The Husband’s Secret Blog Tour

I am quite excited to be involved in the second book blog tour for ‘The Husband’s Secret’ by Liane Moriarty and in this post, not only do I review the book, Liane reveals the story behind the main character of ‘The Husband’s Secret’, Tess O’Leary.

Tess O’Leary is the other character affected by Cecilia’s decision to open her husband’s letter. Tess has a secret of her own. She suffers from debilitating shyness, or “social anxiety.” I was inspired to create Tess after I read a really touching blog post from a mother on the other side of the world from me who admitted that although she was a very active member of her daughter’s school community—acting on committees, etc.—she actually suffered from terrible social anxiety and even found it difficult to make eye contact. I was amazed when I saw all the comments to her blog post and saw that so many people could relate to her condition. I didn’t want Tess to be a shy person who hides away from the world. I wanted to make her a shy person who hides her shyness. Every day she faces social situations that terrify her. I find her, and people like her, to be mildly extraordinary.

[amazon_link id=”1405911662″ target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]’The Husband’s Secret’ is the latest book by Liane Moriarty.

Mother of three and wife of Joh-Paul, Cecilia discovers an old envelope in the attic. Written in her husband’s hand, it says: to be opened only in the event of my death. Curious she opens it – and time stops. John-Paul’s letter confesses to a terrible mistake which if revealed, would wreck their family as well as the lives of others. Cecilia wants to do the right thing, but right for who? If she protects her family by staying silent, the truth will worm through her heart. But if she reveals her husband’s secret, she will hurt those she loves most.

I have seen so much talk on Twitter over the last couple of weeks about a certain book called ‘The Husband’s Secret’. People were riveted, captivated and absorbed in this story so when I received a copy of the book, I was eager to see what all the commotion was about and I soon discovered that if ever a book was going to live up to its hype, then ‘The Husband’s Secret’ was that book.

Although the synopsis of the book primarily deals with Cecilia’s discovery of John-Paul’s letter, there are also two side stories that are intricately woven into the story giving it the most wonderful of a twist. Rachel never got over the fact that her teenage daughter was killed many years ago and believes her daughter killer still roams the streets but doesn’t have the sufficient evidence to lock him away whilst Tess world is rocketed when she discovers that her perfect world is falling apart and runs home to seek solace in her mothers arms.

The story revolves around three strong women, all desperately gripping onto her lives to stop them from falling apart, doing the one thing that a mother does best and that is trying to keep their children from harms way. Cecilia is a powerful woman who lives in an oasis of calm and organisation, but when a unexpected letter reveals a secret, we see her slowly fall apart as she battles with her own conscience and a desire to keep her family safe. Organised and controlling to the point of OCD, it is interesting to see as she struggles to keep ahead with everyday life whilst battling with mixed emotions and fears. Rachel is a grandma, who idolises her grandson Jacob and is heartbroken when her son and his wife announce that they are leaving for New York. Having never quite fixed herself after her daughter’s Janie’s tragic death, she carries around with her regret, bitterness and anger of the killer that was never brought to justice. I found Rachel to be quite a sweet woman at times, sometimes in her role she was quite strong and other times she was seen as an elderly woman lost in the world that had moved on around her which made for sympathetic and sad reading and Tess having self diagnosed herself as having social anxiety, preferred the company of her cousin and her husband Will, she tries to avoid social outings, but when she returns home to her mothers house, we see her become a bit more outgoing and her shyness moves to the background as she sees old friends and become reacquainted with old friends and she settles comfortably back into her hometown.

I can’t speak highly enough of this book, it truly is a cleverly written masterpiece that has to be read. With a beautifully haunting cover, the book is packed with twists and turns of emotions running high and the threat of morals and secrets being exposed, it is unputdownable. Gripping from the every first page, ‘The Husband’s Secret’ is most certainly a refreshing, intelligent and sentimental story that is well worthy to be listed on Richard and Judy’s Autumn 2013 Bookclub.

You can buy [amazon_link id=”1405911662″ target=”_blank” ]The Husband’s Secret on Amazon [/amazon_link] and is available to buy from good bookshops.