I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to. The writing flows in one of those ways where you just forget how long you have been reading - even though the story is more about the relationships and the day to day lives of these women rather than a whole lot happening plot-wise. Not usually being a fan of period pieces, again I was surprised by how much I appreciated the 60’s setting. Lamprell has this way of making you feel like you are re-experiencing the history you read about in school as if in real-time, taking you through the major global events of the time whilst giving you an understanding of what it must have felt like to live through such a transformative time. I will say going in, I expected to hear more about the business side of Frankie’s entrepreneurial rise, which felt a little hard to believe and most in the background. The ending itself feels like it kind of comes out of nowhere, although it does end up making sense. I just wish I would have gotten a bit more about the nature of the relationship between Frankie and Charlie which I felt completely blindsided by.

*** I received an early complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

What a terrific book! Set in the 1960's in Australia. I was a young adult in America during that time and I can relate to a lot of the happenings in these women's lives. I really loved Edie and the friendship between her and Frankie was so amazing. The author did a great job bringing the characters to life and the story was so entertaining, however I was a little disappointed with the ending. All in all a great read. I highly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for an advanced e-reader copy of this book. This is a solid 4.5 stars. It has a unique structure that I really liked. Edith's major life events, good and bad, seem to coincide with important world events, good and bad. As her life unfolds, her relationships with her family and with her friend and neighbor, Frankie, shift and grow. She becomes more confident as times goes by, and her views on several topics, especially the role of women, changes as the world at large becomes more focused on equality and empowerment. The reader watches history unfold, particularly the 60s-such an interesting exploration of that time period. This book really kept me wanting to know what was going to happen next! I was lucky enough to have a nice stretch of time to read, so I finished most of it in a day. Here's the rub, though. It publishes in Australia and New Zealand on March 29th. I have no idea if it will be published in the U.S., but I sure hope so! It's available on Amazon-Australia as a Kindle book, but I have no idea if you can order the digital copy from the U.S. - might be worth an inquiry.

The Secret Wife is a look back at the 60's in Australia, a time when many women weren't "allowed" to make their own decisions and were expected to be housewives and to forego careers outside the home. As frustrating and misogynistic as that time was, this book takes a charming and nostalgic look at what happens when two friends decide to challenge that mindset.

Edith and Frankie are housewives that have just moved into a brand new subdivision. They quickly become friends, even though their personalities are vastly different. Frankie is gorgeous and has aspirations that she is afraid to pursue because of a domineering husband. Edith is a happy homebody, yet is, in some ways, much more adventurous than Frankie.

When Edith persuades Frankie to take a modeling job, she becomes a "secret wife" to Frankie's husband Ralph, cleaning and cooking while Frankie is out and Ralph is at work. Edith's husband is jovial and goes along with the intrigue. What happens as their friendship develops and things get more complicated is complex, and the reader finds that there is a lot more to Edith than meets the eye.

I loved this book. It was a reach back in time, encapsulating all of the historic occurrences of the 60's. Funny and serious, and a bit unbelievable at the same time, we are taken in with the deep friendship of two women. The ending, while sad in a real way, was also charming and sweet, and a bit of a surprise!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reading copy in exchange for my honest review.

I chose this book strictly by the cover. I grew up in the 1960s and the cover was just screaming this decade.

The story is a snapshot of the decade. It is the story of 2 women who have just moved into a brand new subdivision and become fast friends. The woman's place was in the home, looking after the home and the family. There are many references to news events of the time (Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy assassination, death of the pope and election of a new one, Beatles, Vietnam etc).

It is the dawn of the Women's Lib. While Edith is very interested in equality for women and pushes her daughters to do what they want, she is content to be a stay-at-home Mom. Conversely, Frankie ventures out into the business world. Frankie does so against her husband's wishes and in secret. Her husband believes the man controls the house and the wife should stay at home.

It is a journey through the decade. It is about friendship. It illustrates how much things have changed for women, yet how much more change is needed.

