THE YOUNGER WIFE

SYNOPSIS

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

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.

A garage full of stolen goods. An old hot-water bottle stuffed with cash. A blood-soaked wedding. And that's only the beginning.

Title: The younger wife

Author: Sally Hepworth

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Publication date: April 14, 2022

REVIEW

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Last year Sally Hepworth set the bar pretty high for herself with “The good sister”, one of my favorite reads of the year. Now she’s back with “The younger wife”, another domestic suspense tale that, although not as exciting as her previous book, still makes a pretty enjoyable read.

The book takes off with a wedding scene between Stephen Aston and her young bride Heather. In attendance are Tully and Rachel, Stephen’s daughters, both of them older than the bride. But also in attendance is Pamela, Stephen’s ex wife, whom he divorced after she was diagnosed with dementia (so classy, right?). After the ceremony is done a sudden scream, a thud and lots of confusion suggest there won’t be a happy ever after but, who was the victim?

From there the book goes back a year to tell the story of how they got there through the alternating voices of Tully, Rachel and Heather. Soon we learn all three woman have some skeletons in their closets so they end up being not so reliable narrators after all.

Sally Hepworth does family dynamics really well and “The younger wife” is another great example as, despite not being that much suspense throughout the story, she still manages to deliver a really engrossing and unputdownable story.

I liked how my perceptions of the different characters kept changing as the story progressed, what made the reading experience much more interesting as it was never clear who you could trust.

But if there was one thing that caught me by surprise was the ending. I had heard it was controversial and now I understand why. It is completely open to reader’s interpretation and it would make a great discussion point in a buddy read. You might not agree with it, but the journey there was so much fun that it was a solid 4 ⭐️  for me.

Entertaining story with an engaging style and a surprising ending that will let you be judge and jury.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.