The Younger Wife
The Younger Wife
By: Sally Hepworth
“It felt like everything that she’d trusted to be real and true had turned out to be a mirage and now she didn’t know what or who to believe.”
I read and really enjoyed Sally Hepworth’s book, The Good Sister, so when I saw this title on NetGalley I knew I had to request it!
Rachel and Tully’s dad, Stephen, has a new girlfriend (Heather). The day they meet Heather, the couple announces their engagement. And also, at 34, Heather is younger than either of the sisters. Oh and also Stephen is technically still married to their mom, Pam, who is in a nursing home with dementia.
So yeah, what could go wrong?
I actually wasn’t sure what direction Hepworth was going to take this.
The book begins with a snippet of Stephen and Heather’s wedding from the point of view of a wedding guest who knows something significant about the groom and his previous bride. Something happens at the wedding that results in an ambulance taking someone to the hospital.
A police officer says, “All I know is that a crime has been committed here today. Everyone present is considered to be a witness…”
The guests have their theories— it was the confused ex-wife going after her husband! It was the daughter who went after the bride! We don’t know!
So we go back in time a year prior to unravel the events that led up to whatever ‘accident’ transpired at the wedding.
We rotate between each of the females’ POV— Tully, Rachel, and Heather.
We learn that each woman has their own struggle and coping mechanisms for their anxiety: Tully- stealing, Rachel- eating, and Heather- alcohol.
As they struggle to process their dad’s new engagement to a younger woman while their mother’s awareness deteriorates, Rachel discovers a hot-water bottle filled with 100 grand in cash that her mom had stowed away.
Had her mom been planning to leave her dad? Were all of her mom’s previous head injuries that caused early onset dementia really accidents? Could her dad be an abuser?
All three women weigh the evidence and their own personal experience and come to different conclusions. Or do they?
Hepworth must like open-ended books because, like the last page of The Good Sister, in The Younger Wife, we are left to wonder a bit about the outcome of the wedding events.
Which of our narrators are reliable? Or are none of them?
This is a good psychological thriller that will have you second-guessing your theories. Would recommend!
Sidenote: Some reviewers didn’t appreciate a cast of characters of women portrayed as hysterical/dysfunctional but that the men were all saints. Apparently this is a trope? I don’t know anything about that, but for one, female authors tend to write more female characters. Plus most fiction readers are probably female and connect more with females. I’m not sure if I see what they saw in this book. I didn’t feel it was unfair to me and I wasn’t bothered by the character choices.
In other news, as this author is Australian, here are some fun new Australian words from the book for your vocabulary:
lippy- lipstick
milk bar- suburban general store
op shops- thrift stores
icy poles- ice cream or popsicles
tosser- a useless idiot
footy- Australian rules football (If you’ve watched any Australian Survivor— which you should— you would know this one)
blissballs- protein/energy bites
Bluey- a very good kid’s TV show that is entertaining for adults too!
party pies- a small meat pie
fairy bread- triangles of white bread with butter and colored sprinkles— apparently very popular, just ask Hugh Jackman! For more info, read this.
stickybeak- prying person
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
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