I wish I could rate this higher! I enjoyed reading it so much until the very end--this is one of my favorite types of books: slow-moving family drama with an underlying mystery. I liked the characters, I liked the pacing, and I absolutely loved the awkward bonding that takes place between Heather, Rachel, and Tully. It's such an awkward situation: Rachel and Tully's father is marrying Heather, despite the fact that his current wife is still alive and suffering with dementia. Add in the fact that Heather, Rachel, and Tully each have secrets that are constantly interfering with their lives, and things get pretty interesting.

But....the ending of this one. Ugh. I get trying to subvert expectations. The problem here is that a last minute twist means that the first 98% of the book doesn't make any sense, and the author doesn't spend any time at all trying to explain/justify it. And the twist is completely unnecessary--not every book needs to have one, and at a certain point the author needed to commit to the story she had already told.

*eARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was another outstanding book by Sally Hepworth! I loved the stories of the characters, each with their own little (or big!) idiosyncrasies, and I was even a little surprised at the end. I thought I had figured out the situation, but I hadn’t!

I love Ms. Hepworth‘s writing style, and the only bad thing about receiving an advanced reader copy is that I have to wait that much longer for her to write another book! At the end of The Younger Wife, the author tells how she came up with one of the ideas for the book – it was interesting!

My sincere thanks go out to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this book. The Younger Wife is definitely a five star read, and I predict another bestseller for the author!

I liked the structure of the book, the writing style,, the authors dedication the hot water bottle reveal at the end and the way Sally Hepworth writes about sisters. I really wasn’t a fan of the way abuse/self questioning and gaslighting was handled and this almost anti feminist take was a deal breaker for me.. To write this book ethically social psychology is important and the research factor seemed totally missing ..looking forward to the critics take on pub date.

I love Sally Hepworth’s books. Her characters are real and I enjoy her style of writing. I think I’ve read most of her books and I like that I never completely guess the ending.

The more books I read by Sally, the quicker she is becoming one of my fav authors. This one wasn't her best but i could NOT put it dwn. And that is why I am giving it a 5 star rating

Sally Hepworth scores again with this new domestic suspense tale!

The Aston family has issues.

Tully and her husband are about to lose their home due to a bad investment. Tully also has a shameful secret.

Her sister, Rachel, is obsessed with cooking/baking, and hasn’t dated anyone since she was 16...almost 20 years ago. Nobody stops to think there could be a reason for it.

Tully and Rachel’s father, Stephen, is about to get married to a woman named Heather. The only problem is, he’s already married to their mother, Pam. However she has dementia and he plans on divorcing her.

As for Heather, she’s younger than both Tully and Rachel, but is going to marry their father. Heather has a dark past, and she wants to keep it hidden.

Not everyone will make it past Stephen and Heather’s wedding unscathed.

Hepworth’s writing is always compulsively readable, and that is no exception here. This is the kind of book that had me saying, “Just one more chapter before bed...Ok, I’ll just read one more.” Needless to say, I flew through it.

I loved reading about these characters - some I really liked, and some I couldn’t stand. My initial feelings about them may not have been right. I questioned who each of them really were more than once.

The twisty reveals are well done, but I did have a few minor issues after I finished the book. However, it didn’t diminish my enjoyment whatsoever. If you’re looking for a book that you won’t want to put down, grab this one! The Author’s Note is fantastic as well!

4.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Expected Publication Date: 4/5/22.

Review also posted at: https://bonkersforthebooks.wordpress.com

Thank you! Thank you! St. Martin’s Press for granting me this ARC. I sat riveted. The intricacies were so well thought out, requiring the reader to actually think! At times, the anxiety I experienced, while reading, was palpable. I will not give any specific details, as to not create spoilers. The dialogue was so thoughtful. The characters, so real with their strengths and weaknesses and flaws. The ending? Surprising and so very creative, clever and captivating. Thank you NetGalley!

Whew! This book is exhausting! And fun! A word of advice before diving into this family drama, don't assume you have it figured out. I'm still not sure if I know what happened but it was fun trying to figure it out. The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth is a mind-bending journey into a family that is royally screwed up. And I mean that in a good way. The sisters have issues that are presented as "normal" ways of coping, the mother is off on her Alzheimer's path and the father seems to be the only one at least a little normal. And let's not forget dad's much younger fiance. She has to be crazy to want to join this family. Wait! Maybe she is. Without revealing too much more of the plot, actually none of the plot, I highly recommend you get the book and sit down and prepare to be entertained and thoroughly confused!
I voluntarily received a copy of this book from netgalley.

This is such a page turner and it's hard to put down.

Stephen Aston is getting engaged and wants to marry a woman that is 29 years younger than him, while his wife is still alive with dementia in the hospital. Rachel, his beautiful daughter, is living in secret with what happened to her when she was sixteen while running in the morning. After that accident, she quit running, never had any relationships and burrowed her life into baking and eating. While cleaning her mom's stuff, Rachel finds a hot-water bottle stuffed with a large amount of money and a piece of paper with her sister and Fiona Arthurs’ names. Her older sister, Tully, has a problem with shoplifting and is struggling financially after her husband lost their money during a bad investment. The family seems to be very close but blind to see each other's problems. Heather, the younger wife, wants to connect with Stephen's family but she also hides secrets. She'd lied about her family being dead. She didn't confess about family violence and her drinking problem. And there is Stephen, a caring husband, respectful surgeon, loving father and grandfather. Will they have a chance to heal and find the solution to their problems?

