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A twisty, compelling new novel about one woman’s complicated relationship with her mother-in-law that ends in death…
From the moment Lucy met her husband’s mother, she knew she wasn’t the wife Diana had envisioned for her perfect son. Exquisitely polite, friendly, and always generous, Diana nonetheless kept Lucy at arm’s length despite her desperate attempts to win her over. And as a pillar in the community, an advocate for female refugees, and a woman happily married for decades, no one had a bad word to say about Diana…except Lucy.
That was five years ago.
Now, Diana is dead, a suicide note found near her body claiming that she longer wanted to live because of the cancer wreaking havoc inside her body.
But the autopsy finds no cancer.
It does find traces of poison, and evidence of suffocation.
Who could possibly want Diana dead? Why was her will changed at the eleventh hour to disinherit both of her children, and their spouses? And what does it mean that Lucy isn’t exactly sad she’s gone?
Fractured relationships and deep family secrets grow more compelling with every page in this twisty, captivating new novel from Sally Hepworth.
Praise for Sally Hepworth:
“With jaw-dropping discoveries, and realistic consequences, this novel is not to be missed. Perfect for lovers of Big Little Lies.” —Library Journal, starred review
“Hepworth deftly keeps the reader turning pages and looking for clues, all the while building multilayered characters and carefully doling out bits of their motivations.” —Booklist
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This book was interesting. I really liked how you got both Diana and Lucy perspective. I also like how you went back and forth between the past and the present. There were surprises that’s for sure. This was well written. I believe everyone wishes they could go back and change somethings, in this book you see what should have been done a certain way but wasn’t. This whole family dynamic was interesting to follow and see how everyone unraveled.
*I received a free copy of this book via the NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.*
When Lucy falls in love with Oliver (Ollie) and things get serious, he takes her to meet the family. Ollie’s family is very rich and Lucy immediately feels intimidated when she meets his cool, reserved mother, Diana. Diana treats Lucy well but they never develop the fuzzy relationship that Lucy had longed for. Ten years later, Diana is found dead of suspicious circumstances and that is where this book takes on some captivating twists and turns. There are several story lines going on and the author does an excellent job tying everything together in the end. This is a gripping addictive read and it is a real page-turner. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read an ARC of this very compelling book.
There are a plethora of books out there about dysfunctional relationships between mothers-in-law and daughters, but this one is uniquely different! Diana appears to be cold and distant; Lucy has hoped her new mother-in-law would be warm and welcoming as she lost her own mother when she was very young. Told in both voices in the present and the past, this novel delves into the deceit and secrets that can complicate and compromise any marriage. My father frequently told us to “always examine a person’s motives before you judge them” and he was usually right. I shed some tears over this one but it reminds us that tragedy can either tear families apart or bring them together–maybe both. I’m now a Hepworth fan for life!
4.5* Relationship Stars
This story begins with the death of Diana who is the mother-in-law to Lucy. What appears to be a suicide is quickly quashed when the police begin investigating and find out that it could be a possible homicide instead.
The book was told from multiple points of view being Diana and Lucy and alternated between the past and the present. This gave an interesting look into the difficult relationship between Lucy and Diana as well as Diana’s relationship with her children Ollie and Nettie. The characters were very realistic and well developed.
The story had you guessing throughout and there were secrets and surprises along the way in this family drama.
Sally Hepworth is a wonderful writer and storyteller and I would highly recommend this exciting read. I enjoyed the last chapter. “Ten Years Later” as it tied up the book wonderfully.
Diana is a mother and mother-in-law…not the easiest person to get to know or love. Lucy lost her mother at a young age and would love nothing more than to have Diana fill that spot she so needs.
I loved this book….family dynamics at its best! The writing was flawless. Told in Diana (mother-in-law) and Lucy (Daughter-in-law) past and present voices. You really get to see the personalities and the makings of these woman and the people they love. The story switches seemlessly from each voice and tense….making this book so hard to put down. Your heart will break for each character…misunderstood, wanting and fierce. This is a book about family; the good, the bad and the ugly.
I loved Ms. Hepworth’s writing since I’ve read The Things We Keep was one of the saddest and beautifully written books. She writes about family dynamics and scenarios with honesty and caring and a twist! Warning: clear your calendar before picking up any of her books…you will get nothing done until the book is finished!
Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martins Press and Ms Hepworth for this ARC. Opinion given is my own.
The Mother n Law by Sally Hepworth
I’m going to be generous and give this 3 stars for effort. I was very excited to read this book, the synopsis piqued my interest but it did not live up to the expectations. The book flowed but was not interesting. There were no edge of your seat moments ever, no thrills, no excitement, nor suspense. Several characters to keep up with which were very dull and went off track. It is very ordinary and I lost interest about halfway through book. The ending was no better.
Thank you Net Galley and St. Martins Press for giving me the opportunity. This book will be available April 23, 2019.
A remarkable book which has everything- humor, tragedy, suspense, love,hate , jealously, friendship and so much more!
It begins with the strained relations of a young wife and her mother-in-law. This allows for some humorous in-law scenes.
Things then become much more serious with a sudden death. It looks like suicide, but could be murder. No one is above suspicion!
Meanwhile, the characters are learning not to judge each others’ actions and not to harbor drudges or resentments.
This novel is very well told with enough suspense to keep the pages turning and it kept me guessing until the very end.
Excellent and so well written! One of Sally Hepworth’s best!
An excellent tale of psychological suspense about a complicated relationship.
