The Husband's Secret
Liane Moriarty, 2013
Mystery, thriller & crime Contemporary fiction
Three women, one dusty envelope, and the ordinary afternoons that hide a decision someone made years ago. Domestic suspense with a comic edge and a very sharp eye. The narrative moves with a brisk, witty pace, layering domestic unease and sharp humor over a foundation of family drama.
Feels like unease, humor and curiosity. About family, morality and identity.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy contemporary thrillers that balance suspense with sharp dialogue. Be aware that the story focuses heavily on internal moral dilemmas and the subtle dynamics of a small, interconnected group.
Why read it
This novel gives you a chance to explore how quickly ordinary life can be disrupted by a single, long-buried secret.
A page from the book
The generosity of people who have just done something unforgivable.
So Tess was going to be allowed to kick and scratch as much as she wanted. They were just going to sit there and take it for as long as it took. They weren’t going to fight back. Will and Felicity were fundamentally good. She knew this. They were good people, and that’s why they were going to be so nice about this, so understanding and accepting of Tess’s rage, so that in the end Tess would be the bad person, not them. They hadn’t actually slept together, they hadn’t betrayed her. They’d fallen in love! It wasn’t an ordinary grubby little affair. It was fate. Predestined. Nobody could think that badly of them. Liane Moriarty.Moriarty is the eldest of six siblings, two of whom — Jaclyn and Nicola — are also published novelists. She worked in advertising before turning to fiction.
Books that feel like this
More by Liane Moriarty
Big Little Lies
Liane Moriarty, 2014
A satirical mystery about school-gate friendships, perfect marriages and the small lies that hold a community together.
Here One Moment
Liane Moriarty, 2024
A flight is delayed, a passenger stands up and predicts the deaths of the people around her, and dozens of lives have to go on afterwards.
Truly Madly Guilty
Liane Moriarty, 2016
Three couples, one backyard barbecue, and the ordinary moment when life divides into before and after. Moriarty's domestic suspense about friendship, guilt and what we hide.
Where to get it
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Questions readers ask
- Is The Husband's Secret for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy contemporary thrillers that balance suspense with sharp dialogue. Be aware that the story focuses heavily on internal moral dilemmas and the subtle dynamics of a small, interconnected group.
- What is The Husband's Secret like?
- The narrative moves with a brisk, witty pace, layering domestic unease and sharp humor over a foundation of family drama. Feels like unease, humor and curiosity. About family, morality and identity.
- What should I read after The Husband's Secret?
- If you liked The Husband's Secret, try Want to Know a Secret? (Freida McFadden), The Old Man in the Corner (Baroness Orczy) and The Corrections (Jonathan Franzen).
A taste of the feed
She tells everyone it's fitness; it's really the last high she has left.
I tell everyone that I’m trying to keep fit, but the truth is, the adrenaline I get from running is the only thing close to what I used to feel when I was in the courtroom. If I ever stopped running, I would probably have to start taking speed. I love pushing myself as hard as I can.
Want to Know a Secret? · Freida McFadden
What it costs to be the strangest person in the room.
The man in the corner readjusted his collar and necktie, which, during the narrative of this interesting mystery, had worked its way up his long, crane-like neck under his large flappy ears. His costume of checked tweed of a peculiarly loud pattern had tickled the fancy of some of the waitresses, who were standing gazing at him and giggling in one corner. This evidently made him nervous. He gazed up very meekly at Polly, looking for all the world like a bald-headed adjutant dressed for a holiday.
The Old Man in the Corner · Baroness Orczy
The arithmetic of cool, and who is left to do the ordinary work.
All around him, millions of newly minted American millionaires were engaged in the identical pursuit of feeling extraordinary - of buying the perfect Victorian, of skiing the virgin slope, of knowing the chef personally, of locating the beach that had no footprints. There were further tens of millions of young Americans who didn’t have money but were nonetheless chasing the Perfect Cool. And meanwhile the sad truth was that not everyone could be extraordinary, not everyone could be extremely cool; because whom would this leave to be ordinary? Who would perform the thankless work of being comparatively uncool?
The Corrections · Jonathan Franzen
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