The Younger Wife

How do you follow up The Good Sister? A book was on my best of last year list, and on many other reviewers' lists. The Younger Wife has been one of my most anticipated reads since I heard about it.

Tully and Rachel are sisters in their thirties, the dad Stephen is a respected Doctor, their mum Pam is in a care home with advanced dementia.

Meet Heather, Stephen's new girlfriend, soon to be the younger wife, but this isn't like any domestic-noir you've read before. We learn at the start that something gravely serious and shocking will happen at the wedding, and the tension builds throughout the novel to the big reveal.

Chapters are told from the perspectives of Tully, Rachel and Heather, each has a story, a past and secrets. Once again Sally Hepworth brings characters with unique character quirks and personalities that I've not read about before.

The sharp character writing and wry humour sparkles and it is just a delight to read cover to cover.

Did I love it as much as The Good Sister? Not quite, but this is still a hugely entertaining novel, full of character and definitely recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton

I thought this was the first book I'd read by Sally Hepworth, but when I checked back I did read another quite some time back, which I really enjoyed. The Younger Wife was way better than I'd expected from the slightly clumsy-feeling title and description. (I'd expected standard domestic thriller - you know, the ones that always seem to have a family member in the title.) Instead, this reminded me quite a lot of Liane Moriarty, which is of course a good thing.

Stephen, a surgeon, has announced his intention to marry much younger interior designer Heather, even though he's already married to Pam, who is in a care home with early onset dementia. It's hard to imagine who would present this development to his unsuspecting adult daughters as unalloyed Good News, but this, nevertheless, is what he does.

Three interlinked strands follow Heather and Stephen's daughters Tully and Rachel in the run-up to the wedding. All have their own issues, and all made compelling reading; I particularly enjoyed Rachel's story.

Having read some other reviews, I'm surprised at how many people expressed that they were disappointed in the ending, finding it too ambiguous. I didn't find it particularly ambiguous - not that I mind a bit of ambiguity - and I'm not sure the author intended it to be. There was certainly, for me, sufficient evidence to draw a conclusion, and I didn't find the ending to be at all unsatisfying. (But maybe I missed the point. That's always possible.)

Anyway, it was a highly enjoyable read - many thanks to the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

Really enjoyed this book from start to finish, it thrilled me, it had extremely believable characters. Would recommend it to anybody.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

*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.

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.

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

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!

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This book is about a family, who are civilised but not as civil as they first thought. Stephen is the father, who is married to Pam, and they have two daughters, Rachel and Tully. Rachel and Tully are grown up, and Pam has dementia. And it comes as a shock when Stephen announces he is divorcing Pam, and marrying a much younger woman, called Heather.

The story seems straight forward, but it becomes clear that each member of the family are hiding secrets.

I really enjoyed this book. The writing is always brilliant in books by this author. The characters were very relatable, and the author dealt with some issues that can be taboo such as Kleptomania. I was quite sad to finish the book, just so I could see how the characters got on in life, I was pretty invested in them. This author always offers a story that is twisty and turny, with surprises thrown in. I would highly recommend.

A great psychological and tense domestic thriller.
Stephen Aston a successful surgeon is getting married , there is a problem because he is still married to Pam who has Alzheimer’s , but that’s a quick fix as he will divorce her.
Tully and Rachel are Stephen and Pam’s daughters and they are not really happy about their fathers marriage to a wife who is basically in the same age range as themselves.
This book contains lots of themes including alcoholism, gaslighting , domestic violence and rape which makes it sound delightful doesn’t it? But
Hepworth and her calibre of writing makes the story so absorbing , that I turned the pages late in to the night.
The characters all have their flaws , but who doesn’t ? This is what makes the human race ,the story flows easily even though it alternates between the wedding day and periods before it.
There are also different narratives from the daughters and the wife to be which are easy to follow and flow effortlessly.
SallyHepworth is a master of her art and I am look forwarding to her next book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton.

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.

This book is one to look out for as I thought it would be a light quick read but it was anything but that, it was a rollercoaster and so enjoyable and a real good psychological thriller about a very dysfunctional family but persistence does pay off in the end …

Well, Sally Hepworth has done it again, producing yet another gripping domestic thriller full of teasing intrigue, flawed, relatable characters, and a gently fizzing plot that both surprises and delights.

