Amazon.com.au:Customer reviews: The Younger Wife

Top positive review

Entertaining

Reviewed in Australia on 3 November 2021

Still not sure how much suspension of disbelief is necessary here. Is it possible that a successful doctor can be a serial abuser yet so successful a gaslighter that the women involved (daughters and wives) are unaware of it? Whatever. The plot romps on at a mile a minute as these quirky and dysfunctional characters slide over the waterfall of death only to find themselves saner and wiser in the refreshing plunge pool of life. There’s kleptomania, eating and baking your way past teenage rape, pension fraud, toddlers refusing to eat with hands, a barrister mis-investing $2m with dire results, psychologists, a murderous dad in prison, Alzheimer’s etc. What’s not to like? I highlighted a couple of wise remarks about the role of fathers in a child’s life.

Top critical review

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Lighthearted fun

Reviewed in Australia on 10 April 2022

I must be in book slump or a bad mood because nothing much is grabbing me lately. This books opens with the wedding. Stephen Aston (60 something respected surgeon) is marrying 34 year old Heather Wisher. Stephen’s two daughters, both older than his new wife are bridesmaids. Natalie (Tully 37) is a neurotic kleptomaniac and Rachel (35 years old) has never had a relationship. With anybody. And soothes her insecurities by cooking, baking and eating. Something bad happened to her when she was 16 (no prizes for guessing) and that was that! Heather herself is desperately trying to move on from her dysfunctional childhood. Trying too hard I thought. And what 34 year old, woman or man, doesn’t how how to cook a steak?

Also present at the wedding is Stephen’s former wife, Pamela whom he recently divorced and who is in a nursing home with early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Um - who invites their addled ex to their wedding? And she embarrasses herself. Anyway, as the bridal party and the celebrant move into the sacristy to sign the register to formalise the wedding, Pamela sneaks in clutching a candle stick. A scream is heard, pandemonium ensues and an ambulance is called. Something serious has occurred!

We then go back a year to the restaurant dinner where Stephen announces the engagement to his daughters before the divorce is even started. Awkward!

Eventually we learn that Stephen has been keeping a secret from his family. And clues start to emerge that maybe he’s not really a very nice man. But he always has such a rational explanation for everything and the women in his life are silly, hysterical, neurotic, blah blah! No, no no! Stop writing women being so naive and allowing themselves to be victims of gaslighting! And alcohol - my goodness they were practically swimming in it! Oh, and the hot water bottle filled with over $97 thousand - what was that? It was so out of left field, it was head shaking.

It was entertaining to a degree but it was also very clear where this was heading. I know a lot of people really enjoyed this but Stephen’s nice guy act was sickening and that’s all I’ll say. Many thanks to Netgalley and Hooder & Stoughton for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

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NZLisaM

3 Deflated Stars!

Reviewed in the United States on 22 January 2022

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We open to the wedding ceremony of Stephen, and his (twenty-nine years his junior) bride, Heather.

Our narrator is an unknown, uninvited guest, who is unhappy about the marriage.

Also unhappy, are Stephen’s adult daughters, Tully and Rachel, both older than the bride, their smiles painted on.

On the other hand, Tully and Rachel’s mother, Stephen’s ex-wife, is smiling and waving as if arriving at a red carpet event.

After the ceremony, the celebrant leads the bridal party to the sacristy to sign the registry.

Minutes later a scream is heard, followed by an ominous thud.

The celebrant reappears, her face ashen, her white pantsuit covered in blood.

We then rewind to one year earlier…

My oh my! It pains me to have to write this review, as up until the 90% mark I would have had no hesitation in rating The Younger Wife 5 stars. Just yesterday, I was singing its praises to my mum, promising to message her the title. But now, having finished, I think I’ll send her the link to The Mother In-Law instead, as Mum’s read my absolute favourite by Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister, which she also loved.

So, back to The Younger Wife. For the most part, the plot was dramatic, disturbing, engaging, and a unique slant on a theme prevalent in domestic thrillers and family dramas. The majority of the suspense and tension came from the character’s being oblivious, ignoring, or not wanting to accept, the warning signs, and their slow realisation that something was very wrong in their family.

