I’ve read this author before and thoroughly enjoyed a previous book. This novel felt grittier somehow. Still a twisty domestic suspense novel. Still quite enjoyed it and would definitely read the author again. On balance a good book.

The Younger Wife is another successful thriller from the master of domestic suspense, Sally Hepworth.

The prologue catches the reader's attention and then all we have to do is keep flipping pages and try to understand the women in this story who are all suffering from one form of addiction or another. A family that seems normal but is clearly dysfunctional has a lot of learning to do as the characters in the story discover facets about each other that were heretofore unknown. There are several things in the story that was exceptionally good but there were also parts that I was not too keen on, like the fact that all three females come across as completely clueless until the end. This was probably done to maintain the suspense but again, there’s was absolutely no element of surprise with the reveal, and then the ending is probably a BIG question, left ambiguous for all the book clubs to have their own heated discussion about.

The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth is exciting with its in-depth look into subtle manipulations and the neediness of all to be accepted and loved by someone and causing one’s own blindness in order to get that. I did expect MORE, though!

If you have not read any other work by Sally Hepworth, I would strongly recommend reading the Good Sister which had one of the best characters written by the author.

Many thanks to Net Galley, Hodder & Stoughton, and the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.

This review is published on my blog https://rainnbooks.com/, Goodreads, Amazon India, Book Bub, Medium.com, Facebook, and Twitter.

I have read and loved Sally Hepworth novels before, so this was an easy choice. I enjoyed this twisted and exciting plot and the portrayal of various situations.

Tully and Rachel are obviously quite upset when their father announces his new relationship with Heather. Especially since their mother, Pam, to whom he is still married, is in a care home due to her Alzheimers. They are frosty on their first lunch together. Still, Rachel tries her best with the situation, even when he announces he will divorce her mother so he can marry Heather. Of course, Heather is younger than either of Stephen's daughters, which just makes matters worse.

There are a lot of serious issues covered in this book: gaslighting, rape, domestic abuse, kleptomania, anxiety, eating disorders, death and Alzheimer's. Unfortunately, not all of them were dealt with particularly well, particularly the rape and abuse.

I enjoyed the plot of The Younger Wife. The story focuses on the views of Tully, Rachel and Heather and their experiences. The characters each have a dark backstory. They all want to hide this from the rest of the world. In my experience, this is very common. But, as I often tell my children, you never really know what's happening in someone else's life, and this book shows that brilliantly.

I didn't warm much to any of the characters, which felt like a big drawback. The characters are so important, but I just didn't feel the empathy towards them that I would have liked to have aside from Pam. I also didn't enjoy the relationship between Rachel and her new beau Darcy. Why did he have to be handsome and funny? Why did she get over the fears that have held over her for almost twenty years so suddenly? I felt that was annoying and did not accurately portray how she would have behaved.

I have read some other reviews which mentioned the 'bad ending', but I didn't feel this way. I felt the ending was left a little ambiguous because that's how you feel when you are in a similar situation, especially gaslighting. Is it you that's going mad, or are you being abused? How can he be the horrible man you think he is when everyone else loves and respects him? I liked this aspect. Sally Hepworth doesn't presume to tell you what you should believe or your thoughts.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. There are many trigger warnings and much to dislike but also a lot to like. I felt that Sally Hepworth did a great job of portraying the fears of three thirty-ish-year-old women, how they would likely act, and their experiences of an abusive man, whether they noticed it or not directly.

A thoroughly enjoyable, easy read. Told from the perspective of two sisters Tully and Rachael and their soon to be stepmum Heather, it covers a lot of modern day issues with a very light touch. Some great little twists keep you gripped to the very end

This was a completely absorbing read, trying to find out the truth hidden behind all the layers.
The book opens with the wedding of Stephen Aston to his new, much younger, wife Heather. The church is packed; his adult daughters Rachel and Tully and their children are there, along with his first wife Pamela who was married to Stephen for 35+ years but has recently developed dementia. Stephen and Heather marry, step into the room with the marriage official to sign their paperwork - then wham, there's blood everywhere and people calling for a doctor. Noone knows what has happened or who is injured - but rumours start flying

We then flit back to a few months before, when Rachel and Tully meet Heather for the first time, with all of the competing emotions that meeting your new stepmum can bring, especially when she's younger than you. As the story develops it is told from various viewpoints, Rachel, Tully and Heather herself, all giving a deeper understanding of the backstory and what has led them all to where they are.