The story opens at a wedding, with an unidentified narrator describing the nuptials of esteemed heart surgeon Stephen and his much younger bride Heather. Among the guests are dementia-afflicted, first wife Pam and their two 30-something daughters, Tully and Rachel. An awkward situation for sure, but all appears to be going swimmingly. Until, that is, screams and calls for an ambulance allude to some tragic event playing out in the sacristy.

Eek! What a brilliant opening! Hepworth dangles this scenario in front of us and then vexingly cuts it dead. Who? What? Why? The questions rush in, but in typical Hepworth fashion, there will be no answers until the very last chapter.

Talk about a page turner!

What follows is a fully absorbing, multi-POV narrative, feeding in the stories of Heather, Tully and Rachel from the first time they meet, until the big day. All are fascinating, complex creatures, with insecurities, quirks and dark pasts that they’ve tried to keep under wraps. Each one has her own beautifully fashioned character arc, but as their stories intertwine, they must face a devastating truth that affects them all. And it’s a doozie!

I have to say, I just adore Hepworth’s brand of domestic noire. It’s measured and understated, rather than a heart-stopping rollercoaster. It’s all about the characters, who never fail to spark a response. And her writing is just sublime.

More of the same please. Soon as.

Tully and Rachel find out their father Stephen plans to divorce their mother and marry heather his new girlfriend their age but Tully and Rachel don’t trust why heather would want to marry their father instead of someone her own age their mother Pam has dementia and doesn’t remember them and is in a nursing home
Started of abut slow but soon livened up and I couldn’t put it down
Thank you sally Hepworth for a truly enjoyable read this is the first book I have read of yours and I can’t wait to read more of your books

The Younger Wife is the seventh novel by best-selling Australian author, Sally Hepworth. When heart surgeon Stephen Aston’s daughters first meet his new girlfriend, Heather Wishing, they’re expecting a gold-digger of the first order. It’s true that Heather is younger than either Tully or Rachel, but more shocking still is that Stephen plans to marry Heather even as their mother, his current wife, Pamela, in the grip of Alzheimer’s, languishes in a secure care facility.

Stephen is anxious that his fiancée gets on well with his daughters, who are somewhat torn between loyalty to a mother who often no longer recognises them, and the happiness of their loving father. Heather tries very hard, and the sisters actually have trouble finding fault with their prospective step-mother, but then, they are each dealing with some major life issues.

Heather, despite her youth, turns out to be very perceptive, recognising Rachel’s shameful secret almost instantly, perhaps because she has a few of her own. As it turns out, all the major players in this story harbour fairly significant secrets that, in a family whose members never really considered it dysfunctional, ought to have been shared long ago.

The main story is carried by an alternating triple narrative from the perspectives of Tully, Rachel and Heather that begins when the three women first meet. This is interspersed with the (initially) anonymous observations, a year on, of a guest at Stephen and Heather’s wedding, an occasion that culminates in screams and the summoning of ambulance and police.

Hepworth packs a lot into her novel: a winter/spring love affair, a devastating financial loss due to failed investment, dementia, kleptomania, an over-anxious toddler, sexual assault, a business casualty of COVID, a mystery woman, domestic violence, coercive control and gaslighting, and a hot water bottle filled with a lot of cash.

Even as she injects occasional doses of black humour, Hepworth’s portrayal of dementia is sensitive and authentic. She gives one character an insight into why women fail to report sexual assault: “Perhaps the murky cocktail of shame and horror and disgust that [she] was feeling was the same one that muzzled them all?”

For one aspect of the story, she skilfully drip-feeds each little morsel of information to the reader so that they first draw firm conclusions and then begin to second-guess themselves, closing with a deliciously ambiguous ending that will give book clubs hours of discussion. A compelling, thought-provoking contemporary family drama.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton.

@currentlyreading__
Book 28 of 2022

Thank you to @hodderbooks, @netgalley and @sallyhepworth for the e-ARC of 'The Younger Wife'. This is the first time I have read anything by Hepworth and I am happy to say there's many more of her books I can load onto my Kindle.

'The Younger Wife' is an Australian suburban domestic drama following the lives of sisters Rachel and Tully who discover that their father, respected heart surgeon Stephen, is about to marry someone younger than his daughters whilst still very much married to their mother Pam who is a resident in a care facility after a diagnosis of Alzheimer's.

