Sally Hepworth always delivers. At first, I wasn't sure where this book was going but as I got in deeper, I started to really enjoy it. Each character was equally flawed and was far from their picture perfect life that you imagined in the beginning.

At no point did I know where this was going. Literally not even at the end. For that reason it gets 5 stars from me. All of the characters and their back stories added credibility to their reactions to different events. This was a fantastic book and I’m so glad it was the first one I finished in 2023.

This book tells the story of a husband/heart surgeon who divorces his wife with dementia to marry a younger woman. Putting aside poor mom’s capacity issues, his adult daughters are none too pleased about the circumstances. The reader knows early that something happens at daddy dearest’s wedding but spend the pages of the book uncovering what that is and why.

With layers to unpack, Hepworth has perfected the recipe for domestic suspense. A specific subsection that (with absolutely no qualification to say this) is hard to do well. With a rotating and unreliable narrative, this book covered a lot of ground with a cast of complicated characters. Never quite sure whose basket to place your eggs, Hepworth will keep you guessing until the end (or in my case – past it).

Like a puzzle master, she skillfully places pieces of information to shepherd readers in a certain direction. I had wished the ending would take me somewhere else (and now apparently it will), but someone needs to get Hepworth a staff.

Awesome as Always

Another novel by Sally Hepworth that I loved from start to finish MINUS one character!

Sally Hepworth’s newest book, The Younger Wife, is a domestic thriller that follows the dysfunctional Aston family. Stephen Aston is a 63-year-old heart surgeon who is engaged to 34-year-old interior designer Heather. The only problem is that Stephen is still married to Pam, who is in a nursing home and suffers from dementia. Stephen plans on divorcing Pam so he can marry Heather, although Stephen says that the divorce is on paper only, that Pam will always be a part of his family. Stephen’s two daughters, 37-year-old Tully and 35-year-old Rachel, are not too happy with this arrangement and as family secrets start to unravel, they are determined to find out who their father really is.

That synopsis sounds more sinister than the book really is. While this was not a heart thumping read, it was a great mystery with interesting and relatable characters. The story opens with Stephen and Heather’s wedding. The whole family is there including Pam. After the ceremony is over, they all go into the back of the church to sign the registry and it is there that someone is hurt. We do not know who is hurt, how bad or who did it. All we know is there was a scream and then the pastor comes out to ask if there is a doctor in the house and the pastor has blood on her. The story then goes back in time
Each of the three main characters are flawed and have secrets which makes this a page turner because you are invested in the development of the Daughters and even Heather and Pam.
Tully is married and has two small sons. Not only has her husband lost a substantial amount of money in an investment, but Tully is also a kleptomaniac. I had a lot of sympathy for her because she felt there was no one she could talk to while trying to be perfect for everyone.

Rachel was my favorite character. After an incident that happened when she was sixteen, Rachel has given up on men, that is until she hires a new delivery guy for her bakery business, named Darcy. Darcy is able to finally break down the walls that Rachel has put up.

Heather was a character I thought I was going to hate, but actually ended up liking. This is the third novel I have read by Sally Hepworth it will be getting a high rating just like the others. So, if you like domestic thrillers about dysfunctional families with lots of secrets, then Sally Hepworth’s The Younger Wife is the book for you. # I Am Totally Obsessed!

The Younger Wife opens with the wedding of an older man to a younger woman. During the wedding, the lights go out. When they come back on, the celebrant is covered with blood and the mystery of what happened is just starting.

The novel has an intriguing opening, and then goes back one year in time to cover the events leading up to the wedding. The Younger Wife is told using multiple points of view – the daughters of the groom and the new wife. The daughters are not happy with their father’s new romance. As the year of events unfolds, details about the characters is revealed. None of them are particularly likable characters, but it does make for an engaging read.

An intriguing psychological thriller. Family drama, lies, and secrets. Recommended for fans of this genre.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Fun, enjoyable, interesting. The characters are all a bit weird, but that's what keeps you reading. Cliffhanger ending of sorts. Solid entry in the domestic suspense category, if not completely unputdownable.

Sally Hepworth does it again with The Younger Wife. (Aside, whoever does the cover art for her books also does not miss!)

I am a big fan of Jane Eyre, so I was a fan of the somewhat subtle allusions to the classic tale.

