The Husband’s Secret was recommended to me by a friend, and she told me I wouldn’t want to put it down. I couldn’t wait to read it, as I was in need of a real page-turner. I have to say, my friend wasn’t wrong. I loved this book, and my only regret is that I couldn’t read it sooner because life got in the way!
One of the things I liked about the book, oddly, was that it was set in Australia. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with this as the main setting, and it was enjoyable to read something a little different. For the most part, of course, I wouldn’t have noticed that it wasn’t set in the UK or America, but somehow knowing made the world of difference. I also liked the multi-narrative aspect of the book, as it meant I could appreciate the narrative from different points of view. Though I must admit, I probably would have liked for there to have been some parts from the men’s points of view, as it was very much a female oriented narrative.
The book’s title makes it obvious that there is a bombshell to be announced at some point, though it is not clear until further into the narrative who it is that has this secret. I thought the way Moriarty broke it to the reader was very smooth, and potentially realistic, likewise was his wife’s reaction ( I don’t want to mention names, because it really does give everything away!). Until the very end of the narrative, it is unclear as to how the couple are going to recover from the discovery, and it certainly didn’t end the way I imagined it would.
My favourite part of the entire book, however, was actually the epilogue. This surprised me as I’m not usually a big fan of these; I usually find epilogues a bit of a pointless addition. However, because the actual narrative ended in media res , the epilogue was a great way of tying the whole story together and its characters together- it’s not completely clear how all of them are connected until the epilogue. It certainly added more depth to the characters, and intensified the sense of tragedy surrounding events in the narrative.
I would definitely recommend The Husband’s Secret to anyone looking for a new page turner! It would make the perfect holiday book, as you just want to keep on reading. I think the book perfectly portrayed how the desire to keep up appearances can affect an individual and their family life. A great read!
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