Unfortunately, The Husband’s Secret is one of those books that make it to the top 10 and therefore it’s automatically assumed that it’s an excellent read... when it’s not.
It took me a long time to finish this book; reading a chapter
or two then putting it down and going back a day or so later. Not a good sign !
The premise of the book is clever -a wife accidentally finds a
letter from her husband that is to be opened only upon his death - but the story
meanders and rambles on and on. Since the husband is still alive, the wife vacillates
on whether to read the letter and she does this over a ridiculous number of
pages. ‘Enough already’, the
lengthy build up is unnecessary - it is a given that she will read the letter. You just find yourself wishing it was sooner, rather than later.
The book skims the surface on the characters stories, the retribution angle and the dilemma of justifying anything (even murder) for people you love. The one dimensional characters remain just words on a page; Cecilia, the main protagonist, is a stereotypical suburban mum with a flair for selling Tupperware (what?), has the requisite 3 gorgeous, gifted daughters, beautiful house, SUV, loving and understanding husband...blah, blah, blah!
And the 2 main supporting characters are equally flat and bland- Tess (she's just weird) a savvy business woman, mother and wife who gets caught up in an unlikely web when her husband (who is also her business partner) and her best friend (who is also her cousin and business partner) announce that they are planning to have an affair… and Rachel, a lonely secretary at the school where (conveniently) everyone sends their kids, has a chip on her shoulder but it was a struggle to empathise with her situation.
And is a secret still a secret when even one other person
knows the secret?
My rating for The Husband's Secret - 3 Champagne Flutes
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