The three main POV’s – Tully, Rachel, and Heather – were complex characters with realistic and relatable lives. Putting on a front for the world, hiding the less desirable parts of one’s self, and using addiction as coping mechanisms, and the shame associated with that, were prominent themes, and they were handled sensitively and honestly and furthered the suspense storyline in subtle and thrilling ways. The ‘wedding day’ flash forwards via an unidentified narrator heightened my excitement of what was to come.

Unfortunately, ‘what was to come’ completely changed my opinion of the book, and surprisingly my main issue wasn’t with the ‘open to interpretation’ ending {although I wouldn’t say I loved it), but rather the lack of closure and consequences regarding the serious event that occurred at the ceremony. It just didn’t not sit right with me what followed, too many things were glossed over and rushed, and the decisions made felt out-of character and selfish for characters that I had, up until that point, loved and respected.

I encourage you to check out other reviews, as a lot of my friends rated The Younger Wife 5 stars. For me, it was my least favourite, but keep writing Sally Hepworth, as I remain ever faithful

39 people found this helpful

Well Read Nana 1/24

It was going so well and good until the end and than it became absurd for me

Reviewed in the United States on 10 April 2022

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This book was going so well, like 5 star read so well. It was entertaining me thoroughly until the last 15 percent of the read sadly. Without giving away too much, there is a situation to prove ones despicable behavior and the author chose to dumb down one of her characters so much that it ruined the rest of the read for me. ****spoiler alert coming up **** The book went from a 5 star to a 3 star read by how the author wrote the insight of one of the therapists that was so insulting to me as a woman to read about. Abuse is abuse is abuse, and if someone is physically abusing you to the point of nearly taking your life how in the world can the author write it off as a character saying " well there are no bruises so did that really happen ? did I imagine it ? Just insulting to me the reader for sure. I felt it was a absurd turn of events to take that " confused view " at the end. The shame of it is that I was so enjoying this read , I was loving it actually. I understand that the author was trying to show that once you are abused or if you come from a abusive home you can find yourself in the same situation you vowed never to find yourself in but this situation that was very real and nearly deadly was denied and that went just too far for me . So 3 stars only for me just because of the pathetic ending that the author decided to go with. If it would have stayed more strong survivor than absurd it would have been a easy 4 to 5 star read .

8 people found this helpful

Joan H.

Return or not?

Reviewed in the United States on 12 April 2022

Verified Purchase

sad that I was so enthralled with this book, that I read non stop for days... that stopped during the last few chapters... the ending was so disappointing. The reader was left up in the air, NOT FAIR! This is a common theme for suspense books, but I wanted more closure in this book... You are quite a writer, Sally, but this one did not measure up to expectations. I'll still look forward to your next book...

3 people found this helpful

brennie

Kept me mostly interested....

Reviewed in the United States on 15 April 2022

Verified Purchase

This was an easy read that kept me mostly interested. A little far fetched that no one realized until this point the true nature of the doctor. The secondary characters, Rachel & Tully, were interested and I enjoyed getting to know their personalities. Not a bad book but mainly just 'meh.' Not one I'll likely recommend to anyone else I know.

Chris

always enjoy a good Hepworth book but…

Reviewed in the United States on 6 May 2022

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This one fell short for me. The characters were relatable but felt flat to me, especially Heather. The girl’s background stories were brief and didn’t evoke much feeling for me. I enjoyed it but just went with it. I’m probably in the minority😄

Kathy Bain

Highly dysfunctional family

Reviewed in the United States on 27 April 2022

Verified Purchase

I think this book had too many problems. It was just too much to smooth out by the end. The array of secrets,disorders and dysfunction was just way too much for one story

orlando

Very little substance

Reviewed in the United States on 19 June 2022

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I felt this writer did not write about something she knows. It wasn’t believable. Read it for book club, or I wouldn’t have bothered.

Dr. Paddy

good but not great

Reviewed in the United States on 19 April 2022

Verified Purchase

I did not enjoy this book as much as others books I have read by this author. More formulaic. Ok read but a bit disappointed

Predictable and rather boring...

Reviewed in the United States on 19 May 2022

Verified Purchase

I typically adore all of Sally Hepworth's books and couldn't wait for this one to be published. Unfortunately, it was my least favorite of all of her novels; very predictable, boring plot, etc.

Donna Schoenberger

Boring plot

Reviewed in the United States on 1 July 2022

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Boring

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3 star		11%
2 star		1%
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