The Husband's Secret

I hope I've learned my lesson: don't start a Moriarty book unless I have plenty of time to finish it, because I can not put it down to go to sleep. Knowing I have to get up and go to work the next morning is not nearly sufficient to stop me reading just one more chapter, again and again until it 's all done.

The only bad thing I can say about it is that she focuses on white urban professionals. Yeah, that's attractive to many readers, 'm sure. And she is fabulous at depicting family life in a way that's realistic and not sentimental or smarmy. She can make a minor school event into high drama and a successful Tupperware saleswoman into a canny titan of industry.

And also, I suspect that these are all books I'm going to enjoy rereading, show more but it isn't as if characterization or setting or tone are sacrificed in favor of narrative drive. The plot zips along because the reader has become emotionally invested in these people, all of them.

Library copy.

Edited later the same evening to add:

Okay, I figured out one thing Moriarty does that makes her so appealing. She respects the work that women do. All of it. Not just the creative or professional careers, but also the glamour -free jobs, the volunteer work of PTAs, the emotional work of looking after family, the shitwork of buying groceries, and planning meals. All of it. That's so rare. Even the assholes who are instigating Mommy Wars don't really respect all of it: regardless of their agenda, they only respect the work of privileged women, whether it's as a CEO or as the stay-at-home mom fixing organic Vento boxes with loving notes. President of a tech start-up good, president of the PTA is just a joke usually. Women in Moriarty 's world can be wrong, prejudiced, or thoughtless, but they are all respected. show less

Ohhhh boy. The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty is a dramatic read and I loved every second of it.

Cecilia Fitzpatrick goes up to her attic and finds a letter written by her husband. It's a note that she's only supposed to read if he dies... and little does she know until her curiosity finally peaks... There's something in there that will change everyone's lives forever.

Liane Moriarty is an ace at crafting stories of people that intertwine in intriguing ways. She brings drama, romance, and a bit of comedy to all of her stories. If you've read or watched Big Little Lies, you'll know exactly how this author is - and it's fantastic. Her books are some of my favourite since I can just disappear into them and enjoy soap opera like drama show more that feels relatable.

The mystery slowly unveils itself, and I found I was slowly piecing it together as I was reading the book. It's not obvious by any means, but if you're smart and have watched as many soaps as I did when I was growing up, you'll get it. Throughout the whole book, the morals are questionable but I think that's part of the fun of this book. Why are these women acting the way they do? Why is all of this drama and havoc happening to them? You'll question a lot about these women (specifically, white middle class ladies), but you'll enjoy it too. It's like a tornado is coming for them and they just don't know it yet.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I know not everyone will, but for me it was an escape that felt over the top but also kind of real. I could understand the character's motivations and reactions even if they weren't always the most appropriate. There were times I even wanted them to go for the morally wrong choice because it just seemed right based on the book. This is definitely a new favourite of mine and I highly recommend it if you want soap opera level fun.

Five out of five stars! show less

I have loved every one of Liane Moriarty's books, but this one just blew me away. It's like a time bomb disguised as an innocuous chick lit novel. I wouldn't want to give away the plot, so I will just say that it will make you think about good vs. evil, difficult choices, loyalty, honesty, split-second timing, and responsibility. Not bad for a book with a cute pink flower on its cover! Don't start this if you want a comfort read or a happy ending that comes tied up with a bow. But do read it if you want to challenge yourself and think "what if?"

If Tana French and Maeve Binchy had a baby, this would be it. This beautiful, complicated novel is set in Australia and weaves together three separate plots. The first introduces us to Cecelia, an organized mother of three girls (Polly, Esther and Isabel) who finds an old unopened letter from her husband John-Paul.

The second introduces us to another married couple, Tess and Will. Will has fallen in love with Felicity, who is Tess’ best friend, cousin, and business partner. Tess, left reeling from the shock, flees to her mother’s house in Sydney with her son Liam. Finally, we meet Rachel, grandmother to Jacob. She is frustrated when her son Rob and his career-driven wife Lauren decided to move to New York. Rachel has experienced show more some extreme tragedies in her life that have left her bitter and resentful.