But, I think the book jumped the shark* at the point where Frankie’s business became hugely successful yet was a secret from her husband.

For those who are not familiar with the phrase “jumped the shark”: Something is said to have "jumped the shark" when it has reached its peak and begun a downhill slide to mediocrity.
~Urban Dictionary

The ending seemed to come out of nowhere. I was quite surprised.

For the most part, The Secret Wife was a fun read, an easy and quick read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an Advance Readers Copy.

Love the cover, love the premise. The execution was a bit mixed for me. At first, I really enjoyed getting introduced to Edith and all her uptight quirks. Her husband is sweet and patient. Her children are believable and the author does a wonderful job of showing us their daily lives. I especially enjoyed the connections between ordinary day-to-day chores with significant historical events.

Of course, Edith meets Frankie and the story begins to take off from there as a friendship develops between these two very different women. There are some nice laugh-out-loud moments and other scenes that are tender and lovely.

My issue is that it takes so long for the story to get going. I don't mind a quiet book or a leisurely setup, but this one made me impatient. That being said, I am interested in other books by this author because the writing on a line level is very strong.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in return for my honest and impartial review. It was a very enjoyable read and the two main female characters, Edith and Frankie, were believable in their narrative and actions. Set in the 1960’s with critical events in Edith’s life often being marked by key historical events of the time was a clever way of adding a feeling of suspense to the story. The attitude to women and their right to work and be independent formed part of the narrative and felt authentic for the 1960’s era. I was not expecting a twist in the tale which gives credit to the author’s skill in being able to surprise me. Highly recommended.

I was hooked by the cover, as I absolutely love a novel set in the 1960s. And The Secret Wife really delivered on setting. The events of the decade are wonderfully woven throughout the narrative and help to show how much the world (and the two main characters) changed in such a short time.

I enjoyed this book, but the pacing was slightly out. The first few years of the women’s friendship is explored in beautiful detail, as we see Edith come out of her shell, and Frankie take advantage of the new opportunities open to women. However, the last third seemed rushed. Too much time was covered, and the ending hit me out of nowhere, without providing closure to the character’s stories.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves modern history, as well as those who enjoy the development of characters over a longer period of time.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I was lucky to receive an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review and opinion. This is a great story set in the 1960's that was truly a very enjoyable read.

This is a story that is beautifully written and takes us through the development of a friendship between two women who are interesting and unique in their own ways. I love how it is interwoven with events throughout the 1960's in a way that feels different from anything I've read before. Since I was not alive in that time period I had to look up a few of them because I had never heard of them. What a great way to spark interest in recent history!

There are situations in the story that touch on topics of that time that make us cringe today. A good reminder of how things once were and should never be again. A lesson for those who get nostalgic about those times being the "good old days" and for us to not repeat past mistakes.

Throughout the entire book all I could think of is how do I pre-order this book to make sure I include it in my library? However, the ending left me a bit confused, which is why it is a four star book for me and not a five.

I had two issues with the ending. One, there is a revelation about two of the characters that does not align with everything we learned about them throughout the entire story. Perhaps I missed something? Two, I felt as though the ending was paced too quickly (in comparison to the rest of the story) and so intense that I had to read it twice to make sure I was understanding it.

Overall this is really a great book and I will look into Mr. Lamprell's other works because this was my first experience with his writing.

A huge thank you for my e-ARC, which was provided by the publisher and the author via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Would I read it again?
Maybe

Would I recommend it?
Yes. Please read it! Go out and buy the book!

Is it a permanent addition to my library?
Yes

I loved this book. Holy hell, did I love this book.

Both of the characters felt real, although I would have liked to have a bit more insight into Frankie and her thoughts. There were a few times that I felt frustrated with both Edith and Frankie's inability to discuss things, but I think it's probably pretty accurate to the time period. I loved the connection of major world events to Edith's life, and it was fascinating to see how much both women changed over the course of a decade.

