I enjoyed this more than I thought I did.
Two sisters who seem to have a great father figure in their childhood face some serious issues as adults.
Like these women are crazy, and I normally hate thriller that use mental instability as the twist for all the crazy events.
But this was creative and made you think a little deeper beyond the surface for a thriller.

The two daughters are adults and the story alternates between their POV and the new younger wife of their father.
He remarried after his first wife was hospitalized for dementia.
All these events unfold and you realize the ideal father is not all he seemed to be and was actually quite subtly abusive toward his first wife, his new wife and his daughters. He played a very manipulative and mentally calculated game that was creepy to see unfold.
I do wish we saw him have to answer for his crimes, but unfortunately his "injury" at the end of the story prevented that from happening. This was really good and I will be recommending.

I finished this book in a couple of days because it was such a page turner. I loved all of the female characters and loved how their relationships evolved throughout the book. There always seems to be a male with issues in books like this. Although I did not like the way he could gaslight the people in his life so easily, it was a good read. I did not like the ending which is why I cannot give this page turner a four star review.

The Younger Wife has 3 main characters and voices: Tully, Rachel, and Heather.

Heather met Stephen Aston when she was hired to redesign his home. The first day she meets Stephen and his wife Pam she realizes Pam is not all there. Pam has advanced dementia and a few months later, Stephen makes the tough call to put her in a nursing home. The more time Heather spends with him the more she likes him. Without realizing it, she falls for him. Then they become an item and Stephen proposes. Just one little detail, he is still married to Pam.

As for Stephen's two daughters, Tully and Rachel both love their parents and they visit their mom at the nursing home regularly. The daughters have kept secrets from each other and their parents. Tully steals things she doesn't need and her husband made a bad investment and she is losing her home while Rachel stopped dating when she was sixteen and now binge eats under stress. Their lives become more chaotic when their father makes them meet Heather who is actually younger than them. They can't believe their dad is divorcing their mother and getting remarried!

To makes matter worse, Pam starts saying things about their father that don't make sense. Is what Pam is saying true or is it her dementia that is causing her behavior?

I want to recommend the audio version. You have to listen to it! It's so well done. The book is narrated by Barrie Kreinik, Caroline Lee, Jessica Douglas-Henry and Zoe Carides. I couldn't stop myself from doing one more chapter despite arriving at my destination. The voices of Tully, Rachel, and Heather were perfectly accomplished. I believe the way they were portrayed made me like them more. On paper, I don't think I would have liked Tully that much but with the audio, I did.

I enjoyed The Younger Wife despite the ending being a little vague.

Would I read her next book? Heck yeah!

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by St. Martin's Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyment: 5
Total rating: 4.14


Stephen is a heart surgeon with a brilliant career and two adult daughters. He is still married to their mother, even though she has lost her lucidity. When he falls in love with Heather, a woman younger than both Tully and Rachel, he decides to divorce his wife and marry her - A decision that unearths many secrets and shakes the lives of everyone involved.

I absolutely love Hepworth's writing. Each of their novels is so different from the other; it feels like a special treat every time I start one of her novels.

The younger wife is a fantastic thriller, character-driven, and so tense! I thoroughly enjoyed following the journey along, knowing all the clues relied on the cast's personalities. We have front roll seats to watch an Australian high society family implode. I loved every minute of it! The cherry on top was a narrative choice made by the author that was brilliant and made the whole book for me. I suggest going in blind and enjoying the wild ride as I did.

I have read the book and the audio simultaneously, and I have to say they were both equally amazing. The full cast narration was phenomenal, their chemistry was off the charts, and every character came alive - not to mention the Australian accent really made me feel like I was there.


Disclaimer: In exchange for an honest review, I am thankful to the Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing a copy of The Younger Wife.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the Audio Version of this book

. I enjoyed the audiobook, especially the multiple narrators. Having it as such really kept me on top of who I was learning about.

