Author: Sally Hepworth
Reviewed by Chloe Fuksa, Putnam Six Bookstore
The Younger Wife is the newly released psychological thriller from author Sally Hepworth. She emerged on the scene with the success of her last two books, The Mother-in-Law (2019) and The Good Sister (2021), and as you can guess from the title, The Younger Wife follows in that same vein of domestic suspense.
The book opens with a riveting cliffhanger – a wedding chapel, a woman’s scream, and an officiant covered in blood – before immediately jumping back in time. One year prior, Stephen Aston is introducing his new fiancé, Heather, to his two adult daughters, Rachel and Tully – and getting a less than stellar response. As the plot unfolds and the wedding nears, each character seems more and more like they could be the one responsible for the shock at the altar.
For Rachel, after she finds nearly $100,000 cash stowed away in her mother’s belongings, she begins to look more closely at her parents’ seemingly perfect marriage. For Tully, her husband has lost their money on a bad investment, and shoplifting is the only thing that can ease her anxiety. Heather, not only is she three decades younger than Stephen, she has lied about her childhood and her own family. When Pam, Stephen’s ex-wife, starts accusing him of things, is it the Alzheimer’s affecting her memory, or is she telling the truth? And Stephen, a top-rated heart surgeon, he couldn’t have a violent streak in him, could he?
The story alternates points of view between Rachel, Tully, and Heather, and as you get closer to the end, the short, snappy chapters really build the suspense. This book would make a great book club pick because there is so much to unpack – the characters, all the family secrets, and of course, the ending. The Younger Wife is not quite at the level of the author’s prior two books, but it is still a wonderful, twisty thriller that will have you staying up way too late to finish!
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