I read this in a morning. Sisters Tully and Rachel are juggling family, friends and the fact their father divorced their mother – who is in a care facility with end-stage Alzheimers – and is marrying a woman closer to their age than his. Stephen appears to be in love with Heather, who is doing her best to fit in with her stepchildren, and to soothe any troubled waters between father and daughters. Easier said than done of course, because this is not a run of the mill marriage story, rather a look at where everyone’s life isn’t up to scratch. There are heartbreaking scenes for the sisters, and Heather, especially when something you wouldn’t find to expect in an everyday object pops up. With more questions than answers and things hazy at times, what’s really going on? Heather has an uphill battle to convince the sisters to accept her, and of course, there’s the small fact of their mother still being around, if not entirely herself. Expect a lot of secrets and revelations in this quickly paced book.

I must be in book slump or a bad mood because nothing much is grabbing me lately. This books opens with the wedding. Stephen Aston (60 something respected surgeon) is marrying 34 year old Heather Wisher. Stephen’s two daughters, both older than his new wife are bridesmaids. Natalie (Tully 37) is a neurotic kleptomaniac and Rachel (35 years old) has never had a relationship. With anybody. And soothes her insecurities by cooking, baking and eating. Something bad happened to her when she was 16 (no prizes for guessing) and that was that! Heather herself is desperately trying to move on from her dysfunctional childhood. Trying too hard I thought. And what 34 year old, woman or man, doesn’t how how to cook a steak?

Also present at the wedding is Stephen’s former wife, Pamela whom he recently divorced and who is in a nursing home with early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Um - who invites their addled ex to their wedding? And she embarrasses herself. Anyway, as the bridal party and the celebrant move into the sacristy to sign the register to formalise the wedding, Pamela sneaks in clutching a candle stick. A scream is heard, pandemonium ensues and an ambulance is called. Something serious has occurred!

We then go back a year to the restaurant dinner where Stephen announces the engagement to his daughters before the divorce is even started. Awkward!

Eventually we learn that Stephen has been keeping a secret from his family. And clues start to emerge that maybe he’s not really a very nice man. But he always has such a rational explanation for everything and the women in his life are silly, hysterical, neurotic, blah blah! No, no no! Stop writing women being so naive and allowing themselves to be victims of gaslighting! And alcohol - my goodness they were practically swimming in it! Oh, and the hot water bottle filled with over $97 thousand - what was that? It was so out of left field, it was head shaking.

It was entertaining to a degree but it was also very clear where this was heading. I know a lot of people really enjoyed this but Stephen’s nice guy act was sickening and that’s all I’ll say. Many thanks to Netgalley and Hooder & Stoughton for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

Enjoyed this book, a quick and compelling read.

Stephen Aston, pillar of the community, heart surgeon, devoted ex-husband and carer, father and now fiance - Stephen is many things, but is he also a lying, violent and manipulative abuser?

I liked the characterisation of the daughters in particular, and would love to have a bit more of their perspective on their dad via flashbacks to flesh it out a bit.

Would make an excellent and highly bingeable TV show!

I really enjoyed reading The Younger Wife, it was a complete page turner, the characters well developed and the storyline was full of twists. I'd recommend to anyone is a fan of women's fiction and domestic thrillers.

This was a book that I thought would be 5⭐ because the first half was sooo good and I was just sailing thru it, but the last half. I WAS SO DISAPPOINTED.
The writing def made the last half easy to read coz it was so easy and flowy.

My fav characters from the book were Rachel,Darcy and Sonny:)
Also this didn't feel like a thriller more like women's fiction with a side of mystery.

Read this if you love;
-Family drama
-Women's fiction which addresses a lot of important topics such as kleptomania and domestic abuse.
-Big little lies
-Interesting and unique characters

TW: Rape, physical and emotional abuse, and kleptomania.

A dramatic page-turner exploring mental illness, abuse, gaslighting, and sister relationships. I really enjoyed this - great for fans of Liane Moriarty and other domestic dramas.

I blitzed through this book over the weekend as I just could not get enough. Light and witty I enjoyed every second. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this novel from Sally Hepworth about a family whose father marries a much younger woman after divorcing their mother, who has dementia. It follows two sisters, Tully and Rachel, who have quite difficult problems of their own, and how the actions of their father have affected their lives. It also looks at the new wife, Heather, and how her father’s actions and those of her husband to be affect her life. It is a novel packed with emotion and lots of wry humour. It looks at the ways that men attempt to control women. I look forward to Sally Hepworth’s next novel. Thanks to Hodder and Stoughton and NetGally for an ARC of this novel.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced copy.
This is my first book by Sally Hepworth and it definitely won’t be my last. This was an excellent psychological thriller that cast interesting and despite their flaws, relatable characters. The story line and intrigue had me hooked early on and I found myself reading late into the night to finish the book and find out what happens. This was a very interesting and gripping read which I would highly recommend.

