Title: The Younger Wife
Author: Sally Hepworth
Publisher: Pan Macmillan, Sydney
Publication date: 2021
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Reviewer: Jill Fulcher
The Younger Wife is a family drama centred on the relationship between a doctor, his much younger bride-to-be and his family.
This family has a lot of issues and hidden secrets that lead to the death of one of the characters.
Stephen introduces his girlfriend, Heather to his daughters and hopes they will accept her with open arms.
The only problem is he is still married to their mother, who is in a nursing home with dementia.
He then drops the bombshell that they are to be married.
Tully and Rachel process the news in different ways.
Both girls are struggling with issues from their childhood.
Tully appears to have the perfect life with husband, Sonny and two children.
Rachel is a successful baker who finds comfort in food.
The story is divided between Tully, Rachel and Heather.
It raises a host of serious topics. I found it difficult to understand how the supposedly normal daughters had managed to hide their secrets from their parents.
Heather has a history of alcohol and domestic violence and wishes for a normal, safe life with Stephen.
All three start to question if Stephen is really the perfect husband and father.
As the story continues the reader must try and decipher through the narrators, what is real and what is not.
Sally Hepworth has managed another great book with lots of twists and turns.
I found I couldn’t put it down, however, I was dissatisfied with the end.
This didn’t detract from my enjoyment at all.
When reading The Younger Wife, make sure you read the author’s note.
Other stories: Book review: The Music of Bees