I loved that for each of the women we are able to see them through the eyes of other people in addition to hearing them describe themselves. It gives a more complete view than we as the reader are usually able to get. We often either hear what a character thinks of themselves or we see a characters described by others, not both. I loved that combination. It made me think about how I view myself vs. how others see me. We are harsher on ourselves and at the same time we can be cruel to others with our quick first impressions.

The three stories, which on the surface seem so different, are connected by unexpected threads. From the Berlin Wall to the Biggest Loser, the author uses random elements to connect the lives of the women. The whole structure reminded me so much of Maeve Binchy’s style of writing. There’s also a darker side to the story and shades of Tana French’s skilled mysteries kept popping up.

Another wonderful element is the depth of the secondary characters, especially Felicity and Connor. Both could easily have been one-note creations, easily dismissible. Instead we see their layers, we empathize with them. Their complications make the entire story richer. As much as we sometimes wish it to be true, people are not simply good or evil. Moriarty’s novel embraces that fact and delves deep into the complicated stew of life.

BOTTOM LINE: Such a wonderful novel, I couldn't put it down. It was a equal balance between great characters, excellent pacing and an incredible plot. This one hit the nail ont the head for me.

“It was like being buried in an avalanche of detail. The myriad of tiny logistical maneuvers that made up someone else’s life. It wasn’t that it was dull. Although it was a little dull. It was mainly the sheer quantity of words that flowed so effortlessly from Cecilia’s mouth.”

“Did one act define who you were forever?” show less

The main issue with The Husband’s Secret is the fact that the secret is too predictable. John-Paul’s initial reaction to the found letter as well as his subsequent actions immediately increases a reader’s suspicions. In addition, the story is the type in which a reader instinctively knows that the lives of these three very different women will somehow intersect and will try to deduce the connections. All this results in a reader able to make an educated guess of what Cecilia will uncover when she finally reads the letter. This is a shame because it is an explosive secret, and one gets the impression that Ms. Moriarty was hoping to shock readers. Instead, the big reveal is rather anti-climactic.

That being said, the predictability show more is the only drawback of The Husband’s Secret, which turns out to be minor in the long run. Since Cecilia discovers the secret halfway through the story, it is apparent that it is not the main focus of the novel. Rather, it is the catalyst for everything that happens after the unveiling, as that is when the drama really begins in earnest. It is then when a reader begins to notice the tension building in each of the characters, something that had been a subtle factor in the story to this point. The speed with which everything grows out of control is spectacular and brings a greater appreciation for the phrase “spiraling out of control.”

While the story’s climax and denouement are fantastic, The Husband’s Secret is first and foremost a story about three very different women. Cecilia is the type of woman that is so easy to hate with her supreme organizational skills, volunteer work, extremely successful home-based business, three beautiful kids, a gorgeous husband, polished appearance, and über-cheerful demeanor. There is some degree of satisfaction to watch her fall apart as she reacts to news of her husband’s secret, but that only lasts so long before a reader sympathizes with her struggle to put her life back in order because it is when she is doing this that she reveals her humanity and not the superwoman she appeared to be.

While their personal tragedies are different, both Tess and Rachel are both the more initially sympathetic of the three women. However, just like a reader’s opinion of Cecilia changes, readers will also find their sympathies towards Tess and Rachel shifting as they reveal more of their characters. It is a fascinating exercise to watch one’s ever-changing perspectives towards all three women with the introduction of one new piece of information.

