

Paperback: 464 pages
Publisher: Berkley; Reissue edition (March 3, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425267725
ISBN-13: 978-0425267721
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17,611 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #690 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #11 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Australia & Oceania #56 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers & Suspense > Psychological Thrillers #57 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary

Wow! I rarely give out 5 stars for a novel, it has to be exceptional, and this is. A difficult review to write without giving too much away. Suffice it to say that the writing is what makes it exceptional. Moriarty develops each character with a skill that has the reader often wondering... what would I do in this case? The way she strings the relationships together make this fiction novel totally believable, and has the reader caring about each character, drawing us in and reading far later than we intended to.We don't always make the the right choices in life. Sometimes not making a choice is a choice in itself. This is a thought-provoking, emotional, and masterfully crafted novel focusing on the complexities of relationships, secrets, forgiveness, trust and love, that will have you thinking about this novel long after you've finished it. The novel also has a couple of back-stories going on as well, it's not all about the husband's secret, but all the pieces are intricately woven, bringing it to a satisfying conclusion.In my humble opinion, I loved the ending (except for the fact that it was indeed ending.) The epilogue was my favorite part, actually. It reinforced a suspicion I had about the "secret" earlier in the novel, but also gives us a look at everything from other "what if" perspectives. I will definitely read more by this Australian author. Highly recommended for book clubs, there is a lot to discuss. Don't miss it. Thanks to for the opportunity to review the uncorrected proof (advance readers copy) prior to its release.
I am a huge fan of Liane Moriarty and I have enjoyed every single one of her novels, most recently What Alice Forgot and The Hypnotist's Love Story. The Husband's Secret is her fifth adult fiction novel and for me, her best yet."For my wife, Cecilia FitzpatrickTo be opened only in the event of my death"She found the envelope amongst a stack of old tax records and imagined it contained a sentimental message, given it was dated just a few days after the birth of their first child, fifteen years ago. Cecilia has no idea that the letter will blow her world apart.The story of The Husband's Secret unfolds from the third person perspectives of three women, Cecilia, Tess and Rachel. At first the connections between these women are peripheral but the secret Jon-Paul has been keeping for decades will change them all.Cecilia has been married to John-Paul for fifteen years, they have three bright and beautiful daughters and a busy, happy life. Cecilia is the P&C president, a successful Tupperware host and her neat and orderly world is shattered when her husband returns early from a business trip.Tess is devastated when her husband announces he has fallen in love with her best friend, cousin and business partner, Felicity. Her only thought is to escape and she abandons her life in Sydney to return to her childhood home. Tess isn't interested in renewing old friendships but finds she can't resist the attentions of an old flame.Every day is an effort for Rachel. It is only the presence of her toddler grandson that relieves the grief that has haunted her since her teenage daughter was murdered more than twenty years ago, and now her son and his wife are moving to New York. Bereft, Rachel renews her obsession with the man she suspects murdered her daughter, a man that teaches at the school where she is a secretary, a man she is convinced is really a monster.With consummate skill, Moriarty winds her way through a minefield of moral ambiguity as her story explores the very personal implications of choosing between right and wrong. I'm desperate to avoid spoilers so I can say little except that the author challenges the simplistic notions of guilt, of punishment, of justice and redemption.The Husband's Secret is so successful in large part because of Moriarty's wonderfully crafted characters. The everyday rhythms of their lives render these complex women familiar somehow and I quickly became invested in their fate. As a mother myself I understood each women's concerns about protecting their children and I empathised with them as they struggled to decide how best to do so.The Husband's Secret is a compelling, thought provoking novel, inspired by an article about real life deathbed confessions and their surprising consequences. An intriguing examination of conscience, love, betrayal and forgiveness this novel will stay with you well after the last page has been turned.
I became a big fan of Liane Moriarty's novels after reading "The Hypnotist's Love Story"; she writes compellingly and realistically of modern marriage, betrayal, joy and heartbreak. So I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review her latest, "The Husband's Secret", which I thoroughly enjoyed.There are three main characters, Cecilia, Rachel and Tess, who are all experiencing upheavals in their lives. Moriarty excels at describing how the quotidian details of one's life can change due to the "before and after" of cataclysmic events. She deftly uses both Tupperware and the Berlin Wall as metaphors for sealing in and keeping out.The novel is about secrets, and I don't want to reveal any of them because Moriarty does it so brilliantly in the novel. Basically we are asked, as observers, to contemplate how a person can live with a huge and terrible, secret. And how can you live knowing someone else's huge and terrible secret? Human existence is complicated and messy and far from black and white/good and bad. Humans make strange and often irrational choices. Are they always indefensible? These are the kinds of things that Moriarty is so good at dissecting for her readers, and why we keep coming back for more.Without revealing anything, I want to say a word about the ending. I expect some readers are going to have a problem with the climax and the denouement. I thought about it for a while after finishing the book and before sitting down to write this review, and I decided that I'm fine with it. I think Moriarty made the right writing and plot choices here and it worked for me. I highly recommend this novel.
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