This book with suspenseful plot and complex characters is a thrilling read that I would highly recommend. It grabbed my attention from the beginning to the end. An interesting story highlighting some of the very common issues in regards to family drama, dementia, rape, shoplifting, alcoholism, addiction, and violence.

Thank you Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for this wonderful ARC.

Heather first meets her much older fiance Stephen. Stephen is a surgeon and she wants to ensure everything will be perfect. Heather also knows that his ex-wife is battling dementia and has even secured a friendship with her. Now the only thing standing in the way is Stephens's two daughters Rachel and Tully.

The daughters seem to think that Heather has an ulterior motive. It is because their father is rich? does she want popularity? and why on earth would someone of similar age want their father? Little does Heather know the sisters also have their secrets that they want to make sure never get out.

I enjoyed the first 90% of this book and the ending fell a little flat. But, Sally Hepworth can write anything and I will guarantee to read it. Overall solid 4/5 stars.

This was my first book by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The ending was one I didn’t see coming, but was not completely shocked. The characters were well developed and I love that the story was told from multiple points of view. The story has 1 main plot line but the characters each deal with their own issues within that plot line. I will be looking to get my hands on other novels by this author.

I am grateful to Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC. 4.5 stars. This was the second book I read by this author and enjoyed it even slightly more than The Good Sister. With this one, I found myself picking up my Kindle at random points during the day to find out what happened next. As in the other book, I feel that the author is particularly skilled in depicting the layers and nuances of relationships between sisters. But in addition to developing the characters in a compelling way, the plot simultaneously unspools and really reels the reader in. I took off a half star because I felt one issue was raised toward the end and left unresolved in a way that did not seem intentional and felt distracting. But overall it was a thoroughly entertaining read that kept me guessing to the end.

In a true Sally Hepworth fashion, this book drew me in right away.
The roller coaster ride was worth the sleepless nights reading this book.
Thanks to Netgalley and St.Martin's Press I was lost in the world of the Ashton's.
One of Sally's best books yet.

I received an e-arc of this book through Netgalley.
It is about getting engaged while you are technically still married to a woman with dementia, to having two daughters with loads of mental and emotional issues, to being a successful doctor who gets things the way he wants them. The back and forth and emotional turmoil of the characters really pulled me into this book much more than the man whom all the female characters circle around. I found it to be a clever and original story.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my copy of The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth in exchange for an honest review. It publishes April 5, 2022.
Once again, Sally blows it out of the park! I just loved the way that she basically sprinkled bread crumbs the whole time, making me think I got something figured out, then revealing what I just figured out, it kept me on my toes, guessing the entire time! I felt very unsettled, and uneasy in the best possible way. This one was as masterful as her previous books, and will absolutely stick with me for a long time.
If you enjoy thrillers, definitely pick this one up and get ready to just ignore everything else, because you won't want to put this down!

Oo hello hello mystery mystery. Thank ya NetGalley for this! So, we have three young female POVs in this story; the two sisters and the woman who is in the title, “the younger wife”. We are all trying to figure out what happened to each and everyone of them, past and present. Let’s face it, our past is who makes us who we are today, even the skeletons in our closet molds us without anyone knowing. Maybe even ourselves not knowing. That is what is happening in this book. Discovering who they are truly as well as finding out if Stephen, the father and groom, is who he says he truly is. Gotta read that to find out, also to discover who the other POV is… that’s right. A mysterious POV, which I LOVE to have. I’ll give it a 4/5 because I loved the developments and the story. Not a 5 because I wasn’t blown away by it all as a whole. Would recommend though!

Lots of skeletons in the closets here! All really interesting/believable characters. Good portrayal of physical abuse and it’s effects on families. I like how the three gals (the younger wife and her soon to be step daughters) learned to get along and really like each other.

So excited to receive an arc of Sally Hepworth’s latest and it did not disappoint. Loved the storyline, loved the characters and loved the way this book was written. Story is Told from several perspectives, totally kept my interest and kept me guessing what was true and what was imagined. Loved!
Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I would say this was a page turner because I didn’t want to put it down, and I looked forward to picking it up. It isn’t a thriller, but more domestic suspense which is right up my alley! I loved both sisters, was mystified by Pam, and while I liked Heather, I became equally as confused as her. Was it all in her head? Who was the villain? Was there even a villain??? My brain is definitely scrambled after that ending! Sally Hepworth has yet to disappoint. Fabulous read! Thank you so much to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for this ARC!

Do you ever really, truly ever know someone? Even if you've known them your entire life? We can never be sure and in this novel Hepworth drives this point home. All of our main characters have secrets and as a wedding draws nearer, the threads start to become unraveled on the web of lies they've created. But what's a lie and what's a truth?

Heather has no family; or does she? Why do things often disappear when Tully is around? Rachel might be a lesbian; otherwise, why did she stop dating at 16? Was Pamela's dementia caused by her husband's beatings? Is Stephen a brilliant surgeon and a brilliant liar? And just who is Fiona and how is she involved in their lives?

Doubt is an insidious thing that makes even the most stalwart believer question what they think they know. And the truth is often based on a person's perception, interpretation, and point of view. What is real? Hepworth leads the reader down a twisty road of dead ends, red herrings, and revelations.

A truly suspenseful and masterful novel that will make you question what you think you know about these characters.