I have read everything that Sally Hepworth has written. This was not her best work, but I still enjoyed listening to it. The plot was predictable. You knew how the story was going to end, just not exactly how it was going to get there. I do like how the author takes on issues that are not always easy to read (no spoilers). I will look forward to her next work.

The Younger Wife is a family drama that had me hooked from start to finish. Thank you MacMillan Audio and St. Martin's Press for giving me the opportunity to listen to this book. I'm very excited to read more of Hepworth's backlist!

The characters in The Younger Wife each have their secrets. Stephen, a heart surgeon, is engaged to a much younger woman, but must first divorce his wife who is in a home suffering with dementia. Heather, his fiancee, has trouble with alcohol and seems to be hiding things from her past. Stephen's daughters, Tully and Rachel, are dealing with their own addictions while trying to play nice with their dad's fiancee who is close to the same age as them.

The Younger Wife opens at the wedding of Stephen and Heather before flashing back to all of the events leading up to it. The multiple perspectives, the DRAMA and the sense of impending doom as the wedding was approaching made this book hard to put down. The narrator for this book was fantastic and I found myself listening to it whenever I had the chance.

My only complaint is that I found myself defining the female characters by their addictions. I wish their positive qualities would have been developed further so that I wasn't thinking of them as "Tully, the woman who shoplifts" or "Rachel, the one who can't stop stress-eating". Addictions are real and a huge part of peoples' lives, but I wish the women had been described in a more positive light.

Sally Hepworth has my full attention and I can't wait to get my hands on more of her books!

A 4 star read for me! I had only read The Stepmother by Sally Hepworth before and I really did not like that book. This one however I really did like!! I would categorize it as a family suspense drama, and while we basically know everything while it is happening (no big twists if you catch my drift) I still had a really fun time reading it. Each character had their own struggles and problems that they were working through, and you get to follow each character on their journey on how they are trying to resolve their own personal issues, while still following the main story line of "is one of these characters crazy, or is some sinister stuff at play?" I would recommend this read and I am grateful that I was gifted the ARC audio book!

Bravo! Sally Hepworth knows how to write a phycological thriller/family drama. I've followed her for a while now and I'm never disappointed with what she gives us. This book is no exception.
I enjoyed the pace and diving into the minds of each character. I also like the way the ending seems to end up like a sort of house of mirrors. It makes you question what the truth is and what you take away from it yourself. I can't wait for the next book this author decides to put out.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and Sally Hepworth for the ARC.

This book was my intro to Sally Hepworth's work and I am a fan! The plot touched upon dementia in such a fascinating way. She presented the illness, which is so prevalent today, with such realism while ,simultaneously weaving it into a story fraught with suspense.
The diversity of the characters, the humor as well as the horror of the societal ills of abuse all contributed to a fast-paced, scary story. I especially enjoyed the narrators who added so much to the story's rendering.

I give this 3.5 stars but rounded up to 4 for Goodreads! This was an interesting story that kept me wanting to know what was going to happen next. When I thought I figured something out, there was yet another twist! Definitely be aware of trigger warnings before reading. I also loved that there were multiple points of view to keep the reader engaged throughout the story. Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the free audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you for the early audio copy of this book.

I really enjoyed this one and believe this is the best by Sally Hepworth!!

There is a great cast of father, two daughters, the wife of the father and the girlfriend. There are so many secrets unraveled in this one that Hepworth keeps you so engaged!! Is Stephen a good person?? Why does Tully do the things she does?? Why is Stephen seeing a much a woman younger than his daughters??

Can’t wait for the next one by Sally Hepworth!! She is brilliant!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an audio copy to listen to in exchange for an honest review.

I had both an e-Arc and an audio Arc. They were slightly different and I am so curious to know which segments from which copy ended up in the final cut.

This was such an engaging book. There are so many family and relationship dynamics at play. It wad twisty but so subtly that all of a sudden you realize you're somewhere totally new in your thinking. So good!!

