The Husband's Secret in What's the Name of That Book???

Jul 06, 2015 Nadine in NY Jones rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, fiction, chick-lit, womens-day

I ended up feeling mostly disappointed in this book. It's not that it's not good - it is good, and I enjoyed listening to it, I laughed out loud at times, and felt like crying at others, and I really CARED about the characters. But I cared so much that I got really bummed when it didn't end the way I wanted it to for some of them!

The story is about Cecelia, and Tess, and Rachel. Each woman grapples with a pain that no one would want to carry. There is really no happy ending for any of them, not I ended up feeling mostly disappointed in this book. It's not that it's not good - it is good, and I enjoyed listening to it, I laughed out loud at times, and felt like crying at others, and I really CARED about the characters. But I cared so much that I got really bummed when it didn't end the way I wanted it to for some of them!

The story is about Cecelia, and Tess, and Rachel. Each woman grapples with a pain that no one would want to carry. There is really no happy ending for any of them, not with the hands they have been dealt. But I still found myself deeply disappointed in how some of the ends were tied up at the end.

This is the second book I've read by Ms Moriarty this year - the first was Big Little Lies - and this book follows the same formula: three women whose lives intersect in a school. In this one, the women don't know each other well when the book starts. First, we have Cecilia, who has just found an old letter her husband wrote to her, addressed "to my wife, to be opened only in the event of my death." Next is Tess, whose husband is confessing that he's in love with another woman, and that woman is her cousin and life-long best friend (this happens at the very beginning, so it's no spoiler, and I think it might be good to know going in). And finally there is Rachel, who works as a secretary a the school, and is a generation older than Cecilia and Tess. Rachel's story is the saddest, but the peace she finds at the end is the most satisfying of the three, for me.

The three women's stories are intertwined, but I felt a certain off-balance between the three. Rachel's story and Cecelia's story could not happen without the other, but Tess's story - while deeply moving - never felt central to the main plot. I was glad Tess was in the book, though, because she was the character I identified with the most.

I listened to the audiobook, and I was able to keep Rachel straight because the reader, Caroline Lee, used a slightly different voice for her. But I had a hard time keeping Tess's story straight from Cecilia - I kept thinking "wait, is this the one whose husband is cheating on her? or is this the one with the envelope?" - I don't know if that would have happened if I had been reading the book, maybe not.

The big reveal of what the letter says is not until (view spoiler). (if you're wondering, and spoiler tags if you're not) ...more

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May 01, 2016 Cheryl rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I really enjoyed this book, and listening to it on CD made it even more enjoyable as the narrator was quite good. Moriarty has a way of taking you through the multiple emotions that we all go through in any number of important, life-changing situations. She makes you FEEL as though you are going through those emotions with each of her characters, and in this book, her rendering of those emotions rang completely true for me. I also liked the fact that she doesn't feel the need to wrap her endings ...more

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Jan 18, 2016 Maria Elmvang rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017, not-owned, 3-stars, fiction

A 3.5 star review.

The first 100 pages I absolutely loved! I couldn't put it down and raced through the chapters. But unfortunately it took a turn I hadn't anticipated, and became very dark. I still wanted to know what happened to the different characters, but almost didn't want to read more to find out - meaning that I put down the book more often than I would have otherwise, as I had to mentally psyche myself to what would come next. It's very telling that it was Tess' story I minded the least. ...more

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Jul 04, 2014 Nora rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Great, great, great audio book reading of a pretty good book.

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Aug 01, 2022 Chrissie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: found-reads, t-reads

A little schlocky? Perhaps. Completely implausible? Certainly.

But someone Liane Moriarty books just work. I think it's because the characters are believable even if the situations they're put in are not. ...more

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Mar 30, 2014 Megan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Very enjoyable.

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Sep 07, 2014 Elizabeth rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This was a wonderful book, and I loved the epilogue; all the what-if's & what would have happened-if- made you really think about how just one little difference or veering along a path can change so much. ...more

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