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bernluvsbooks 's review for:
The Mother-In-Law
by Sally Hepworth
4 This was NOT what I was expecting BUT I LOVED it stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Diana was a complicated woman. Her outward appearance depicts a wealthy, strong and even altruistic woman. Yet we instantly come to see that her family had a vastly different view of her and it wasn't all positive. Thus, when the story opens and we find Diana dead we are easily enveloped by the questions - was her death a case of suicide or murder?
The story is told from multiple view points as well as alternating timelines, filling in the blanks of Diana's life and leading us to the circumstances surrounding her death. I was expecting more of a thriller but the story ended up having more of a domestic mystery vibe. It definitely worked within the plot and allowed us to get a feel for the family dynamics between the characters.
There has been quite a lot of commentary about Diana and her actions in other reviews. I personally felt that Hepworth did an amazing job of explaining why she was who she was and ultimately acted the way she did. She was a very guarded person, rarely letting all her walls down. Tom, her husband, was by far one of the only people that truly knew her. They were definitely a yin and yang relationship, each providing the other with what they needed most. Their relationship, as well as the parts told from her point-of-view helped me warm to her character and have empathy for her. Hepworth has talent for developing multi-layered characters. Things are not as cut and dry as they seem. Her writing evoked many different emotions in me as I read through the story and came to know and understand each character.
So much of what takes place between the family ultimately involves miscommunication and misunderstanding. You can't help but feel for where they ended up and wonder how different things could have been, if they had just taken the time to honestly communicate with each other and connect about the things that were important to them versus suffering through them alone.
Overall, this one drew me in immediately and kept me engrossed throughout. It wasn't so much about the whodunnit as the complicated family dynamics that kept me turning the pages.
Thank you to Sally Hepworth, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Diana was a complicated woman. Her outward appearance depicts a wealthy, strong and even altruistic woman. Yet we instantly come to see that her family had a vastly different view of her and it wasn't all positive. Thus, when the story opens and we find Diana dead we are easily enveloped by the questions - was her death a case of suicide or murder?
The story is told from multiple view points as well as alternating timelines, filling in the blanks of Diana's life and leading us to the circumstances surrounding her death. I was expecting more of a thriller but the story ended up having more of a domestic mystery vibe. It definitely worked within the plot and allowed us to get a feel for the family dynamics between the characters.
There has been quite a lot of commentary about Diana and her actions in other reviews. I personally felt that Hepworth did an amazing job of explaining why she was who she was and ultimately acted the way she did. She was a very guarded person, rarely letting all her walls down. Tom, her husband, was by far one of the only people that truly knew her. They were definitely a yin and yang relationship, each providing the other with what they needed most. Their relationship, as well as the parts told from her point-of-view helped me warm to her character and have empathy for her. Hepworth has talent for developing multi-layered characters. Things are not as cut and dry as they seem. Her writing evoked many different emotions in me as I read through the story and came to know and understand each character.
So much of what takes place between the family ultimately involves miscommunication and misunderstanding. You can't help but feel for where they ended up and wonder how different things could have been, if they had just taken the time to honestly communicate with each other and connect about the things that were important to them versus suffering through them alone.
Overall, this one drew me in immediately and kept me engrossed throughout. It wasn't so much about the whodunnit as the complicated family dynamics that kept me turning the pages.
Thank you to Sally Hepworth, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.