Whip smart and deftly written!  I finished this domestic drama/suspense in mere hours.  Full of intrigue and brilliantly layered, nothing is as it seems in Hepworth’s newest novel, proving she continues to be at the top of her game.

 

The novel begins at the wedding of Stephen Astor.  His ex-wife and future wife both stand at the front of the chapel alongside him, his daughters, and grandsons.  In any other family, with any other man… this situation would be outlandish.  But Stephen is no ordinary man.  

 

He and Pam were happily married for decades until dementia stole her away.  And now, their grown daughters, Tully and Rachel, must get used to a newer, younger interloper to their family.  Just who is Heather Wisher, and how did she get her claws into their father?

 

I love a good family drama, and this one is addictive and compulsively readable.  Not only does it unfold in short chapters, the alternating point of view adeptly developed the characters in a way I felt I knew them deeply while also not at all.   

 

This book does have a lot going on. But I found that actually made this plot work all the better. 

That ending!  It’s a DOOZY, and you’re definitely going to want to discuss it. Some people will love it.  Some will hate it.  But most of us never had it all figured out…  Utterly brilliant! 

Don’t miss the author’s note at the end.  Hepworth’s reflection on her dear aunt and the hot water bottle that set this all in motion endeared me even more to The Younger Wife.  

 

Many thanks to Sally Hepworth, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this book.