I never quite knew what to expect when reading Sally Hepworth’s The Younger Wife. That’s the thing with suspense/thrillers … you can’t trust your eyes and ears to interpret events correctly. Are you really seeing things as they are or is the author pulling the wool over your eyes?

Hepworth’s The Younger Wife, which I come to after reading and loving The Good Sister, is one such book that conjures up questions of perception and interpretation. It is a domestic drama involving two adult daughters, Tully and Rachel; their mother, who is suffering from dementia; and their father Stephen, who is marrying Heather, a woman younger than his own kids. Each of the women in this novel is harboring secrets of her own, and these subplots come together to build a story around the main event - Stephen’s wedding to Heather and the subsequent tragedy that is eluded to in the prologue.

The Younger Wife is a murky sort of novel that wades through a variety of tense situations that can be interpreted in multiple ways. Readers who need all plot points spelled out for them may take issue with the way Hepworth chose to write The Younger Wife, leaving readers to make their own judgments about the novel’s story and characters. With that being said, it is difficult to discuss this novel without giving much away. It truly reads as a domestic drama, letting readers into the garden variety scandals and problems of this particular family, while hinting at something more sinister lurking underneath.

I personally did not enjoy The Younger Wife as much as I did The Good Sister, perhaps because I like my plots to have more direction and not leave me with more questions than answers by the end. While I enjoyed this novel, I almost did not see the point as I finished, beyond highlighting domestic troubles within one family. I wish that Hepworth would have chosen a point to more precisely drive home instead of leaving so much open to reader interpretation.

I love Sally Hepworth’s novels, she knows how to write family/domestic suspense. With that being said, this one has to be my least favorite books I’ve read by Sally so far. This one started out strong for me and was a page turner. I loved the storyline and everything was so good right until the very ending. Then I felt a huge letdown, there was so much more potential for this ending and it just fell short for me. It was a total bummer.

I enjoyed this one the same way I have enjoyed Sally’s previous books! Its weird, suspenseful and crazy. The story of 5 people - the husband, two daughters, the wives. Like I said, its crazy but also compelling to read. The ending was different from what I was expecting but regardless it was a good one. Can always trust Sally for an entertaining story!

Thank you SMP via Netgalley for the e-arc.

Sally Hepworth did not disappoint with this one! I love how she can write suspenseful books that aren’t scary. They pull me right in and I can’t stop reading until I finished the book. I woke up early one morning, started reading, and skipped my daily workout because I couldn’t put the book down.

I always enjoy Sally Hepworth’s novels.
The story line I felt was made interesting by Stephen’s wife still being alive. I hated Stephen from that point on.
I enjoyed the relationship between the sisters and how that grew with sharing of secrets.
I even liked Heather.
I did not like the ending where it’s brought into question that Stephen abused any of them. It left me feeling icky. But I have heard that the ending has been changed and I just requested a copy from the library to find out.
All in all I couldn’t put it down and enjoyed it!

As far as Sally Hepworth is concerned, I was excited for an ARC to her most recent book. I had not realized until reading reviews after I finished that the published version has some major changes. Although this is always noted as a possibility at the beginning of all ARCs, I have never really come across huge discrepancies that could affect my reviews before. I do no feel completely comfortable completing a full review for that reason. This will not stop me from reading future Sally Hepworth books, however. I did read this one cover to cover and maybe connected a little to well to the themes for potential manipulation and gaslighting...

Hated the ending of the arc. Didn't do justice to the rest of the story leading up to it. However, I have read that this was changed for the actual published version so I will up my rating for that.
This is a great story with great characters. I enjoyed learning about all of them and watching them learn about the mystery leading up to the wedding and explore all their individual faults. The relationship between Rachel and Tully was great. I loved that the sisters were close and supportive of each other. I loved that each chapter was a different point of view of the women.

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

Sally Hepworth is a favorite author so I will read anything she writes. I enjoyed the multiple perspectives and always love a good mystery. The story is character driven. Definitely one I would recommend. Looking forward to more from this author.

