Saturday, February 22, 2014

The Husband's Secret

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty, 396 pages



The Husband's Secret was a thrilling page-turner that constantly had me questioning myself about what I would do if I were in each character's unique situations. The story takes place in Australia and is centered around three women - Cecilia Fitzpatrick, Tess Curtis, and Rachel Crowley.

Cecilia Fitzpatrick is a super-housewife, a very organized woman who runs a very successful Tupperware business. She has three daughters, a loving husband, and seems to have a perfect life. That is, until she stumbles upon a letter addressed to her in the attic that will turn her perfect world upside down. It is from her husband, and the note on the outside of the envelope states that she is only to open it upon his death. She is obviously intrigued and quite curious about the content of the letter, but first calls her husband (who is away on a business trip) to see what it is all about. He sounds a little frazzled on the phone when questioned about it, but explains that it was just a love letter he wrote to her upon the birth of their first child, and he was so overwhelmed with all the emotions he felt at that time that he wrote that letter. He told her it was no big deal, and while Cecilia seems to buy his story, she also doesn't seem completely convinced. But she lets it go, and does not open the letter.  That is until she is compelled to open it later because of some of his actions, and then finds out it is not a love letter of any kind- but instead it reveals her husband's devastating secret.

Tess Curtis is also a mother and wife to her husband Will and they live together with her cousin and best friend Felicity.  They not only all live together, (along with Tess and Will's young son, Liam) but they also run a small marketing/advertising business. While this seems to be an ideal life for Tess, she is quickly thrown for a loop as her husband and Felicity confess to Tess that they have fallen in love. Tess is obviously devastated, and takes her son Liam to live with her mom for awhile while she figures out the next step in her life.
 
Rachel Crowley is a widow, and her son Rob is the center of her world ever since her husband recently passed, and her daughter, Janie, was murdered as a teenager. She is constantly haunted by Janie's murder, and it is even harder to deal with for her because the murder was never solved. Rob and his wife, Lauren, have a son Jacob and he means everything to Rachel. Unfortunately, Rob and his wife are relocating from Australia to New York for 2 years for a new job, and Rachel is left feeling upset and alone.
 
All three women know of each other, but are not really close in any way. But this changes throughout the course of the book and their lives become intertwined. The end of the book was especially riveting as there are numerous twists and turns, and I stayed up pretty late just because I had to finish it! I thoroughly enjoyed this gripping novel, and am looking forward to reading other works by Liane Moriarty.

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