The Husband's Secret (2013)

The Short of It:

Liane Moriarty has become one of my favorite authors. I discovered her books during the pandemic. She knows how to grab my attention and The Husband’s Secret delivered just what I needed.

The Rest of It:

As with many of her books, Moriarty’s stories often incorporate many characters and story lines that come together nicely but there is usually a main thread to pull you in and in The Husband’s Secret, Cecilia finds an envelope that is addressed to her, written in her husband’s hand. The instructions on the envelope ask that it be opened in the event of his death. His death? She wants desperately to read it, but when she mentions the letter to her husband John-Paul, who is very much alive, he begs her not to. Inside of that envelope is a secret he’s been keeping that will forever change their lives.

What I really enjoy about these novels is that Moriarty always manages to include the neighborhood in the story. The other characters are neighbors or friends or people you see at the school drop off. Their lives seem on the surface to be pretty perfect, but they are presented with challenges and not-so-pretty moments. Definitely not the shiny, sparkly moments captured on say, Instagram.

In addition to Cecilia’s plight above, we have Tess and Will who are happily married, or so they thought, until Tess’s cousin admits to being in love with her husband. We also have Rachel, a women who has had to deal with the grief of her daughter’s murder. A murder that was never solved and now her only son is taking his wife and son out of the country and Rachel will be without the distraction of her darling grandson, Jacob. How will she cope?

The Husband’s Secret was a satisfying read. The characters are so well-drawn and as a reader, you get the feeling that you are listening to a private moment between two people and I just love that. I think I have about three Moriarty novels left for me to read but so far, this is one of my favorites.

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Still mulling this over - somewhat reminiscent of the Greek tragedies... ( )

I enjoyed every page of the book and really appreciated the epilogue. ( )

4.25* ( )

This is the first book I've read by Liane Moriarty and I enjoyed it. I liked all the twists and turns, and the premise was unique. I really enjoyed how you get to know what would have happened to the characters if they'd made different choices. ( )