I thought this was going to be a thriller, but it was really a family drama with just a dash of mystery. I found the characters interesting and the plot held my attention. There weren’t many big twists, but the pacing was good enough that I read it in a day.

The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth is a very highly recommended novel of domestic suspense set in Melbourne, Australia.

Tully (Natalie) and Rachel are already concerned as they cope with their mother Pamela Aston's deterioration with early-onset Alzheimer’s and her move into a nursing home. When their father Stephen, a heart surgeon, announces that he is going to marry again to a much younger woman, Heather, after divorcing their mother, his daughters are aghast. Clearly she must be after his money. Tully and Rachel have several concerns, including the fact that Pam occasionally talks about how life with Stephen was awful, maybe even implying it was violent. The sisters both have several other personal issues they are grappling with as well. Heather is also beginning to doubt the wisdom of wedding plans with Stephen.

Opening with the wedding between Heather and Stephan where someone is gravely injured out of the sight of observers, the tension and questions immediately multiply right at the start. The narrative then jumps back in time and covers the events leading up to the fateful wedding. Information is provided through the point-of-view of Tully, Rachel, and Heather. All of these women have secrets they are hiding and are dealing with their own issues. These characters are all depicted as real people, with talents, fears, failings, secrets, and issues galore.

This novel is full of secrets, lies and deceit as the characters question the truthfulness of others and confront their own issues. Readers can carefully follow clues and carefully take note of what is real and what is implied in order to piece together what is truly happening. Hepworth does an exceptional job creating tension while telling this story. The pages will fly by while the drama increases and you know from the opening, that something bad is coming up quickly. Once you get there, all bets are off.

The writing is exceptional, the suspense is palpable, and I rushed to finish reading The Younger Wife. The ending has sparked some emotional reactions for some readers, but while it was unexpected, I really appreciated Hepworth's writing even more after it was done. 4.5 rounded up
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Macmillan Publishers via NetGalley.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Edelweiss, Google Books, and Amazon.

Three young women. Three types of trauma. Bound together as family. Tully and Rachel are sisters, and Heather is their Dad’s fiancé. Dad has always been wonderful-even to their mother, who is suffering advanced stages of dementia. So why was mom hoarding money? And saying those things about Dad? And why are memories popping up causing these three to question whether he is a nice guy or not?

This is a domestic mystery like only Sally Hepworth can write. I loved the messy, complicated characters. But the last chapter and epilogue left me confused and questioning all I had read. Read it and see what you think.

a family torn apart by money and secrets. Father wants to marry his new younger girlfriend, while he is attempting to divorce his wife who's mental capacity is not strong. Their daughters are trying to figure out how their mother ended up in her situation and what secrets their father is holding all while knowing his new girlfriend Heather is only in this for the money.

When his wife gets dementia, Stephen finds himself in love with another woman whom he wants to marry. This decision brings a lot of family drama to the forefront for him, his daughters, and his intended new wife. I love how this author does such a good job of providing so much character development while still leaving a lot in the shadows. This results in an imperfect story that keeps the suspense level high. And, as with all of Ms. Hepworth's books, not all is at it seems and the ending isn't all tied up in a little bow. I love that and this one does not disappoint.

This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2022 & while I enjoyed it… let me just say $&@#% UGH THE ENDING!!!

I have a love/hate relationship with it. On one end I liked how it definitely sparked up a lot of doubts & made me as a reader question everything I thought I knew up until the end. The ambiguity was genius but because of that it made it excruciatingly unsatisfying. You’ll have to read it yourself to see what I mean.

If you haven’t read Hepworth’s works before she has a gifted talent for twisted reveals & absolutely dominates in the genre of domestic family suspense & this book is no different. It was definitely a page turner & I definitely stayed up way past my bed time burning through these pages. This is my third novel from her & I look forward to reading the other three she’s written!

Side note: READ THE AUTHORS NOTE

Sally Hepworth knows how to write family/domestic thrillers! This book was a page turner that had me reading late into the night. I loved the multiple povs and the characters were flawed and real. This will be a book I will be thinking about for a while.

Expected publication is April 4, 2022

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital arc.