Overall, just a completely lovely, heartfelt book that really stuck with me. There's an event towards the end that actually made me gasp, and it's really affecting. I loved this book! Fans of historical fiction and books like The Wednesday Sisters will enjoy this a lot, I think.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC ebook.


(posted on Goodreads and Instagram.)

this book does a just-ok job of navigating major events with the modernity of domestic life but the ending is completely rushed and just…is such an odd turn when the book focuses so much on edith’s love for charlie AND frankie (the book is called the secret wife for god’s sake!!!!). like one-sided love is typical sure but this book does not do its character or their romances justice at all.

I have mixed feelings about this book. It's the story of two friends, Edith and Frankie, who live across the street from each other. I liked the historical events that were thrown in, and it made me realize how constrained women were at that time. On the other hand, parts of it were hard to believe. I'm not sure how Frankie became so successful in such a short time without her family knowing it. I was also left cold by the ending. It just seemed like it didn't go with the rest of the story. It's an OK read, but not great!
Thank you to NetGalley and Text Pub. for the chance to read and review this book. The opinions expressed are my own.

Love this! Some how Lamprell took the regular ole lives of two 50s housewives and had me so invested even though not much happens. If you're looking for a day in the live type of read set in the 50-60s I 1000% recommend this. I need more day in the life historical fiction and less war fiction!

This was an interesting book about two Australian housewives in the 1960s. Edith and Frankie were neighbors and friends who come up with a plan for Edith to keep house while Frankie works and eventually runs a successful business. Of course this has to be done without Frankies chauvinistic husband finding out.

It was clever that current events of the time were mentioned to go along with what was happening in Edith and Frankies lives.

The book was very engaging and I didn’t see the surprise ending coming. Very enjoyable read.

My thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for allowing me to read this book.

I loved many parts of this book, particularly all the 1960s references. It made me feel as if I was experiencing their life right along with them. This book contained some unexpected themes that I'm not entirely sure added to the story. I loved both Edith and Frankie in different ways. The ending was a shock to me, and I didn't feel like the main storyline really got the closure it deserved. But overall I definitely enjoyed reading The Secret Wife. Thank you NetGalley!

This novel is an engagingly written story of two women, their friendship over the years and their family all aligned with historical events. It's an entertaining and occasionally heartbreaking wry look at life and love in the 60s - It was a good reminder of how far life for women has changed and moved on. The ending did come as a bit of an unexpected surprise, and I'm not entirely sure what I think about it! Well worth a read. Thank you Net galley for my ARC

Set in 1960's Australia Edith Devine is a housewife who believes all her major life experiences align with world events. A nicely written tale about friendship and what it means to be a woman. At times it was somewhat unbelievable as to how a woman could build a business empire over a number of years and her husband is convinced she's at home cooking and cleaning but a solid three stars. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy.

3.5 stars for this book. I enjoyed reading about the lives of Edith and Frankie and how they tied in to history. It included a lot of changing of the times and issues which still have a presence in the modern day.

Worth a read for sure

The Secret Wife is set in Australia during the 60s but has many historical American milestones that kept throwing me off while reading the book. I almost felt as if the story was taking place in the United States.  I was somewhat confused at first because I couldn't figure out where exactly the story was set, was it England? The United States? But finally there were some clues that pointed to Australia. Once I got past this uncertainty I did find the storyline interesting and was swept up in the present day and flashbacks that weaved the story together.

This was an interesting glimpse into the lives of two women and the challenges and importance of friendship, love and family. Each of the women are unique in their own way and their different personalities seemed to fit well with how life for many women during this time of change in the 60's must have been. Are you satisfied with being a stay at home mom or do you dream of a career and enter into the workforce as a married woman with children? 

 Although I enjoyed the book I was surprised by the ending and I didn't feel that it gave enough closure to the story. I would recommend it if you want a glimpse of life from the 60s. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!!