Hepworth''s The Younger Wife sounded fascinating and the domestic suspense story has an interesting storyline - younger wife, older man, his 2 daughters, a wife with dementia in a nursing home what could go wrong. It's all about what are the family secrets. I stuck with the story wondering who the narrator was that opened story and what part she played in the father's life, followed along with the story as told by the daughters and the young wife and wondered how so many messed up individuals could come from one story. What was it in their lives that messed them up so much, what did they have to say. For some who love domestic suspense the characters will be written well but to me I couldn't like them. The ending was quite the surprise. Those who love domestic stories with a level of suspense will enjoy. I give it a 3 as I just didn't like the characters and was glad their story came to an end.

3.25 stars

This is a hard book to rate because I really enjoyed most of it, but I did not like the ending one bit.
This book is more of a family story/drama with a hint of mystery. We have two sisters who are from a well of family. Sadly their mom, Pam, gets very sick and she is committed to home where she can be treated properly. However their father decides to move on with his life with a new conquest that is the same age as his daughters.

The book is exploring a lot of interesting aspects, like abuse and addiction and gas-lighting and violence, but in a captivating way. It is very well written and the reader will be drawn into the story wanting to know more. The chapters are being told from the perspective of the two sisters, Rachel and Tully and the new wife Heather.

Some things are a bit farfetched. I could have thought of easier ways to find out one thing or another, like installing a hidden camera, but Sally Hepworth decided to take the story in a different direction creating a very foggy, confusing atmosphere, which in the end, that is the goal.

The ending, although it explains a lot of things, it felt like it demolished everything the book constructed.

A big thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this great book!!

How is this my 1st book by Sally?! She writes the perfect dysfunctional family dynamic and always kept me guessing as to who did what with what motives. I have sense read another title of hers, The Mother-In -Law and found it equally enjoyable and full of twists.

This book was so fun and entertaining. It kept me guessing and wanting to pick it back up and see where it was going with all the twists and turns in the story. The writing made this book go down easy, which was just what I needed after a bit of a reading slump. By the end, there were a few things with the plot that didn’t quite wrap up in as satisfying a way as I had hoped, but not enough that I didn’t still thoroughly enjoy this book.

If you like a family drama mixed with a thriller that you won’t want to put down, I highly recommend adding The Younger Wife to your TBR.

I knew when I requested the book, The Younger wife by Sally Hepworth, that I was in for an interesting read. From page one I was drawn into the story. When a prominent physician divorces his wife with dementia to marry a women who is younger than his two daughters, there is bound to be upheaval and misgivings.
It turns out that there is a dark secret in this family that no one suspects, even the daughters. We never really know what goes on behind closed doors.

Overall, this book is fine. Were there several places where this could have been more of a thriller and less of a family drama? Yes. Would that have helped the ending? Not sure. No spoilers, but the ending basically has you questioning the whole book.

This is my first Sally Hepworth book and I am pleasantly surprised that I really liked most of it. In The Younger Wife Stephen Aston is going to be married again, him in his sixties and his wife in her mid-thirties (the same age as his daughters). Not only is he still married to his first wife Pam, who has dementia, but the fact that Heather was hired by Stephen to redesign the family home makes it even more awkward for everyone. The daughters, Rachel and Tully, at first have no idea what their dad is thinking; but as they get to know Heather they start realizing that maybe everything they knew about their dad in the first place was wrong. One thing I didn't like about this book is that there are so many very serious topics thrown in (rape, anxiety, kleptomania, emotional abuse, domestic abuse), that it felt impossible to keep up and focus on that characters issues. The main thing I didn't like was the ending. It left a very bad taste in my mouth and I felt it almost negated every good thing in the rest of the book.

"Who ya gonna believe, me or your lyin' eyes?" (Groucho Marx)

The Younger Wife will split the readers like a hot knife in butter. It's guaranteed to keep you locked in and turning pages like palm fronds in a tornado. Why? Because we're all onboard for the action until the pivotal moment at the ending and its crucial aftermath. We'll be in separate camps. Just you wait and see........

Adult children seem to act more like children than children do. They are territorial, extremely jealous, and still vie for mommy and daddy's sole attention. Even when they have children of their own. One of the most hair-splitting examples is when a parent plans on re-marrying. Stephen Aston, renowned heart surgeon in his 60's, has just announced his intention of marrying a young woman, Heather, who is younger than his two daughters. Tully and Rachel are obstinate and plan on sabotaging their first lunch meeting with the family.

Sally Hepworth just doesn't create cardboard figures in her novels. Her characters are the walking wounded wrapped in emotional bandages. To add to this turmoil, we have the girls' mother, Pamela, in a care facility with dementia. Ol' Stephen and Pamela aren't even divorced yet. Hepworth stirs the pot with the brutality of an act in the past, kleptomania, highly ill-behaved little ones, an undiagnosed eating disorder, deadly secrets, another marriage on the rocks, and sorely lacking social skills. And that's just the beginning stages of the roll-out......

Going to the chapel and we're gonna get married. Hepworth opens with the over-crowded little chapel on the wedding day. The couple and the family go into the side office to sign the legal papers. Someone will notice a spray of blood splattered here and there. Gotcha good. But who?