There is A LOT to unpack with this story. Basically it centers around the family of Stephen, a successful heart surgeon. Stephen’s wife Pam has been diagnosed with dementia and is in a facility . Their grown children are Rachel and Tully. Tully is married with two children and is a proud stay at home mom. Rachel is a successful baker. Pretty basic, hum drum cast of characters right? Now let me throw in the interior designer, Heather that redecorated Stephen and Pam’s home. She is younger than both Rachel and Tully and has become engaged to Stephen! He’s still married to poor Pam!!! Below the surface the entire cast of characters has serious issues. All of them are battling demons and have unhealthy coping mechanisms.

This was a slow burn that didn't feel like a slow burn. The story was told from multiple perspectives that gradually raise questions and doubts about this messed up family!! I really enjoyed the story and appreciated the writing style and I loved the ending! Many other reviews have spoken out about the ending, don’t let that scare you. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
#NetGalley #TheYoungerWife #SallyHepworth

I absolutely adored The Younger Wife. The characters were relatable, fun and quirky. I loved all the little mixed plot lines which were seamlessly written, as I never was lost, and I never forgot who was who in the story. I did not see the ending coming, and I found myself a little saddened about how it all ended. An effortless read meant to be enjoyed with a good cup of coffee in a cozy chair on a rainy day.

Audiobook/Book Review
The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth
@SallyHepworth
Pub date: April 5th
Domestic/Psychological thriller
4 stars

“𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘉𝘶𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘦”

Ah, this was completely bingeable and kept me up way past my bedtime! Another bonus is that I had the audiobook so I could listen, too, all while cleverly pretending to pay attention to other people. Win/Win in my book! That witty pun was completely intended!

Stephen Ashton is a prominent surgeon whose wife is suffering from early onset dementia and currently in a care home. When he meets Heather, a much younger woman, he falls in love and decides to marry her but ah, this is where the trouble starts. His two daughters, Tully and Rachel, both older than Heather, and each with their own set of problems, begin to notice odd things their mother says and some disturbing behaviors, leading to some grim discoveries both currently and in the past.

A bloody wedding combined with secrets and lies, and gaslighting galore made this a page turner but figuring out who’s lying and who’s doing the gaslighting? That is the real chef’s kiss!

Narration: Full cast narration with some of my favorites! Barrie Kreinik, Caroline Lee, Jessica Douglas Henry and Zoe Carides make this an entertaining and exciting read; each giving life to the characters and a joy to listen to!

My thanks to @MacMillan.Audio and @StMartinsPress for the gifted ALC and DRC!

Sally Hepworth is the queen of domestic drama with twists and turns that have you guessing what will happen next. The characters are well developed, though in a slow methodical way. You get glimpses into their past. And those views have you doubting if things are as they seem. From the first page, you are drawn in and an uninvited guest to the wedding sets up the story and the questions that will plague you to the end. I loved the three different points of view from Tully, Rachel, and Heather. Put this on your to-be-read list.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

This was an okay book, it fell a little flat for me. I kept waiting for more to happen, something bigger to surprise me but it never occurred. I listened to the audio version and thought the narrators did an excellent job bringing the characters to life.

I really enjoyed The Younger Wife! The story explores the slow unraveling of the Aston family. The book begins with a dramatic opening, then keeps going with multiple perspectives throughout.

I think it's important to point out that I wouldn't categorize Hepworth's books as thrillers (as they're marketed). I consider them excellent suspenseful family dramas. If you're looking for a spooky thriller, you'll be disappointed.

This is my first title by this author. I enjoyed this book for the most part. It moved along quickly, the dialogue was well written, the characters were all relatable and if not likeable, you understood why.

So what didn't work for me? I had the nagging sensation I read the book, or at least a similar plot years ago. Also, one of the minor characters fell short for me. I understood why she was introduced but then it wasn't clear why she kept popping up and served no function.

Also, it is really never clear if the allegations were true. There was no actual evidence but the scene at the end clarified it in all their minds and justified the shocking event at the wedding. This is why I was unhappy with the ending. It was flimsy to me. I hope that I enjoy the next book I read by this author more than I did this one.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this book. The opinions are obvuously mine and freely given.