Its a typical Sally Hepworth read set in a comfortably middle class Australian town, with an affluent lifestyle showcased by beautiful people in beautiful houses. There are nods to a tougher life though, with Pamela's dementia and the details of Heather's back story in particular. I have enjoyed other books by the same author more than this one, but nevertheless enjoyed reading this, and am sure it will do well

Sally Hepworth is a master at exploring deep themes and female relationships through cracking suspense. I don’t want to spoil things but feel this might be her best yet - I’ll continue to read anything she writes!

As seems to be the norm with this author's books this touched on a lot of deep themes including mental health, addiction, rape, psychological abuse and domestic violence. But I enjoyed the read and was captivated by the three female characters, all of whom are damaged and struggling with different addictions as a result. With chapters alternating between the three you get a sense of who each is women is and three different perspectives to pick through. I didn't really get the ending though - maybe that was the point casting doubt on the reliability of the narrators or maybe I missed the point altogether. I'm not too sure but either way I didn't get it. I also found the present wedding day bits jarring as they just appeared mid chapter.

A book brimming with secrets…. Tully and Rachel Aston are murderous when they discover their father has a new girlfriend. The fact that Heather is half his age isn't even the most shocking part. Stephen is still married to their mother, who is in a care facility with end-stage Alzheimer's disease. I read this book within a day, I couldn’t put it down. I loved the characters and the way I had to keep asking myself if I was right in how I thought the plot was turning out.

So I've read one other book by this author and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately this one just didn't do it for me. I don't think it was a bad book by any means. It just wasn't what I wanted it to be. It didn't feel like a thriller to me. Honestly it was barely mysterious or suspenseful. I enjoy the authors writing style so I had to know what was going to happen. Also the part of the story that I would consider the main plot kind of fell flat and I just ended up not really caring about it at the end. Not the best work by this author but will be picking up more from her nonetheless.

I immensely enjoyed this and took my time with it! Domestic thriller at its best. Bit let down of an ending but anybody could guess.

It is so hard to imagine a doctor with malicious intents, do no harm and all that!

the only thing that was missing is that not a single female in this story was not without any issues. It would have been nice to know some normal people as well. But that is really a small complaint because I still enjoyed the story.

Tully and Rachal are taken aback when they find out their dad Stephen is dating Heather. To make matters worse his new girlfriend is younger than both of them, and their anger is further fuelled as their mum is still alive and very much still married to their dad.

To marry his new partner, Stephen must first divorce his wife, though this seems somewhat cruel as she has dementia and resides in a home. Both daughters are very wary of Heather’s intentions, especially as Stephen is an affluent heart surgeon.

As the wedding draws nearer, secrets start to unfold and Tully and Rachal are determined to unearth the family secrets and find out what Heather is hiding. They actually find out more than they bargained for, as well as revealing some long-standing secrets of their own.
In general, the plot of this book is interesting and deals with some harrowing issues. However, what should be the climax of the story, to me actually felt a bit of an anti-climax, with a not particularly satisfactory ending.

A nice light hearted book. Read in a couple of sittings. Thank you for sending me an advance copy, truly enjoyed it.

Sally Hepworth has certainly found her niche in domestic thrillers. I enjoyed this book for it’s familial issues intertwined with so many real world, yet taboo subjects, like addiction, domestic abuse, mental health, sexual assault etc. I found Tully, Rachel, and Heather relatable and likeable. Massive praise for not making Heather the cliché “other woman” villain but instead allowing Tully and Rachel to accept her and respect her. Hepworth’s writing was as always clever and thought-provoking. My only issue with the story was the epilogue that introduced some ambiguity. I honestly was left feeling gaslighted by a book that was some what about gaslighting. I questioned whether Stephen was an abuser or not but then had to remind myself that he had abused Heather and therefore, no matter what the situation was between he and Pam, he was an abuser. I’m not sure what Hepworth was angling at with this ending, but I’d love to hear her thoughts and reasoning.

