Younger Wife, a review by Di

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THE YOUNGER WIFE
Sally Hepworth

St Martins Press
April 5, 2022
352 Pages

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Sally Hepworth has an interesting writing style. Her books are classified as Domestic Suspense/Thriller. But, for the most part, the suspense is very very subtle. It’s almost passive-aggressive. If you’re not paying attention, you might not even notice.

The Younger Wife is about 3 women. Rachel and Tully are adult sisters (in their 30s). Their mother has dementia and has moved into a care home. Their father is about to marry Heather, who is actually younger than Rachel and Tully. Then, there is a mysterious character who appears several times throughout the book, obviously for a purpose. But, it takes a long time for that character’s purpose to be revealed.

The story contains the compulsory element: SECRETS. Every one of the above women has one. The secrets leak out, very slowly. There is an undercurrent flowing right from the beginning of the book. You know things will come to a head but you don’t know what these things are or when they will happen.

Other timely issues are touched on: abuse, drinking, kleptomania. There is a lot to keep the reader’s attention.

The ending was a surprise, sort of. I have read other reviews; some were happy with it, some weren’t. My wishy-washy opinion is that I think it was a good ending. Each reader will have to make up their their own mind.

This was a great book to escape these troubled times. Sally Hepworth has not disappointed me yet! And, I loved the cover!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an Advance Readers Copy.

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