Lucy Goodwin had a troubled relationship with her mother-in-law, Diana. At times contentious, but at other times they could be kind to each other.
One day a knock comes to the door at Lucy and her family’s home.
It’s the police and they inform Ollie, Lucy’s husband, that his mother has died of an apparent suicide.
The news affects Lucy more deeply than she would have thought.
Diana had told her family that she was suffering from advanced breast cancer, so they assume that’s the reason for her taking her own life.
Then the autopsy results come back. Diana’s death is ruled a homicide!
She had no cancer and there’s evidence of suffocation.
Who would want Diana dead and why?
Why did see lie about the cancer?
The narrative is told in two first-person points of view, Lucy’s, past and present and Diana’s in the past.
As we get further into the story secrets are revealed and Lucy and Diana’s relationship is far more complex that we are first lead to believe.
Stylish and engrossing, “The Mother-in-Law” is a suspenseful and shocking read that has psychological insight into family dynamics.
It’s a real page-turner. Recommend.
I received a ARC of #The Mother-In-Law from #NetGalley, #St. Martin’s Press
Dianne the mother in law of Lucy is found dead in what is thought to be a suicide. Evidence found points to murder rather than suicide. The story is told from multiple points of view, which I enjoyed. This story will keep you guessing until the end.
Definately a 5 star and if I could give it a higher rating, I would. Sally Hepworth has done it again in a big way. I absolutely loved this book.
One of my top reads for 2018! Fantastically compelling story.
This new compelling novel by Sally Hepworth will have you rapidly turning pages to follow the twisted path to the surprise ending. This novel is Sally Hepworth at her very best and one of my favorite books of the year.
When you get married, you become part of your husband’s family. Most important of all is the mother-in-law that you gain. She can welcome you as part of the family or make your life a living hell because of her dislike of you. I won’t admit which side I ended up on except to say that I really identified with Lucy. When Lucy meets her husband’s family for the first time, she has dreams of her mother in law replacing her mother who died years earlier. She thought that they could become friends. She found out very quickly that Diana doesn’t want to be her friend and really isn’t it very nice to her. Five years later, after numerous battles large and small, Diana is found dead and Lucy is left to wonder who is to blame.
Lucy is a fantastic character – written like someone that you know – flaws and all. In the beginning of her marriage she tries so hard to make Diana like her but as their battles continue, she asserts her independence. By the time Diana is found dead any one of several characters could be to blame – was it suicide or was it someone in the family? As I read, my person to blame changed over and over until I got to the surprise ending that was just perfect!
Clear your calendar before you start The Mother-in-Law because you won’t want to put the book down until the end.
Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
I would give this book more than five stars! Thanks to both the author Sally Hepworth and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this incredible story. I will be reading this book again and again. I was so enthralled by this book, I couldn’t stop reading even though it is longer than expected. What do we read in another person’s actions? What do they read from ours? Missing meanings and harboring resentments, this mother in law and daughter in law misread each other. Violence, family chaos and an inheritance. Wooo! What an incredible masterpiece! Murder? Yes! It will keep you reading! I consider this AN ABSOLUTE MUST READ!
I’m officially a diehard Sally Hepworth fan. I love the way she turns stories about complicated families into compelling page-turners. THE MOTHER-IN-LAW is a different kind of domestic thriller–the story subtly driven by the multi-layered relationship between Diana and her daughter-in-law, Lucy, a relationship that isn’t quite as it seems when the novel starts. But did it lead to murder? Many surprises are gradually revealed as we weave between Diana’s suspicious suicide in the present and events that start ten years earlier, when Lucy and Diana meet. Be warned, it’s impossible to put this novel down!
The story is broken up in a way that you read through each characters experiences. It is a little disconnected but overall a good plot idea.
How do we really feel about the unexpected death of someone we don’t much care about? The mother-in-law is not the relative from hell, she’s not deliberately putting her son’s new wife through purgatory, she’s just an average woman (with a shedload of money!) who sees her children not taking life seriously enough, of being cushioned by financial expectations, when she thinks they should stand on their own feet, so she disinherits them. Something her children didn’t expect.
The daughter-in-law is also an average woman who would love to be close to the mother-in-law, but is doomed to be bitterly disappointed. Did her mother-in-law take her own life, or did someone help her along?
Author, Sally Hepworth, has made her everyday characters outstanding. Why? Because they are us. Their lives are like our own daily lives, yet life can turn on a dime and the unexpected becomes jaw-dropping as lies and secrets begin to unravel. Definitely a page-turner, enticing me to read more of Ms Hepworth’s novels.
This is a clever, murder mystery that was a puzzle until the end for me. Red herrings sprinkled along the way kept me going in all directions. But, bigger than that, this is an intricate study of the relationship termed, “mother-in-law”. There is some insightful analyses here of all parties to said relationship. Which covers a lot of us. It gave me pause and a lot of food for thought…
I really enjoyed this story with clearly drawn characters, a central question driving the plot and a surprise ending.
So good!!
Does a relationship exist more complex and filled with tension than that of daughter and mother-in-law? This finely plotted domestic “thriller” raises the bar for the often insipid novels in this genre. Told from the alternating views of the daughter (Lucy) and the mother-in-law (Diana), the story traces the women’s lives from their first meeting in the past, to their evolved relationship in the present. I have to believe the author didn’t choose their names willy nilly. There is nothing willy nilly about this story that involves murder, broken dreams, suicide, and surprising insight into the two main characters. A word of caution: withhold judgment until the final page. Read — rather than skim this one!