What a good read.

Thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish and could not get enough of.

This is a must read for anyone who enjoys a good thriller!!
Absolutely loved the characters, the plot, the tension - impossible to put it down.
Certainly recommended!

#TheYoungerWife #NetGalley
A wonderful domestic thriller.
Tully and Rachel Aston are murderous when they discover their father has a new girlfriend. The fact that Heather is half his age isn't even the most shocking part. Stephen is still married to their mother, who is in a care facility with end-stage Alzheimer's disease. Announcing his plan to divorce and then remarry, the news of Stephen and Heather's engagement sets a chain a family implosion. With their mother unable to speak for herself, Tully and Rachel are determined to get to the truth about their family's secrets and what this new woman really wants. Heather knows she has an uphill battle to win over Tully and Rachel, all the while carrying the burden of the secrets of her past. But, as it turns out, they are all hiding something.
Sally Hepworth is constantly improving her writing skills. Characters were awesome and so was the narration.
I really recommend this one to everyone.
Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder Straughten for giving me an advance copy.

The story of an extremely dysfunctional family. It starts at the conclusion of the story, a catastrophic wedding. It keeps you engaged with detailed characterisation and suspense.

The main characters, 2 daughters, their father, 2 ex-wives and the bride. There are several emotive topics that are examined in the characterisations.

The ending is a little disappointing as it leaves you questioning whether their suspicions were correct. Interesting read and an unusual chronology but perhaps some of the details were a little unbelievable.

This is a family drama with lies and secrets galore.Well worth a read , and too good to miss.
Thank you for the opportunity to read an ARC

Well I must say that I have read & loved two previous Sally Hepworth books and this is for sure a third. Sometimes you start a book and you just know you are going to love it and this was one of those. Told from the perspective of three of the main characters, the book flows really easily and I found myself compelled to read on to find out what was going to happen next. Although the ending is rather ambiguous and can be interpretted a number of ways I loved it and cant wait for the next Sally Hepworth installment.

*I was provided with a free ebook copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. Many thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for this.

The Younger Wife is a modern family saga/thriller centred around the marriage of an older man to a woman who is slightly younger than his two adult daughters. The two daughters, Rachel and Tully are quite shocked by this marriage, as their father divorced their mother who was suffering from dementia and in a care home to do so. The book starts with the wedding, as seen by an anonymous narrator, where we discover someone has been hurt, we are just not sure who has been injured or by whom.

The book is told in alternating chapters between Rachel, Tully and Heather (the young wife) in the months leading up to the wedding, with the occasional insight into the wedding from our anonymous character. We find out that Tully is a kleptomaniac who is having money problems because her husband poorly invested their money, Rachel is cooking/baking her feelings to cover a trauma from her young and that Heather has a bad family background and is trying to marry into money to escape it.

All three of the characters have secrets that need to come out.

I found this book to be instantly enchanting and was hooked from the first few chapters. I thought that the pacing, character development was excellent and I really enjoyed reading it. The characters were all really down to earth and relatable. I've seen a few reviews where people were unhappy with the ending of this book but I personally liked the way it ended and thought it was nicely wrapped up.

Overall, a 5 star read for me and I will definitely be checking out some of the author's other books.

We are cordially invited to the wedding of Stephen, a respected heart surgeon in his 60' and Heather an interior designer younger than his daughters Rachel and Tully.
Nothing wrong there you could say, except Stephens recently divorced wife has also been invited. What could possibly go wrong?
Well quite a lot as it happens as by the end of the ceremony, the celebrant emerges covered in blood and asking for a Dr.
The storyline then works backwards and the narrative is taken up by Rachel, Tully and Heather. All 3 women have secrets and Sally Hepworth has written this very cleverly to just eek out a little bit of their stories to entice you to read just a little bit more.
I really enjoyed the storyline and this book will appeal to lovers of family dramas and thrillers.
Many thanks to Netgalley and St Martins Press for the opportunity to read this advanced copy, I am under no obligation to leave my review