Sally Hepworth’s latest novel is a bit less of a thriller than it is a domestic drama with a lot of suspense. But I still enjoyed it and felt fully engaged in the story. The different characters all felt fully realized and complex, and I was totally along for the ride. Thank you NetGalley and Macmillian for the advanced copy. Sally Hepworth’s latest novel is a bit less of a thriller than it is a domestic drama with a lot of suspense. But I still very much enjoyed it. The different characters all felt fully realized and complex, and I was totally along for the ride. However, I was a bit disappointed by the somewhat underwhelming ending. Thank you NetGalley and Macmillian for the advanced copy.

This story follows multiple points of view; we have a wedding guest, the bride and the brides two step daughters. The book starts with a wedding and we know that an accident has occurred and then the story jumps back in time where the bride is meeting her future step daughters for the first time. Heather is marrying Stephen whom she met while redecorating his house that he was sharing with his current wife who is suffering from dementia. Heather meets Stephen's two adult daughters who are the same age her. Tully is married and has two children but her family is hiding money problems as well as other secrets. The Other sister, Rachel is single but still trying to deal with a trauma that happened to her when she was 16 that no one knows about. The story follows Heather trying to befriend Tully and Rachel while all three woman are trying to deal with their own personal struggles. I really enjoyed this one and couldn't put it down, I needed to know what happened next in every chapter. If you enjoy domestic thrillers than I would recommend picking this one up! Thank you St. Martin's Press for my gifted copy for review.

OH my GOD...... I"m done with gaslighting. I can't handle this anymore in books. I also am so turned off by using the "stupid women" in their books.

Oh my gosh... I can't with the themes anymore. Women acting "crazy" drinking. All the women looking back on Stephen..... not questioning if he was actually abusive. Women never thought for themselves, always taking his word for things. Around and around we went..... were the women being gaslighted, drunk, were stupid, or just combination of everything.

I see what the author was trying to do create confusion to the reader so we can try and figure out the story. I've read earlier works by Hepworth and really enjoyed them. BUT, THIS?! Oh my god this was awful in my opinion.

I can't take another story where the women are perceived as bat shit crazy with added alcohol/drug issues, and mental health.

NO thank you.

2/5 stars

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my arc.

I liked The Younger Wife, but didn’t love it. This is a twisty story of a dysfunctional family, where every character has a huge secret. These secrets are serious like rape, kleptomania, addictions, etc. As the tension in this thriller built, I hoped for a satisfying conclusion, that somehow justified the terrible act that happened at the wedding. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and ending fell flat for me. Because it was a page turner, I will give give this author another try! Thank you to Netgalley and to St. Martin’s press for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

BOOK REVIEW: The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth
2022 Publication Date: April 5

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

T.I.M.E. Best Books By Genre | Thriller
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When push comes to shove, trust your gut... And stop being pushed or shoved...

T.I.M.E. BOOK REVIEW: Sally Hepworth has been on my TBR radar for quite some time... And now I see what all the buzz is about! My ultimate read is a book that takes my preconceptions & turns them into misconceptions... Bottom line: I love a story that teaches me something new about who we are as human beings. And one of my favorite things to learn involves an insight into how people & their actions are cloaked in unlimited degrees of who they are & what motivates them... These types of stories give me hope that overwhelming societal problems can be resolved if we are willing to lower our guard & get to know each other better... Bonus: Having this insight packaged in a great thriller story... Brava, Sally!... ✨😎✨

Pages: 348
Genre: Thriller
Sub-Genre: Domestic Thriller
Time Period: Present Day
Location: Australia

IF YOU LIKE THIS BOOK THEN TRY…
Book: The Maid by Nita Prose
Movie: Knives Out

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All my book reviews can be seen at This Is My Everybody | Simple Living | Denise Wilbanks at thisismyeverybody.com/blog/what-book-should-i-read

♡ Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

Two sisters, Rachel and Tully, are struggling with their mother's dementia and their father's new romance. It is all very unconventional yet the sisters want both of their parents to be happy. While their father is rebuilding his life both sisters begin to deal with the traumas and shame in their own lives. How can two girls from a wealthy, stable family face the shame and stigma?

The Younger Wife is another fantastic story about the secrets people keep from those they love, from each other, and from themselves. Things behind closed doors aren't always what they seem to the outside world.

I could not put it down. Read it in a day. Highly recommended.

Sally Hepworth is the queen of domestic suspense/family dramas and she delivered another unique story! While this was not my favorite of hers, I still found myself turning the pages curious how the story would unfold.

The Younger Wife starts out with a bang, dropping you into the wedding (present day) and then going back to fill in all the details of how we got there. The drop ins to the present day were well timed and kept me guessing adding to the mystery. I also love that while the book is very fast paced, the characters still have a lot of depth and background.

Read if you love:
- Family dramas where each character has their own secrets
- Short chapters
- Multiple POVs

The following review is based upon the e-ARC version of "The Younger Wife" I received here on NetGalley. From what I understand, the ending has been altered significantly for the final copy, and had I possessed the final version, my rating may have been higher. But as it stands, the original ending is so problematic that I am unable to give the novel more than three stars.

I see what Hepworth was trying to do with the twist at the end, and I would have loved it if she had successfully pulled it off. But she didn't. She took the narrative too far the other way, put too much evidence of wrongdoing on the page for the reader to find the twist to be logical. It just didn't add up.