Packing an emotional punch, The Husband’s Secret explores the dynamics of a neighborhood and the unlikely connections between just three of its inhabitants. Cecelia, Tess, and Rachel burrow their way under the skin of a reader. There are some fairly major weaknesses, but the emotional drama the women experience compensate for them. The story flows rapidly and realistically, and by the time the somewhat predictable secret reveals itself, a reader is heavily invested in the fates of the three women. It is an interesting study of just how far one would be willing to go to protect a loved one. show less

If you found an envelope addressed to you that you were only supposed to open and read if the writer was dead but that person was still alive, what would you do? Would you stop to think just how much the contents could change your life, could upend everything you thought you knew? What if the contents had the potential to change things for other people too, upending their lives as well? Would you open it or leave it? Give in to the temptation or resist? Would you open Pandora's box? Liane Moriarty's novel, The Husband's Secret, revolves around this very situation, keeping the reader reading to the very end, even though the secret itself isn't hard to figure out.

Cecilia is rooting around in the attic one day when she comes across a show more letter from her husband, one that was addressed to her to be opened only in the event of his death. He is only on a business trip, not dead, so now Cecilia, a typical suburban mom with a pretty enviable life, has to decide whether she's going to open the letter or not. Meanwhile, Tess has started a successful advertising business with her husband and her cousin only to now be confronted by Will and Felicity telling her that they are in love. She takes her young son Liam and moves back home to take care of her mother. Rachel Crowley is devastated when her son and daughter-in-law tell her they're moving from their Sydney suburb across the world to New York. She won't be able to see her grandson daily anymore and she doesn't know how she'll bear it. And Rachel has already borne an appalling amount of heartbreak after her daughter Janie was murdered on her 16th birthday. The lives of all three of these women will come together in the aftermath of the discovery of the letter, uncovering dark secrets and straining relationships almost beyond endurance.

The mystery of Cecilia's husband's secret is not terribly difficult to figure out but it is only the initial driver of the plot, not the climax. As the three story lines come closer and closer, the sense that something is going to happen ratchets up appreciably. Each of the three main characters have distinct voices and different challenges although each of them is grappling with the messiness of life and relationship. The novel is dramatic and mostly enjoyable although I did find it frustrating at times. As the women's lives move forward, all of the extensive foreshadowing pays off. The characters here feel very real although their lives can border on soap operatic and their resolutions are quick and tidy. The epilogue, a sort of what if, the knowledge that could have saved so much heartbreak, makes a bit of a mockery of these situations that Moriarty has so carefully drawn and could have been left off. Rife with issues of guilt and morality this is not light exactly, but it is a curl up by the fire for a couple of hours or pop it in a beach bag kind of book. show less

Yeah, this is another Liane Moriarty book review. Third in a row. And in a few days, you'll probably have the fourth in a row. Because I am sucking these books down like they are water and I'm a hiker lost in the desert.

I didn't enjoy it as much as Big Little Lies, but that's okay. As with Big Little Lies, we follow three main characters who are clearly going to end up connected in some way. There is something hanging over everyone's head. It's sort of a mystery, but not necessary a mystery we (the readers) need to be concerned about solving, because much of what is interesting is how the characters react to the mystery, and how actions have unintended consequences. Do I care about the secret (or secrets)? Absolutely. But I care more show more about how the characters are handling it. I think Ms. Moriarty creates interesting characters, ones that I become invested in over the course of these novels.

Now that I've read three, however, I am a bit concerned. Is everyone in Australia straight? Because that seems ... unlikely. Considering all of these books are set with a focus on parents of young children, you'd think there would be at least a couple of families with two mothers, or two fathers. And I'm not so sure about the ethnic diversity of her characters. I recall a few described as blond, or redheaded with light skin and freckles.

If these three books I've read are an indication, Ms. Moriarity has a bit of a formula. We get to know characters, and there is a THING hanging over them, and some might know, and some might not, but we the readers definitely don't. Or at least, I don't. For the most part. Perhaps it should be more obvious? I don't know. All of the twists have pretty much caught me off guard. Maybe I'm just behind on my novel reading, and it will become more obvious later. Whatever, don't care. I'm enjoying the hell out of these books, and this one was no different. show less