I loved some of this authors books, and I love how its more character driven than plot driven, there are always POV's from other characters, and everything comes together so amazingly, its EPIC Sally Hepworth work, I really liked this book. This book was a page turner mainly because it kept me interested, what is going on here? the book starts at the end, and it got straight to the point. Not everything is as it seems, we have Stephen who is an older man, about to marry a younger woman Heather, then we meet his two grown daughters that have their own issues, and his wife who has dementia, its ALOT, but it kept me on my toes, I couldn't get enough.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read another gem written by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The writing is solid and the story is definitely intriguing. The ending, however, leaves a lot to be desired. I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to spoil anything. What I will say is that I was expecting a big reveal or some crazy twist that never happened. I would still pick up Sally Hepworth’s next book.

I truly enjoyed “The Younger Wife” by Sally Hepworth. I was hooked from the beginning and loved getting to know each of the main characters. Each one has their own “history” that made me want to keep reading. The plot was intriguing and with heartbreaking moments. I would recommend this quick “who did it” read!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

Stephen, a heart surgeon in his sixties, is thrilled to be marrying Heather, an interior designer thirty years his junior. His two daughters, Tully (full-time mom and part-time kleptomaniac) and Rachel (a baker struggling with trauma from her past) are less than thrilled that their father is marrying a woman younger than they are, in no small part because their dad is still technically married to their mother, Pamela, an Alzheimer’s patient.

The time setting switches back and forth between the wedding day (at which something has gone horribly wrong) and one year earlier, when Rachel and Tully first heard the news of their father’s engagement. Point of view in the past rotates between Tully, Rachel, and Heather, and the wedding day is narrated by a character whose identity, and her relevance to the story, is slowly revealed over the course of the book. As the past and the wedding day draw closer together, dark secrets are slowly revealed, leading to a startling conclusion.

One of my biggest problems with this book is that I don’t care for the way the cliché of a fat girl eating her feelings was handled in this book. I think it’s possible to explore an overweight character’s food issues without devolving into cliché, but this book did not accomplish it. Speaking as a plus size woman myself, perhaps my food issues differ from Rachel’s, but this seems a lot more like a skinny person’s idea of what a fat person’s struggle looks like. That being said, I did like Rachel a lot, and her relationship with Darcy, and the way that he dealt with learning about not only her trauma but her coping mechanism.

My other big problem was the epilogue. We think we have the answer to the big question, but then the epilogue comes in and, depending on how you read it, either brings back all of our doubts or completely subverts what we thought we knew, confirming the opposite. If the circumstances were a little different, I’d probably be okay with that kind of twist ending. But not with this book. I don’t have a problem with unreliable narrators, but I didn’t care for the light that they were all painted in by the epilogue.

I’m going three stars for this one – It would have been four, but the epilogue was less of a cool twist and more of a profound annoyance.

Representation: characters with mental illness (anxiety, kleptomania, eating disorder, substance abuse disorder, PTSD)

CW: alcoholism, eating disorder, rape, domestic violence, gaslighting, domestic abuse

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ ½
Genre: Mystery Thriller

The Younger Wife is a story that follows three different women’s perspectives, Heather, Tully, and Rachel. Heather is the young wife who is marrying Stephen Aston, a heart surgeon who is much older than her. But to do that he needs first to divorce his current wife who suffers from dementia. Tully and Rachel are both Stephen’s daughters and they are shocked with their father’s decision of getting married especially to someone who is younger than them.

What I mentioned above is just the beginning of the story itself. As we dive into it more secrets are revealed. I really appreciate what the author did with the characters here. The narrators have distinguishable voices. They are unique characters. They face different circumstances and issues with their lives. Rachel faces difficulties with relationships, while her sister Tully’s main problem since childhood is being a kleptomaniac! Heather on the other hand has to deal with her alcohol addiction. Despite all these struggles and difficulties, they will also face more life-changing challenges.

I enjoyed reading this story and knowing the characters. I think the author has successfully used different kinds of addictions in this story be it, alcohol addiction, food addiction, or being a kleptomaniac. All these can be eye-opening subjects to readers and also triggers. So be careful as the story is filled with other triggers as well. The bigger part of the book was entertaining to read. I can’t say the same about the ending. I feel the story did need a better and stronger ending to go with all that initial buildup. I think it deserved that. However, I still enjoyed reading it if looking at the overall picture.

Many thanks to the publisher St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader copy of this book.

The Younger wife was really good. I loved all the quirky characters. Tully and her sister Rachel both have their own demons to fight and then their dad drops a bomb on them. Who can you trust if not your own parents or can you