Monday, September 16, 2013

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

In The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty, we meet three women who casually know each other but whose lives are actually quite entwined. We watch their lives collide as the story unfolds and see what each woman's limit is for forgiveness and how much they are willing to endure to keep their families intact.

Tess Curtis has recently learned that her husband and her cousin are in love and want to pursue their relationship. Tess considered her cousin her best friend and trusted her implicitly so she feels "had" by both of them and regrets not looking closer at their growing relationship. She takes their young son and returns to her mother's home in Sydney to gather herself after the shocking news. She is surprised to run into her ex-boyfriend, Conor Whitby, when she enrolls her young son at the local school.

Rachel Crowley's seventeen year old daughter was murdered twenty years ago and Rachel is still haunted by the fact that her murder was never solved. Hardened by her grief, Rachel continues to pursue her own theories of who killed her daughter. She firmly believes Conor Whitby killed her daughter and as she faces the fact that her son is taking her only joy, her grandson, all the way to New York City, Rachel's need to see Conor pay becomes fervent.

Cecilia Fitzpatrick is an uber-mother - she heads all PTA activities, runs a successful business selling Tupperware and never appears anywhere about town or at her children's school with even a hair out of place. Her polish is appealing if a bit intimidating. When she discovers a letter addressed to her by her husband instructing her to read it in the event of his death, she is perplexed. She becomes even more perplexed when she mentions her discovery to her husband and he reacts strangely. Cecilia can't resist the temptation and ultimately opens the letter; the letter is the catalyst for the collision of the women's lives and where they discover how they are connected.

  My Thoughts
The Husband's Secret is a wonderfully enjoyable read. We learn about each of the women and the crisis they are facing before we finally see the secret revealed - in fact, the secret is not revealed until well into the book. The story is alternately told from each of the woman's point of view and the reader gets to know to know them and understand what they face.

The author does an excellent job of walking the fine line of telling a serious story and creating a "light read".  There were many funny moments in the book but enough meat to make it a story you really want to settle in with for an afternoon. I will definitely be looking for other books by the author.

I received a copy of this book at BEA 2013. 

17 comments:

  1. I just finished this one myself and I agree wholeheartedly with all that you said :) I thought the characters were great. I was glad that there were some very funny moments in a book that has a heavy topic.

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  2. I can't wait to read this since I loved What Alice Forgot.

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  3. I'm so eager to read this one. Happy Monday, Colleen!

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  4. This is the second solid review I've seen for this title. Sounds like a winner.

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  5. Totally agree! I just bought What Alice Forgot, because I liked her writing so much.

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  6. I'll read anything she writes! Glad you enjoyed it as much as I did, Colleen

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  7. Agree - a light, enjoyable read. (Though a few months later, I admit that it hasn't really stayed with me.)

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  8. Thanks for the intro to an author new to me too.

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  9. I loved this book too. What Alice Forgot also walks that line between serious and light really well, I think you'd like it.

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  10. I enjoyed reading your review. I was glad for some of the lighter moments in this book, as the topics were serious.

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  11. This one showed up in my mailbox and I'm never sure if I want to keep those or not. Sounds like this one's a keeper!

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  12. You're so right about this being neither too light nor too serious! The author did a great job making something that was almost a thriller out of mostly mundane life events. It was exciting and sometimes really funny, but also really made me think. I thought it was awesome :)

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  13. I liked this book. Nice post.

    Elizabeth

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  15. Read this book in about a day and a half , couldn't put it down. Liane Moriarty is an excellent story teller. Thought the Epilogue really put the cap on a fine story!
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