***Spoilers ahead***

Stephen is a well-respected heart surgeon and is viewed as a loving father and husband. He and his wife, have had a success marriage of 30+ years. But Pam develops early onset dementia, and begins residing in a nursing home. Their daughters, Tully and Rachel, are invited to a dinner to meet Stephen's new fiancé, Heather, who is 30 years younger than him. But first, Stephen must divorce Pam before he can marry Heather.

As the story unravels, through the alternating narration of Tully, Rachel, Heather, and Pam, that everything is not as it seems. Each person in the Aston family, which appears picture perfect, has a dark secret that they have been hiding from the others. Stephen's daughters and his new fiancé all dig deeper to determine whether Stephen is the great father and husband he portrays himself to be.

This wasn't what I expected when I requested it. Based on the title, I thought this was going to be the classic story of the esteemed older man falling for a younger woman and his daughters trying to break them apart, while discovering dark secrets and motives held by the younger fiancé. But I was pleasantly surprised to see that that wasn't the case with this story. This story was maddening, frustrating, and triggering, not because it was poorly written, but because it was very realistic from a woman's point of view, and brought up memories and experiences of my own. I screamed for the women in this story who questioned their own judgment when Stephen gaslit them into questioning their own reality. There was a point in the story where I thought it was going to turn out that Stephen was in fact, the great man he pretended to be, and that the women were going to turn out to be portrayed as "crazy". I am so glad I was wrong. This is a wonderful feminist text that features strong female characters, leaving readers with the message of trusting one's intuition. Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. I look forward to reading more of Hepworth's work in the future.

I loved this book! I was worried that I would not be able to hear a difference with 3 similar sounding narrators but it turned out to not be a problem at all. I loved the way the story slowly unfolds and how you're constantly wondering if it's gaslighting or not. I enjoyed the character development and thought the author did a great job weaving the sisters childhood trauma into present circumstances. I thought the ending was perfect and I will be sad not to keep reading about this family and their lives.

This is an interesting story that builds up to an explosion.
The narration is wonderful and switches between the characters make them seem more real.
This novel is a great one for the female crowd.

Sally Hepworth is an auto-read author for me and while I didn't find this one as fun as her last couple, I still enjoyed it and found myself blowing through it in just a couple days. I will say I didn't love the ending BUT, I'm withholding judgement because I've heard she changed the ending in the finished version after hearing from readers that they didn't like this one (and I have to agree). I'll be very curious to see how the new ending differs and if it changes my opinion one way or the other.

Thank you, NetGalley and St.Martin's Press for this highly entertaining domestic drama. The story was narrated by three women who may be unreliable. It flowed well and kept me turning the pages in suspense.

I enjoyed this book, but do not recommend it to those readers disturbed by some troubling and triggering themes. If you enjoy an intense, suspenseful story based on dysfunctional family dynamics you might be highly entertained.

Thank you to net galley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Younger Wife is a novel about a family including two grown daughters, their father who has found love again with a younger woman, and their mother with dementia. Each of the family members is sorting through their own personal difficulties throughout the book. The book itself is very readable and would be perfect to pack along on a trip. I did struggle some with the timeline of the events that took place. I also thought that some of the ways that the book addressed abuse were uneven.

It was a fun read, 2.5 stars,

Sally Hepworth’s domestic suspense novel, The Younger Wife, begins with the wedding of Melbourne-based heart surgeon, Stephen Aston, a man in his 60s and Heather, a 30-something interior designer. It’s a big wedding, with Stephen’s two daughters, Tully and Rachel in attendance. The groom is old enough to be the bride’s father … well it’s an old story. But wait … there’s something really odd about this wedding. Stephen’s ex-wife, Pamela, is also a guest. Stephen insists that even though Pamela and he are divorced, she should attend as she’s still family. Pamela, by the way, is living in a care home with dementia. Backstory: Heather was hired for home renovations by Stephen and Pamela when they were still married. Shortly after Stephen met Heather, he put Pamela in a care home. A month after moving Pamela into the care home, he filed for divorce and announced his upcoming marriage to Heather. Alarm bells were going off in my head with this information. And I’m not the only one. Most of the guests feel uneasy about Pamela’s presence, and this unease is proved warranted when something goes horribly wrong. …