The opening chapter is a stunner of a hook! At the wedding of Stephen and Heather, his much younger bride, an unnamed narrator recounts the frenetic activity culminating in a scream and then a shout for an ambulance to be called. Unsure of who the narrator is and indeed who the injured party is, the scene is set to lead us gently to this event as the narrative moves back in time.

After Heather meets her future step daughters, the book has three POVs and each of their stories are heartfelt but interspersed with dark humour. Topics are weighty from sexual abuse, addiction, financial crisis, domestic violence to name only four but each dealt with sensitively by Hepworth. It is not your typical domestic drama - this dysfunctional family are holding their own dark secrets but there's also the secret at the heart of the book, the mystery that we, as the readers, are aiming to solve. Is Stephen who he seems to be?

A must-read if, like me, you love a domestic drama, some gritty subjects and suspense. I loved the book and am eager to read all of Hepworth's other books now.


#bookstagram #bibliophile #bookworm #book #booknerd #bookstagrammer #kindle #instabook #reader #bookobsessed #instareads #currentlyreading #bookchat #bookish #books #sallyhepworth #theyoungerwife #hodderbooks #netgalley #earc

This book was an absolute joy to read. A proper page turner that kept you guessing until the absolute end.

Great characters and a story told with real aplomb and a skill that Hepworth has in spades.

I laughed, I cried and I pleaded for more....

Highly recommended, 5 stars from me.

Thank you to Netgalley, Hodder & Stoughton and Sally Hepworth for an ARC in return for an honest review.

The Husband, The Former Wife, The Daughters and The Younger Wife, what can go wrong?

I have always been a fan of Sally Hepworth. This book is just pure genius, it gives a new definition to the term 'gas-lighting' which I think is really important. It is dark and completely thrilling. You don't know who to trust or who is right. All questions are answered by the end. I genuinely cannot recommend this enough. Perfect for fans of Adele Parks and Heidi Parks.

The Younger Wife is an unputdownable mystery filled with plenty of secrets and twists. The story begins with a wedding ending in blood. Wealthy Stephen is marrying a younger woman, Heather. Heather is half his age. And Stephen's wife, the mother of his two daughters, is in a care facility with Alzheimers. Can the daughters figure out what this woman really wants and stop the wedding? The story is filled with twists and an unputdownable plot. The characters are well-developed. Highly recommended!!

I really really enjoyed this book!

I thought it was a clever, realistic portrayal of family life, trauma and the embodiment that no one ever leaves childhood unscarred.

I could really relate to all 3 main (female!) characters and it always helps me to enjoy the book more and more.

I wish there was more of it! I will surely be coming back for more of Sally Hepworth's work!

Thank you, NetGalley for this ARC!

First of all, thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for this ARC! This review is written voluntarily by me.

In the first place, I want to read this story because I want to know what Tully and Rachel going to do when they know that their father wants to marry Heather while their mother is still in the care facility. Readers will know that something bad will happened at the wedding when during the prologue. This story is mainly told from Heather, Tully, and Rachel's POVs. These characters have their own secrets and struggles and how they cope and solve them. For me, the plot is nicely written and the writing style suits me, making the read quite easy and engaging.

The moment she laid eyes on Heather Wisher, Tully knew this woman was going to destroy their lives.

I Loved the good sister from the same author that I read a while ago so was excited to read The younger wife. This book did not let me down, the same twists and turns and keeps you guessing what is going on and who is good or bad. Family politics, secrets, illness, new loves - everything tangled in an interesting web I just couldn't put down. The ending did not disappoint.

I really need to look up other books by the same author now and can't wait for the next one!

Yet another Sally Hepworth fabulous read.
Great writing particularly on the relationship between Heather (the new wife to be) and the daughters. A shaky start as one might expect but gradually a bond is formed.
I enjoyed the way we are taken back to see what happened in each characters past giving us insight to there behaviour in the present.
I also appreciated the fact that each new character brought into the story was there for a good reason and it was easy to follow who was who. I dislike that so many authors bring so many characters into a book unnecessarily.
If you only take one book on holiday make it this one.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy in return for my honest review.

Suspenseful domestic thriller set in Australia.

Sisters Tully and Heather grew up in a picture perfect and wealthy family. But now everything is starting to crumble around them. Their mother has dementia and their father has started dating a woman the same age as his daughters. As we dig deeper it becomes clear that beneath the facade, they are all keeping secrets from each other.