The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

When I finished What Alice Forgot, I was undecided if I wanted to read more by Liane Moriarty. However, the next day The Husband's Secret popped up on my Overdrive queue. I figured it would be a quick read, and with rumors of a movie in the works, I thought I'd just go ahead and read it. The Husband's Secret tackles the strange tale of Cecelia, a picture-perfect mom who discovers a letter written by her husband years before. He intended for her to read after his death, since it reveals a life-altering secret. As Cecelia's ideal life comes crashing down around her, she tries to piece together her husband's past mistakes and figure out how to keep living life under the burden of the secret. 

In the first few chapters, I had figured out what "the secret" was, so all that was left was to find out how Cecelia and her husband would move on with life. Much of the story is extremely contrived and rests on 3 women's lives intersecting at just the right moments. My biggest issue with the story line was the ending, where "the secret" comes out in the open. The resolution seems completely unrealistic given the serious nature of "the secret". I had a hard time believing any real human beings would let it play out that way given the characters' emotions that had been revealed throughout the book.

I'm disappointed this is the one of Moriarty's books that is being made into a movie. It's my least favorite of the 3 I've read. If you didn't love What Alice Forgot, I doubt you'll like this one. If you're just looking for a quick, light beach read, this could be entertaining enough. But don't buy it. This is definitely a library read!

Overall Rating: 2 stars

Content Warning: Like all of Moriarty's books, this one has quite a sprinkling of language, including quite a few f-words. There are some sexually suggestive scenes, but nothing graphic. "The secret" is a bit dark, and the event it refers to is described but isn't graphic.

Target Audience: Women looking for a light read with a bit of intrigue.

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

What Alice Forgot can be found on many a Pinterest list labeled "Books So Good You Can't Put Them Down". I did, indeed, read this one in less than 24 hours. It's a quick, easy read considering the length. I loved the way the author built the story. Alice, a nearly 40 housewife and mother going through a nasty divorce, one day finds herself waking up with a bump on the head and an interesting case of amnesia. She has lost the last 10 years of her memory and thinks she is 30, blissfully in love with her husband, and pregnant with their first child. Moriarty writes the story the way Alice gains her memory back - piece by piece. Each interaction with different friends or family members help Alice start to piece together what happened in the last 10 years to lead to her not-so-happy current life. It definitely kept me reading until the end. 

Without spoiling too much, Alice (at 40) is....not the nicest. She's burned a lot of bridges. I was so sad for her as she realized how many relationships she'd ruined. It would be so bizarre to wake up one day and find out the people you thought were closest to you didn't like you much anymore. As she started to get her memory back, she made some interesting choices that I didn't quite understand or agree with. I did like the ending, although it pulled together rather quickly considering how detailed the rest of the book was. I liked the book enough that I figured I'd try another Moriarty book. See my review on The Husband's Secret for my take on that.

Overall Rating: 4 stars

Content Warning: There is some foul language sprinkled through the book, though not excessive. There are a handful of f-words (that mostly come from 1 character). There is some sexual innuendo but nothing super graphic.

Target Audience: This is pure chick lit. Adult women only.