Review: The Husband's Secret

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A solid offering from Liane Moriarty, but slow in its pacing.

Its been about a week since I finished this book and it has taken me this long to think about how to review it. I had a hard time rating this one, because it was simultaneously well-written and sort of predictable. Liane Moriarty is a fantastic writer. I love how in depth into her characters' thoughts she goes. Her books are almost always driven more by the inner monologues of the characters than the dialogue and interactions with others.

Plot Teaser

The book tells the stories of three women: Cecelia, Rachel, and Tess. Cecelia is a total super-mom. She runs a wildly successful tupperware business and she has three lovely daughters and a handsome, doting husband. Rachel is a bit of a lost soul. She lost her daughter when she was only a teenager, lost her husband recently before the book begins, and is about to lose her grandson (in a different way) as her son and his family plan to relocate to the US. Tess is on the brink of a total shift to her entire family and friends that she could never see coming.

As may be expected, the stories and lives of these seemingly separate women begin to intertwine into a tight web as the novel progresses. The main catalyst of the book is a letter Cecelia finds by accident, written by her husband, and to be opened in the event of his death. Except her husband is very-much alive and well.

Would you open the letter?

Reflection

I think most people would, but its an interesting question. There's a certain luxury in not knowing something. Once you know it, you can't go back. This is the dilemma facing Cecelia. Once she knows the letter exists, she has to either live with the curiosity, or live with the knowledge of whatever the letter contains.

I did feel that there wasn't much suspense to this novel. I cared about the characters and their stories, but all of the reveals seem to happen by mid-way through the novel. The epilogue is beautiful, and I thought about it for many days afterwards. I recommend this book to fans of character-driven novels.

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