A Husband’s Confession By Zoé Miller

[amazon_link id=”144474321X” target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]’The Husband’s Confession’ is the latest book by Zoé Miller.

The artisan bakery Ali and Max Kennedy own isn’t just a successful business – it’s a second home, a dream come true. But when bad luck begins to stalk the couple, Ali worries that her fear of losing it all is becoming a reality. Across the city, Max’s brother Finn and his wife Jo long for the carefree happiness they had when they first met in Australia over twenty years ago. But when Finn loses his high profile TV job and becomes more bitter by the day, Jo starts to suspect that he’s hiding something from her. While both couples navigate their marriages, little do they realise that Max and Ali’s daughter Jessica harbours a dark secret which threatens to destroy the whole family. Then it happens – the accident. And the Kennedys will never be the same again.

I’ve heard of Zoé Miller and know that she is a well established Irish author but ‘A Husband’s Confession’ is the first book that I have read by her and it was a truly compelling and thrilling story that kept me hooked from the start.

The story revolves around the lives of the Kennedy brothers Max and Finn and their wives Ali and Jo, at just the moment when their perfect worlds start to unravel. Max and Ali’s bakery business is thriving with him in demand for television appearances when they start to receive hoax bookings and Ali begins to wonder why her husband is so concerned. Finn and Jo met in Australia and fell madly and passionately in love but when his acting career starts to slow down, Finn becomes withdrawn and distant pushing Jo away. Max and Finn have a difficult relationship, not close to one another. Finn is jealous of Max’s success and always passing some kind of snide comment.

But then one night, Max and Ali’s daughter is injured in a hit and run accident that has left her battling for her life and at a time like this it should bring a family together, but seems to drive everyone further apart.

The story starts at a prologue in the present where an incident occurs. Cunningly written, we don’t know who is involved in the incident. The story is then divided into two parts, the events leading up the incident and the consequences after it.

All the characters in this book are wonderfully interesting and strong, particularly the leading ladies who work hard alongside their husbands. Both with passions for their families and life, Jo and Ali are quite similar in their personalities but never got the chance to have a proper friendship due to their husbands competitiveness.

Max and Finn are two complex characters that have a dislike for each other, the story regularly flicks back to the past to the point where their relationship deteriorates and this gives us a great insight and understanding as to why they behave as they do.

This book is a thrilling read, cleverly written in a style of a who done it type of scenario, we are left guessing until the very end. Alternating between the past and present at regular intervals, we meet the Kennedy’s when they were at their worst to their very best. With a strong plot line and engaging cast of characters, ‘A Husband’s Confession’ is masterful piece of writing that begs the question, is it possible to forgive and forget?

You can buy [amazon_link id=”144474321X” target=”_blank” ]A Husband’s Confession from Amazon [/amazon_link] and is available to buy from good bookshops.