The Husbands Secret by Liane Moriarty

There review for The Husbands Secret is by guest reviewer, Katrina

Mother of three and wife of John-Paul, Cecilia discovers an old envelope in the attic. Written in her husband's hand, it says: to be opened only in the event of my death.

Curious, she opens it - and time stops.

John-Paul's letter confesses to a terrible mistake which, if revealed, would wreck their family as well as the lives of  others.

Cecilia wants to do the right thing, but right for who? If she protects her family by staying silent, the truth will worm through her heart. But if she reveals her husband's secret, she will hurt those she loves most...

I stumbled across 'The Husband's Secret' amongst a pile of books that had been donated to the charity shop where I work. I don't normally go for this type of book but the blurb intrigued me, however it has been sat in my TBR pile for a few months now.

Then last week I read Laura's review of 'Big Little Lies' also by Liane Moriarty, which prompted me to download the ebook immediately. I was so impressed by the suspense created and how fantastically written it was, that I made 'The Husband's Secret' my next read.

Unfortunately, I was left quite disappointed by this book. The book opens with Cecilia and her family. Whilst looking for a bit of the Berlin Wall for her daughter Esther, she discovers an envelope addressed to her, only to be opened in the event of her husband John-Paul's death. Cecilia's head explodes with all possibilities of what the letter could contain.

The next two chapters introduce us to two other families - firstly Tess, her husband Will and cousin Felicity who have "fallen in love" with each other, and secondly Rachel, her son Rob and his wife and child Lauren and Jacob. I found the sheer number of characters very overwhelming, especially as they were all introduced immediately. A little while later in the book, we discover that they are all connected but at first I found it very confusing to keep up with who was who, especially as the chapters jumped from family to family.

I won't spoil the 'husband's secret', however as more of the character background stories are told, it is very easy to guess what John-Paul's secret is a long time before it's actually revealed. I found the book to be very predictable but that didn't stop me from carrying on reading, in the hope that something unexpected would happen.

The main twist for me came in the epilogue, where I genuinely gasped at some of the conclusions drawn. However it also left me wanting to know more, as not all of the aspects were realistic. It did emphasise how the course of life can veer yet we will not always be aware of the path we should/could have taken.

This wasn't a bad book by all means - I think I had such high expectations after reading Big Little Lies, that this book just didn't cut it for me (however Big Little Lies is Liane's most recent book, so it goes to show how much her writing has improved since this novel in my opinion!).

Nonetheless, I was eager to see what would happen next throughout and I will most definitely try another of Liane's books in the future!

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

It was always going to end in tears, but how did it end in murder?

Single mum Jane has just moved to town. She's got her little boy in tow - plus the secret she's been carrying for five years.

On the first day of the school run she meets Madeline - a force to be reckoned with, who remembers everything and forgives no one - and Celeste, the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare, but is inexplicably I'll at ease. They both take Jane under their wing - while careful to keep their own secrets under wraps.

But a minor incident involving the children of all three women rapidly escalates; playground whispers become spiteful rumours until no one can tell the truth from the lies.

Which is when the secrets come out - and now someone is going to pay with their life...

"A brilliantly plotted story with characters to care for who kept me reading, utterly gripped" ~ Women & Home.

"Brilliant, stand - out, superbly clever" ~ Sunday Express.

I'm not really sure what drew me to purchasing this book as it's not from my usual genre... That said I don't think I would categorise this into crime and thriller either as its in no way bloody or had me hiding behind a pillow!

Ultimately for me, Big Little Lies is a story of secrets and friendships which focuses on three main characters, Madeline, Jane and Celeste.

Each of the three ladies become friends yet each is hiding a secret and the story starts with the schools trivia night. The details for this are quite vague but from the outset of the book we know there is a murder. We don't know who, why or how exactly.

Once this has been outlined, the books takes us back to 5 months before trivia night and we get to see how the characters met and what the initial incident was, which has caused nothing but grief between the 3 girls, their children and their friends In the playground!

As the book takes us closer to trivia night we can see friendships blooming and others falling out, there are playground arguments between parents and at the end of each chapter there are short bullet point statements from other Parents and teachers which leads us to believe they are statements given to the police after the murder.

Liane Moriarty has written Big Little Lies simply brilliantly. I don't want to give too much away as they book is written with a mystery of element due to us not knowing anything about the murder right up until the end, and I think that is partly what makes the book.

With storylines of bullying and abuse, ex husbands walking out, teenage daughters auctioning their virginity and parents thinking their children are better than the next, the murder suspect and victim could be literally any one of the characters the book mentions.... Who they were though, even caught be my surprise!

This book was such a gripping read, it covered sensitive subjects with care and consideration yet at times had elements of humour, and the descriptions were spot on... I felt like I was part of the book and the journey Jane, Celeste and Madeline shared.

If you've not read Big Little Lies I suggest you go grab a copy now!