I love a good dysfunctional family drama. It had me questioning what I thought after every page. I would have liked a little more closure at the end but I also think that she ended it that way so we can decide for ourselves what we really thing happened.

Sally Hepworth's The Younger Wife is a brilliantly complex domestic thriller novel that hooks you with the first scream and keeps your attention throughout. This books is told through five different perspectives and invites you to make more assumptions and guesses on characters as you read. And honestly, you're never sure who you like and who you don't. It felt a lot like an Agatha Christie novel that has you piecing together the story as you go and second guessing yourself every step of the way.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. Interesting story. Good mystery novel. Love the cover.

Sally Hepworth-you know how to tell a story!
I was totally captivated by this from start to finish. I couldn’t put this book down.
My favorite thing about this book were the characters. I loved them and connected with them. They were incredibly relatable. I thought they were all written very well and in many layers.
Although this read as more of a domestic drama and didn’t seem very thriller in nature or twisty, I still loved it. The scenarios each character found themselves in left me gasping at times. I love when an author can do that to me. If you can cause me to audibly gasp, you’ve truly taken me out of my current world and into the world of the book.
I really liked the message of the story that I can’t give away due to spoilers, but I think it’s an important subject that Hepworth handled tastefully.
My only minor complaint is that I was a tad underwhelmed by the conclusion of the book. I just wanted a bit more depth to it.
All in all, great book and I’m most certainly going to read more from Hepworth in the future.

I recieved this book for free for an honest review through netgalley. I honestly got bored, wasn’t excited about it after 20% and had to dnf.

The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth was ok. I enjoyed it but I’m not sure I’ll remember it next week.

The story starts at Stephen’s wedding to Heather, the titled Younger Wife. Also in attendance are Stephen’s daughters, who are both around Heather’s age, and Stephen’s ex-wife, Pam, who is suffering from dementia. Before the reception, someone will be dead.

The story covers mental health issues, domestic violence, trauma from rape, infidelity and Alzheimer’s. This book is also about gaslighting, and who do you trust, can you trust yourself, and what’s real and what’s imagined.

This is a pretty fast paced thriller set in Australia. I enjoyed the characters, as well as the story. The ending was a bit blah but I’ll definitely look forward to reading more Sally Hepworth in the future.

Thank you to #netgalley and #stmartinspress for the advanced e-copy of #theyoungerwife .

4.5 rounded udon to 4

I love this book & Sally Hepworth but the twist ending didn’t sit well with me

So many of us can relate to a dysfunctional family. Right? In The Younger Wife, a 63 year old heart surgeon has a much younger wife but wait....he's already married and THAT wife is in a nursing home with dementia. And the plot continues to thicken as Stephen Aston, the heart surgeon, plans to divorce his wife, Pam (who has dementia) BUT plans to keep her as a part of the family. Stephen and Pam's children: Tully and Rachel find the whole thing suspect and the younger wife, Heather is wondering what she's about to get herself into. It proves to be a suspenseful book full of secrets and unexpected twists.

This book had really great potential. It spent the entire book building the characters and pointing out all the things that would make them the perfect or victim following the explosive first chapter. We also have multiple POVs from not only characters we know but also a couple of chapters from an “outsider”. But then for all the build up…there is no pay off. At. All. Overall this was a really enjoyable book up until the epilogue but still a good read.

Sally Hepworth is pretty much an instabuy author for me. I loved The Younger Wife and it kept me guessing until the end.

The Younger Wife is a fast paced domestic suspense novel. It begins with an accident and possible death at a wedding but not sure who was involved. Bouncing back to the time leading up to the wedding, the narrative is told in alternating POVs giving glimpses into each character’s life and what secrets they’re holding. This all leads up to the wedding day. The ending in the published version is different from the early reader’s edition in a good way. I made sure to read both. 😉

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

UPDATE. Edit to 5 stars. I got the Final Ending, which is way better than what I received in the early ARC. Much much better. A true, twisty Hepworth novel to the end. Definitely recommend. This might be one of her best.


I LOVED it til the end and then I hated it, but research is telling me the published copy has a different ending. So, to be continued….