Ever since I found out about "The Younger Wife", I've been waiting to get my hands on it. Sally Hepworth proved herself to be a top-notch author with "The Good Sister".

Stephen Aston, a celebrated, surgeon, is getting married to Heather Wisher, a woman who is younger than both of his daughters, Tully and Rachel. This book is told through the POV of three women in his life.

Even though this was hard to put down right from the beginning, it took me a while to like the women because I thought they weren't all that likeable. But with time and the pages, I found that the things I didn't like about them turned out to be the things that warmed them to me,

All these women are deeply flawed and sometimes you wonder why they act the way they do. But that's exactly what makes them so relatable. We all have our bad days, our neurosis, things that we are insecure about and we witness these women at their worst but they are still amazing.

Sally Hepworth surprised me with her sassy and poignant commentary. A domestic drama with elements of mystery that is worth every page.

Would highly recommend to every women and fans of the author.

Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the advanced e-copy.

I was super excited when I got approved for the ARC of Sally Hepworth's book--The Younger Wife!

Honestly, I haven't read any of her books yet but I have heard so many raving reviews about her books that I was curious about it.

Tully and her sister Rachel gets a surprise when their father introduces Heather, who was a therapist for their mother Pam who had dementia. It was a whirlwind of divorce followed by the unexpected announcement of wedding plans and engagement. Both Tully and Rachel decides to find the family's secret when Rachel comes across a bottle filled with money and the name of a woman named Fiona Arthur. And they want to find more about their new younger stepmother, Heather.

The story is told from Tully, Rachel and Heather's points of views. Each character has a unique characteristic and is going through some trouble--Tully's husband Sonny became bankrupt and Tully suffers from being a kleptomaniac, Rachel loves baking and Heather had come from an abusive family. The story starts with a scene of the wedding, narrated by a mysterious person who is the uninvited guest and who noted down the expressions of Tully, Rachel and Heather. After the ceremony, a scream is heard and then the story shifts to one year earlier. The scene changes back and forth to the past and present, past told by the perspectives of Tully, Heather and Rachel until to the day of the wedding. All three of them are complex characters and the two daughters seemed to have a complex relationship with their father. This was also fast paced thriller as we have no idea who got hurt at the wedding and who screamed and the author did a good job of putting the reader to the edge of the seat as the reader would want to know what was going to happen next. There were twists with secrets revealed and the ending...boy the ending was completely unexpected! Totally blew me away!

If you like a really good psychological thriller that will put you at the edge of the seat, then this one is for you--worth 4.5 stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

This page-turner kept me up till almost 5am and I finished it in one night. At one point, I was sure that it would be a 5⭐ read for me. So what happened?

I love the writing, which made the story flow well and easy to fly through. The characters are fantastic. Think book boyfriends are only for romance novels and that thrillers always have crappy spouses? Sally Hepworth proves otherwise!

I adored Sonny and Darcy as much as Wally from The Good Sister. Rachel was my absolute favourite and I liked Heather too. The dynamics between the three women were so interesting and it made me happy to see them bonding and having fun.

This book also explores a myriad of heavy themes such as various mental illnesses and sexual assault, which I thought was quite well-done on the author's part. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the topic of domestic abuse.

I appreciate what the author was trying to convey here about how domestic violence can be hard to recognise, the impact it has on survivors and loved ones, as well as how the subtle manipulation tactics can make you doubt yourself. Heck, even I as the reader was kept guessing and doubtful.

But it is precisely this doubting and greyness that I find harmful and counter-effective. Not only was the gaslighting in this book was extremely frustrating to read, I was also disappointed in the direction that the book chose to go in eventually.

I'd been hoping for a emotionally rich story with well-developed characters, but unfortunately it ended up being a typical domestic thriller with your usual tired and overused tropes. This coming from Sally Hepworth makes it all the more disappointing.

I couldn't put this book, it was well written with a gripping and intriguing storyline and well developed characters. It was twisty and unpredictable and just a really thrilling read, I really enjoyed it.

4.5 rounded up

Let me invite you to wealthy heart surgeon Stephen Ashton‘s wedding to the “younger wife“ Heather Wisher. He’s flanked by two small boys, Miles and Locky, his grandsons, who are charmingly (maybe!) acting as his best men. His daughters Rachael and Tully(Natalie) are bridesmaids and his ex-wife Pamela, who has Alzheimer’s, looks on as the exquisite bride walks down the aisle. What are the onlookers thinking? A golddigger? Has Heather got “daddy issues“ and maybe, why is Pamela there? Are they a happy united family as they are presenting or ….??The story is told by Tully, Rachel and Heather which works extremely well and is interspersed with an onlookers view of the events at the wedding.