It's a book full of secrets and nothing is quite as it seems.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

This is a super compulsive mystery from a popular but new to me author. Beware of content warnings going into this one.
This thriller wasn’t my favorite but I would still seek out more books from Sally Hepworth

I love Sally Hepworth’s writing. I immediately feel intrigued when I start one of her books. “The Younger Wife” of course makes you think something is afoot with the “new” wife, the stereotypical “gold digger” woman and the man trying to reclaim his youth. This story was so much more involved then that, and I really enjoyed it. I didn’t like Tully at first, but then as the story went on I actually felt kind of connected to her with all her anxiety and issues. It was a story that kept me guessing, and I finished it quickly because it kept me hooked!

Sally Hepworth does it again. She does a great job of blending family drama with thrills and suspense. I'm always on the edge of my seat. Rachel and Tully's dad has found a new wife. Their mother died, he also has a old ex wife.. but this wife is younger than his daughters. Clearly shes a gold digger. The daughters learn their father hasnt been the best husband.. abusive and mean. what could he be doing to this new wife?

This year, Sally Hepworth has easily become one of my top 10 favorite authors, and now a definite auto-read author for me as well. I will read any last thing this woman writes, and now need to revisit some of her older novels to catch up!

I flew through this book once I got to about the quarter mark, as I just could not stop! It's told in alternating perspectives between the two adult daughters and their father's new wife...and wow, I have no idea how Hepworth does it, but almost every single chapter ends on a cliff-hanger. Not to mention, each one is super short, thus making this book impossible to put down. I held my breath so many times at the next shocking thing that would happen, and could not fully decide who to believe until the very, very end. I also found myself very protective of all three of these women, including the new wife, who I had assumed I was supposed to despise! I loved this book, and will continue thinking about it for weeks to come. If you haven't read a Sally Hepworth novel yet, now is the time to start!

I really adored Sally Hepworth’s the good sister. It seems she has a theme of titles with family members. The mother in law was just okay. This however was my least favorite. It felt like it was building toward a big twist but then it just turned out that everyone who was suspicious was correct. I felt like it sort of manipulated the other characters mental Illnesses and challenges to try to trick you but there was really never any doubt as to what was really happening:

I am not usually one to read suspense thrillers, but Sally Hepworth changes my mind again and again. Told from multiple points of view, this was a great story. So much drama, and twists!

Another domestic drama by Sally Hepworth about a man divorcing his dementia-stricken wife and marrying another woman, who is the same age as his daughters. I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley. While I like Sally Hepworth and her books, I really didn't like or relate to any of the characters. I enjoyed Sally's storytelling; I just didn't like how this one panned out in the end and wouldn't rate it as high as her other books.

Another fantastic novel from this author. I highly enjoyed this one and would recommend it to all of my thriller enthusiast friends.

3.5 stars. I didn't enjoy this one as much as previous works. I also had a really hard time separating Rachel from Heather for some weird reason. The names and characters just didn't stand out ok their own.

This one was pretty good, blending family drama and dark suspense, but it can't compare to the twists of The Good Sister or The Mother-in-Law.

I’m no stranger to Sally Hepworth and her writing. Along with a handful of her novels, I also follow her on Instagram. She is a delight. Normally her novels or propulsive and have you flipping the pages and reading just one more chapter. The Younger Wife was a miss for me. Sally Hepworth is an excellent sorry teller, but I think maybe this one just came out too quickly after The Good Sister.

I enjoyed this book, but not as much as some of Hepworth's others. I actually read it back to back with her newest ARC and found it lacking in comparison to that one. But perhaps it was my fault for reading them that way! She is still one of my favorite authors though!

“Perhaps the very worst people still had some good in them. And perhaps the very best had some bad.”

I had high hopes for this book, as I really loved The Good Sister, but this one fell short for me. It was a slow burn without much of a thrill…I kept waiting for a plot twist and reveal, but it was all sort of predictable. So it was more of a family drama versus a domestic thriller. There were many serious issues covered (gaslighting, abuse, sexual assault, anxiety, kleptomania) perhaps too many, and instead of going deep in any one, all were left at a surface level, which took away a level of seriousness. I wanted to go deeper. There was so much potential. It was just ok for me.

In the audiobook…I did very much enjoy having three narrators for the three different POVs…I wish more books took this approach. I’m glad I listened to it bc I understand the ARC had a different ending and from what I’ve read, I’m glad it was changed.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.