt that makes me really think about how genuine they each are throughout the book

I enjoyed the multiple points of view and that each character had their own issues. I had to know what was going to happen next and if some characters were as shady as they seemed.

I had the luxury of receiving both the ebook and audio version. It was great switching back and forth between the two.

4 stars

Thank you to @netgalley @stmartinspress and @macmillan.audio for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really wanted to like this book, but I was so underwhelmed by it. The summary had me intrigued, and this is totally my type of book, but I felt like everything built up to something big that never happened. I was expecting more out of the entire thing, especially the end. I felt like I was waiting the entire time for the book to get started, and I just ended up being bored.

I really enjoy Sally Hepworth, but this one just didn’t do it. Choppy, not that interesting, and an abrupt end. The concept was good - but felt it could have been more suspenseful.

Sally Hepworth strikes again with "The Younger Wife," a thought-provoking thriller sure to have readers glued to the novel and divided about the plot up to the very last page. I am not sure that I have ever read a thriller that had me so conflicted about who the "bad guy" was and so unsure of what the final resolution would be. Hepworth does an incredible job of crafting characters that are at times both sympathetic and loathsome, both completely believable and psychopathic liars.

We begin at the end with the wedding scene. Heather Wisher is marrying a man nearly thirty years her senior, Stephen Aston. The marriage is attended by hundreds of well-meaning friends, Stephen's two adult daughters, Natalie "Tully" and Rachel, and his ex-wife who suffers from early onset dementia, Pamela. What should be a happy day for the couple quickly devolves when they step into the sacristy to sign the register. An earsplitting scream is heard, an ambulance is called, and the guests (and the readers) are left to wonder how the day could have spun so quickly out of control.

We jump back to the months preceding the wedding and learn about the family dynamics, secrets, and drama from the points of view of Heather, Tully, and Natalie. Each woman has something to hide, each woman has trauma that could destroy the veneer of the family they try to protect, and each woman is desperate for her private life to remain private. Their three stories converge after a "gift" left behind by Pamela makes all three women question not only their roles in the family unit but also the motives and actions of the patriarch, Stephen. Is he the philanthropic good guy he plays at the office or is something much more sinister lurking behind his charismatic demeanor?

A fantastic follow-up to "The Good Sister," and a must-read for fans of Shari Lapena, Lisa Unger, and Jennifer McMahon, "The Younger Wife" is a book that should not be missed!

I love Sally's writing style. It keeps you guessing and re working what you think you know. The Good Sister is my favorite of hers, but this is a close second!

Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and Sally Hepworth for free e-ARC in return of my honest review.

Sally Hepworth did it again. She wrote a thriller and left it a bit open-ended for the reader to choose - did it happen or was it imagined?

The husband is a well known, an accomplished heart surgeon, is getting married again. His first wife is at the clinic diagnosed with dementia, his grown daughters are sure about the new addition to the family, the younger wife has her own secrets.

Suspenseful, twisted, well written, engaging characters. The whole novel will not only make you ask if you can trust your husband, your closest ally, but can you trust yourself? Can you be sure of your experiences presented with different angle from another person? Too many questions, too little answers.

I enjoyed the book and looking forward to read more work by Sally Hepworth.

I really loved this book. I went back and forth between kindle and audiobook. The narrator's voices were hilarous. Tully's voice was my favorite. I could hear her while I was reading. I loved that every family member had a story and how they all tied together. And oh boy that ending was perfect.

I am a big fan of Sally Hepworth with her different POV, in-depth characters and surprising twists. In this book Heather is the titular Younger Wife. She is engaged to Stephen a brilliant heart surgeon. His daughters are not happy with the fact that she is younger than both of them and that their father is getting married while their mother who is suffering from Alzheimer's is still alive. The book is mostly from the POV of Heather and each of the sisters who are also going through their own traumas. The book was really good until the end, which was terrible. I am so disappointed.

I’m late to reading this book - it took me a long time to read because I couldn’t really get in to the story. I liked the detail of each characters history, but it passed over a lot of heavy topics. There was a lot going on with multiple POV and some unreliable narrators. There was a lot of build up for an ending I did not like.
**I see that there has been updates to newer copies but my review is based off the ARC that I read.

I read this before the changes were made. I was one of those that wasn’t entirely happy with the ending. I have not read it again just yet but I will sometime in the near future, so this review will have to be updated at that time. This book was super interesting to me. I don’t usually read mysteries or thriller often but after reading the description, I thought that this would be one that I liked. It was more of a family drama to me. I did like it, I kept wanting to find out more and more.

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!!