At the core of all this is PERCEPTION. It can be a straight line of thoughts or a composite of crooked steps leading to a grand finale in the mind. What you see is not always what you see.......but what you KNOW makes all the difference in the world. Notice the reviews. Readers dropped like flies at the end. But just remember what Heather's father said. Just sayin'. Sign up for this one and pack your analytical skills for the last stop. Excellent book club read. Whew!

I received a copy of this novel through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to St. Martin's Press and to the talented Sally Hepworth for the opportunity.

I might be biased as a Sally Hepworth fan, but I found the younger wife to be another fantastic addition to her novels. She balances thrill and plot in a way few authors can successfully execute.

4.5 stars

Sally Hepworth has become an author whose works I find reliably engaging and even gripping, and this may be my favorite yet.

This twisty, elusive family drama is told (primarily but not exclusively) from the perspectives of Rachel, Tully, and Heather, all of whom are in their mid- to late 30s. Rachel and Tully are sisters, and their parents are in a truly unusual relationship. Their father, a surgeon, is in the process of leaving their mother, who has dementia, for their much younger interior designer, Heather. Strangely, though many of the characters have the same reactions readers might have upon first hearing of this scenario, it *seems* like this is actually being handled well. It's a surprising situation that intentionally leaves characters and readers questioning the motives and realities present here.

The three central women all experience entirely different kinds of trauma, and they are - of course - overtly shaped by their experiences. Throughout the novel, readers and characters often question what is real, what is a misperception, and what is or is not gaslighting. This is the most genius aspect of what Hepworth accomplishes in this instance. Readers who cannot handle uncertainty and who need ANSWERS throughout their experiences may be maddened by the overwhelming uncertainty, but what could be more effective than to make readers experience what the characters do?

There are aspects of the structure that readers will find polarizing, but to me, Hepworth's choices are fantastic. As a person who works with trauma quite a lot, I particularly appreciate the ways in which Hepworth manages these areas. I am already eagerly anticipating the next Hepworth book, and I expect I'll continue to feel that way for the long haul.

When Stephen Aston announces his engagement to Heather, his daughters Rachel and Tully are shocked. Stephen is still married to their mother who is suffering from dementia, and Heather is younger than both of Stephen’s girls. So, obviously Heather is only marrying Stephen for money, or is it for something more sinister?

I really enjoyed the majority of this book. I was very interested in Rachel and Tully’s characters, I was interested in Heather’s reasoning for marrying Stephen, and I was intrigued with how Pam would progress with the dementia and with the news of Stephen getting remarried. I thought the story was, for the most part, well executed and had me guessing at all kinds of different theories. I was hooked from the beginning trying to figure out all of the Aston family secrets.

I was awfully disappointed by the ending. I felt like this book kept building and building and there would be an explosive, shocking twist at the end. Unfortunately for me, that was not the case. The ending felt lackluster, boring, and too predictable. It was not really presented in a way that could even possibly be a shock. This book brought me to the top of the cliff, but I discovered it was actually a plateau.

Overall, I have to give this book 4 stars. I did enjoy most of it, I thought the characters were great, their issues kept me invested in the story, and the plot-building had me rushing to find out what was going to happen. Even though I didn’t like the ending, I still think this was a fairly good book, and it did have some twists that I wasn’t expecting. I recommend this book to anyone who likes domestic suspense novels.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a free copy in exchange for my honest review.

WOW! This story starts out so normal and then the twists and turns begin. Every page is another twist to the story and the family gets more and more crazy as the pages and chapters turn. At one point the author points out, “..it’s funny how desperately the brain will seek an answer if it doesn’t have one.” So the readers’ mind is thinking one thing and the author twists the story by adding another morsel to the dysfunction of these characters. These twists would pair well with the twists of Jeffrey Deavers in his Twisted books.

Seemingly innocently the father of two older daughters is remarrying a younger woman. The daughters are initially turned off by this young woman coming along while their dad is still married to their dementia-ridden mother. He quickly divorces the wife to marry the young lady. Multiple accidents occur which lead the soon-to-be wife and the daughters in thinking that the dad is and was an abusive husband. We see the traumas the daughters and future wife had as children and how those traumas shape and mold their adult life.

I truly enjoyed this novel more than the authors previous works. This is her best by far

This wasn't like any of the thrillers and mysteries I typically read. While the prologue certainly had my attention, and the events leading up to and after the murder were interspersed throughout the story, this was not an edge-of-your-seat thriller. However, the author, Sally Hepworth, is a storyteller who has honed her craft so well, that the book caused me to fall under her spell and regret the fact that I had to put it down now and then to work and take care of my family.

There were some surprising twists and turns, and some things I thought would happen didn't. I thoroughly enjoyed this and feel it is worth 5 stars.

A new Sally Hepworth book! I am ALWAYS here for it! I have had a digital galley of The Younger Wife for months and it has taken all the restraint I have to save the reading experience for a time closer to publication. That time is now and I am happy to report that the book lived up to my expectations 100%.

