September 2013

We reviewed THE HUSBAND’S SECRET by Liane Moriarty in August, which prompted me to want to read it. Yes, even I am influenced by our reviews! The story was not the one I guessed from the title, and it had one surprise after the other, right through to the epilogue, which is soooo deliciously satisfying. It’s set in Australia, which somehow contributes to make it even more delightful as the dialogue has a great pitch.

Cecilia Fitzpatrick is leading the “perfect” life (we all know women like her) with her husband and three girls. One day, when rummaging through the attic, she finds a letter from her husband, which is to be opened in the event of his death. He is very much alive and begs her to not open it. After toying with this for days, alas, she does unseal it and read --- and from there, her world starts to unravel.

There are two other paralleling story lines with two other women, Tess O’Leary and Rachel Crowley. Tess’s marriage has unraveled, and she headed home and enrolled her young son in the same school that Cecilia’s daughters attend. Rachel, the school secretary, still is mourning the death of her daughter nearly three decades before, and she thinks she knows the killer, a teacher at the school.  

It’s a fun read, a fast read, but one you will be searching for someone to talk about it with once you are done. Great for book groups, great for just grabbing a friend to talk about it with. People keep asking if I have read it, and when I tell people about it, they all say I keep hearing about it. I love books with buzz like this that actually deliver. One more thing: gorgeous cover. It has the whole package, literally.