This is definitely a wedding invitation you wouldn’t want to decline as right from the start Sally Hepworth effortlessly but dramatically reels you into the plot and keeps you hooked from start to finish. I could not put it down as it’s a revelation a minute kind of a book. At times you feel like a voyeur waiting for the inevitable car crash but utterly unable to stop reading. It starts with a shocker then backtracks a year where there are some scenes of dark humour and especially lively storytelling but then it starts to get serious as the dysfunction and complexity bubbles to the surface.

This novel confronts several issues and does so extremely well as events force characters to confront their pasts and the accuracy of their memories. The characterisation is excellent even if they aren’t all likeable, many do evoke sympathy and empathy. Each major character has a deep-seated issue which the author explores really well as the plot darkens and thickens. The tension ramps up and there are times when you hold your breath as it’s so chilling with the three perspectives weaving together in a cohesive whole. I really like the ending as it’s one to ponder over but to me it feels justifiable.

This is another winner for me, Sally Hepworth is an excellent writer, I like the way she writes as she is a must read author for me.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Hodder and Stoughton for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review

Wow! Wow! Wow! I got really immersed into this, so intriguing and gripping with lots of surprises and thrilling moments! There's real psychological suspense and drama. I loved the writing style wonderfully evoking the atmosphere and tension in every setting. I liked the great mystery running throughout, who is the wedding narrator and what part does he/she play? All the characters are very interesting and all have their own story to tell.
Highly recommended.

Interior designer Heather meets Stephen when she’s employed by him to redo his house. Although several decades older than her,, Stephen is charming, handsome and successful. With his wife, Pam, in a home for dementia patients, it’s understandable that Stephen would want to find love again and he does: with Heather. Much to the chagrin of his two daughters, Tully and Rachel, who are bothHeather’s age.

But as Heather becomes part of the family, questions start arising. Why hasn’t Rachel had a boyfriend since she was 16? Why is Tully so highly strung? And what could have caused Pam to develop dementia at a relatively young age?

The Younger Wife was the first book by Hepworth that I’ve read but it certainly won’t be the last: fast paced and twisty, I devoured it in less than a day. Each character is well realised and as the story unfolded I was utterly gripped.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5

I've read and enjoyed two of Sally Hepworth's previous novels so was excited to receive a copy of The Younger Wife.

Set in Melbourne, this book was about a surgeon who is marrying a younger woman. It features time lapses, a lot of mystery and lots of plot twists. It took unexpected turns and I particularly enjoyed the psychological thriller aspect of the novel.

I would highly recommend this to fans of Liane Moriarty.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The story
Tully and Rachel are the 30 something daughters of heart surgeon Stephen and his wife Pamela. Pam’s dementia is so advanced that she has been placed Ina care facility. But Stephen and his new girlfriend, Heather, are engaged. This means that Stephen will need to divorce Pam before he and Heather can marry. Right upfront, there is a narrator at the wedding who knows more than most. And when pandemonium breaks out, we have to wait to see what happened.

My thoughts
It seems like reviews of this story are polarised into people not understanding the ending and disliking the story and those that love it. I think the story is all mapped out, the puzzle pieces just need to have their dots connected. The two sisters are both damaged in different ways that don’t make sense coming from a true happy family. Heather’s past makes her an ideal candidate for the next wife. So much of the events are not normal. I loved the cleverness of the characters and the rotating perspectives. Frightening how the ghosting leads each of the young women and Pamela to have doubts about what is real.

My first Sally Hepworth book and it won’t be my last.

The story opens with the wedding of the younger wife, on Heather and Stephen’s wedding day. Accompanied by his daughters Rachel and Tully, both of whom are older than Heather, and surrounded by family and friends…including his former wife. Within moments of the registrar making the legal declaration, there is a scream and the registrar is covered in blood. Just what has happened? And why….

I really enjoyed immersing myself in the story and will be looking for lore of Sally’s books. Would recommend.

Stephen Aston is getting married again. The only problem is, he's still married to his first wife, even though she is in a care facility for dementia. But he'll take care of that easily, by divorcing her--even if his adult daughters protest.

Tully and Rachel Aston look upon Heather as nothing but an interloper. Heather is the same age as Rachel and even younger than Tully. Clearly she's a golddigger and after their father's money. Heather has secrets that she's keeping close, and reasons of her own for wanting to marry Stephen.

With their mother unable to speak for herself, Tully and Rachel are determined to get to the truth about their family's secrets, the new wife closing in, and who their father really is. But will getting to the truth unleash the most dangerous impulses...in all of them?

This is my first Sally Hepworth novel and she is a great writer.
I loved the domestic suspense and all the twisty reveals.
I had so much fun reading it!!!
Now I gotta read all her previous works.