The novel opens with a most awkward family dynamic in which sisters Tully and Rachel meet their father Stephen's new girlfriend Heather who is actually slightly younger than they are. Adding to the cringe factor is the fact that Stephen is still married to Tully and Rachel's mother Pam who has dementia and was recently placed in a care facility. Double yikes!

The book alternates between the perspectives of Rachel, Tully, and Heather as well as an unknown guest at Stephen and Heather's wedding. Sally Hepworth artfully drops breadcrumbs throughout the book that will leave you questioning this, questioning that, and feeling a sense of unease that something is not quite right here. Everyone has secrets in this family and as with any great domestic suspense novel those secrets will out.

This book is just screaming to be a book club pick because the ending is sure to cause quite the stir. This is a wholly delicious, binge=able, and twisty tale of domestic suspense. Add to your TBR shelf now and look for this one from your favorite bookseller on April 5, 2022. Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Sally Hepworth has done it again in this amazing fast paced thriller that draws you in right from the start. It keeps you engaged with a well developed story and characters with added family drama and twists that just keep you wanting to turn the page. Loved the multiple pov or was interesting to follow the daughters povs and the younger wife as they all navigated through planning a wedding and their mother having dementia. The suspicions that develop are intriguing and watching them unravel was simply amazing read

Titles say much about a book. Which direction it will go. What it is about. I always try to look for the theme in the title. How it connects to the plot or the characters. Its a thing with me. It's the first thing that helps you connect to the book. So after an intense read. The setting- Down Under during Covid. The characters - two daughters, Tilly and Rachel. Two wives- Pam who is suffering from Alzheimer and Heather the younger wife or will be the younger wife to Stephen Anston.

The lead in is the wedding and something terrible is happening. A possible murder..you are left hanging. You are brought back to Stephen wanting to introduce his grown daughters to Heather. The judging begins.

The narration is between each of these women. How they see each other and how they see themselves. Each of them suffer from a mental health that adds to a deadly plot. It begs the question - who is the victim. Hepworth weaves this crazy family wonderfully. I am still trying to figure it out! Or maybe I just don't want to because I already know.

A special thank you to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

I am always a fan of multiple POV’s in my books. This one has three; sisters Tully and Rachel and their soon-to-be step mom Heather who is closer to their age than their father’s.

This one is a page turner where you want to figure out who is hiding what and how it intertwines with the next part of the story. It did interestingly briefly explore early trauma and memories.

I found there were a few parts that seemed like dead ends. The ending also felt too simplified for me but maybe I didn’t pick up on something. I think it was most likely left open to interpretation which isn’t always my thing. I also heard some are comparing this to Verity and I just cannot see it.

Review to be posted on goodreads and Instagram in the near future.

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 than thrilled. Their soon-to-be stepmother is their age. What does she want with their father? And why does their mother keep talking about what a bad man their father is? Can they trust what she says when they know she has dementia? The drama comes to a head at the beginning of the book, when some sort of accident occurs in the church immediately following Stephen and Heather’s wedding ceremony.

I have loved Sally Hepworth’s previous books so was thrilled to dive into this one. “The Younger Wife” is the perfect book for a weekend read and once you start, you won’t want to put it down. I find Hepworth’s writing style to be very engaging, making it very easy to get into the book. She writes a story that keeps you guessing and NEEDING to know until the very end. Just when I’d think it was one way, something would happen to change my mind. This is one of those books where you don't know who to trust and everyone seems so reliable and unreliable at the same time. I thought I had it all figured out, but I was very wrong. You quickly learn that all the characters have something to hide. I enjoyed getting more about each character as the story progressed and changed my mind about how I felt about them several times. There were many twists and unanswered questions until the very end. The style and story remind me of Liane Moriarty, not only because it takes place in Australia, but because the story is family-centered with a compelling family story.

One of the things that I love about Hepworth’s novels is her stories are often the blend of some really intense soap opera, a love story, and a horrifying domestic suspense. It is written in alternating chapters in third-person point of view between three main characters: Tully (Natalie), Rachel and Heather, except for the wedding portions. These are told in the first-person point of view by Fiona. Any fan of domestic suspense, unreliable narrators, and unexpected twists will enjoy this novel. The ending here is what will likely make some readers question whether they really like the book or feel disappointed. I am still working out how I feel but am definitely on the side of appreciating it. I can see how this ending could upset some people. It also felt very rushed in the end, but overall I really enjoyed this one! I recommend to those that enjoy a great domestic drama with a psychological thriller/suspense feel to it. Thank you to the Sally Hepworth, St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

This is my second book by Sally Hepworth and I have come to find that I really love how well she does multiple POVs, especially those that are unreliable. This book centers around a prominent doctor (who, by the way, is still married to his dementia ridden wife) and his soon-to-be new wife who just happens to be the same age as his grown daughters. The impending nuptials are surrounded by drama, secrets and lots of twists and turns. Each of these characters was well-written and complex and you aren't quite sure what you should believe about each one which makes you continue to turn the pages and see how the story unfolds. Definitely a quick, suspenseful read!

The beginning of this book and I really enjoyed the premise! However, the ending left so much to be desired and I felt so upset about the ending that I was mad I read the book.