I'm very glad the novel has been revised, though. Because aside from my disappointment in the ending, I found "The Younger Wife" to be an engaging page-turner. With the right editing, Hepworth will have another hit on her hands.


My sincerest appreciation to Sally Hepworth, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy. All opinions included herein are my own.

Love this authors previous books. This wasn’t one of my favorites but wouldn’t say it was one I wouldn’t have read. The women characters had so many issues and a lot going on. Ending I’m not sure was the way to go but overall a good read.

I cannot believe she re wrote the ending!! This was a fun little family drama with some murder mystery tied in. Hepworth does twisty family drama well and I love that about her. You’ll definitely go in thinking one thing and then have a totally different opinion by the end. I didn’t dislike the ending I read (the original) but I’m for sure curious about the new one. I recommend going into this one blind (per usual) because as I read the synopsis I’m noticing it gives more away that I would have liked to know before going in.

Stephen Aston is a hear surgeon who is at the top of his field. He is getting remarried, but the only caveat? He must divorce his current wife. His current wife can no longer speak for herself. Tully and Rachel want to find out the truth of their family’s secrets to help their mother. Heather, the new wife has a secret of her own. What will happen?

I haven’t heard of this new release until I saw the audiobook on Libby. I totally picked it up because the cover is really beautiful. I do wish I read this in its physical form to be less confused. I did enjoy some of the twists. This was just an okay read for me.

I thought this book was largely character driven; it did seem that each of the women had WAY too much going on, however, and it was if the author wanted to throw in a bunch of issues (sexual assault, eating disorders, kleptomania, etc.) which bogged things down here and there.

A lot of readers didn't like the ending; I am OK with ambiguous endings, although this one wasn't done as cleverly as some others.

THE YOUNGER WIFE
BY Sally Hepworth

The story is focused on the Aston family – first with Stephen the patriarch, a handsome 60 something physician who is now getting married to a much much younger woman.
The scene opens to a wedding where the unnamed narrator observes a wedding of Stephen to a younger woman, Heather while also being attended by his ex-wife Pamela who has dementia, who picks up a candlestick and hits someone, and it seems that there is someone hurt covered in blood.

Then the story begins to about a time a year earlier, where the story is told in alternating voices of Heather, the younger wife and the daughters Tully and Rachel.

The ending was very shocking and thought provoking for me. As I understand there is an alternate ending, but as I have read the advanced copy, I thought the way the ending was written was brilliant.

As usual, I did enjoy Sally Hepworth’s unputdownable writing that is thrilling, exciting, and is one of the best contemporary psychological thriller writers for me.

This was my first Sally Hepworth book, but it definitely won't be my last! I loved her style of writing. She made the characters come to life and even though the family members each had their own set of secrets, the family dynamic was spot on and believable. Great beach read for hot book girl summer!

3.5 Stars rounded up

CW: Sexual Violence and domestic violence.
 
I received a reviewer copy of The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth from the publisher St, Martin’s Press from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
 
What It’s About: Stephen Ashton is getting married again to a younger woman, Heather, but first must get divorced from his wife who is suffering from dementia. Stephen’s daughters, Rachel and Tully, are troubled by the whole thing as Heather is younger than both. But Heather cannot really want their father can she?

What I Loved: Sally Hepworth is the master of the domestic novel. This book has so many intricate threads and plays with so many elements that you’re not entirely sure which thread is the biggest and most shocking component. The characters are well developed and all of their flaws and estrangements are believable. The story is interesting and propulsive.
 
What I didn’t like so much: Hard to say without giving away the ending, but it seemed a bit repetitive of trope in previous
  
Who Should Read It: People who love domestic novels. People who love Sally Hepworth’s previous work.  
 
Summary: A new relationship with a younger woman raises red flags within the family.

Having loved previous books of Hepworth’s, I was excited to read this one. However, I found her take on spousal abuse to be disturbing and quite frankly, out of touch with today’s world. To build up a story line of abuse, and then show new wife to be lying? Yeah, really offended me. I did hear that she changed the ending in the final book which makes me happy so I will not be publishing this review anywhere as it would not be fair.

I forgot to review this one! I enjoy this author's books but this one was not my favorite - too many unlikeable characters.

I really wanted to love this book as this author has been recommended quite a bit to me before, however I struggled so much with this book.

My main concern here was the ending, I did not love it whatsoever and had issues with the topic not be expressed the way it should’ve been. The characters were also very flawed.

I'm a big Sally Hepworth fan, her writing is always soothing and a nice way to pass the time. I can't say this is her best but it's interesting and has characters I enjoyed reading about. It's hard not to compare Hepworth to Moriarty, they are so similar but in my world that's a good thing, there is enough room for both and I'll continue to read everything they publish.

I am honestly struggling to rate and review this book. I enjoyed reading it, but I am just not a fan of the men gaslighting women trope in thrillers anymore. So, yes, it was a quick page turner for me, because I did want to know how would end, but I struggled through some parts. I also felt like there was added drama and sensitive content that did to fit at all with the storyline. I will definitely still consider picking up more of Hepworth's books in the future because I have heard good things about her other books, but I don't think this one was for me.