The novel segues to a restaurant dinner organized by Stephen. He invites his daughters Tully and Rachel and, there he introduces Heather as his fiancée. Tully and Heather are floored. They are still adjusting to the relocation of their mother to a nursing home, and they had no idea their dad was even dating. Tully’s first reaction to Heather is to assume she’s going to “destroy their lives.” Rachel plays a cooler hand, but both young women struggle to adjust to the news.

Under different circumstances, Rachel might have felt pleasure at this meeting. For example, if her father had started dating someone after mum died. A nice widow named Beryl, perhaps

The story moves from Stephen’s announcement up to the wedding. While both Rachel and Tully try to adjust to the news that they are shortly to have a young stepmum, both young women face other challenges in their lives. Rachel, who runs a bakery business from her home, discovers mysterious contents in her mother’s hot water bottle. Tully, who lives in one of the most prestigious neighborhoods in Melbourne, faces an uncertain future. Both sisters have ‘issues;’ Rachel, who doesn’t date, has never dated, tends to eat her feelings, and Tully has picked up a nasty little habit since she was 11. Rachel, unsettled by the news of the wedding combined with the contents of the water bottle, tries to ask her mother some questions, but it’s a roll of the dice when it comes to whether or not Pamela will recognize her children. As events roll on, Rachel and Tully begin to question every thing they know about their parents.

All the characters have secrets, and all of those secrets will be uncovered by the time the book ends. The story unfolds through the voices of an (initially) unnamed woman, Heather, Tully and Rachel. The Younger Wife is a page turner. I liked the relationship between the very different sisters. Yet while this story is highly readable, I had some issues with a couple of things. 1) Tully’s husband, Sonny, makes a MAJOR mistake (no spoilers) but Tully basically shrugs and that’s that. Of course, underneath Tully’s acceptance and nonchalance, it’s NOT ok, and this is evident by her later stressed out, self-destructive behaviour. Sonny is appalled by his wife’s behaviour, and Tully waits for the lightening to fall. But wait…. Sonny isn’t called to account for his actions.

2) Another issue I had was with the character of Heather. The choices she makes after one particular incident pushed credulity over the edge. Can’t say more than that without spoilers. One’s past makes one more vulnerable in certain situations and to certain relationships, I get that, and I agree, BUT when the evidence is irrefutable … c’mon. What sort of idiot accepts PILLS after YOU KNOW what the truth is? Heather’s behaviour makes her … well either NOT a credible character or not the sharpest tool in the toolbox (yes even taking her past into consideration.) Still, in spite of these flaws, I liked the way the author showed that the ideal family is sometimes rotten to the core. It takes being inside that family to know the truth.

review copy

I am soooo disappointed with this book. I absolutely ADORED Sally Hepworth's The Mother-in-Law so I wanted to pick this one up as soon as I could get my hands on it. Unfortunately, it fell extremely flat and lacked all the thrill and thorough character development that I loved and gravitated toward in The Mother-in-Law. This ultimately felt like a literary fiction novel with just a hint of mystery, which is a fine genre, it just isn't what I was expecting going into this novel.

I also do find myself agreeing somewhat with what other reviewers are saying regarding the ending. I don't know if I necessarily agree that it leans into the women always being overdramatic and hysterical ideology, but I do think the lack of overall conclusion and finality made the book far less enjoyable. I'm definitely still going to pick up Hepworth's The Good Sister because I've heard amazing things, but I am really disappointed by this. After The Mother-in-Law, I was ready to mark Sally Hepworth as a new favorite author, but I'll have to revisit after picking up her other works.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced audio copy. All thoughts and opinions are, as always, my very own.