The Husband's Secret
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''The Husband's Secret'' is a novel by
Liane Moriarty Liane Moriarty (born 15 November 1966) is an Australian author. She has written nine novels, including the ''New York Times'' best sellers '' Big Little Lies'' and ''Nine Perfect Strangers'', which were adapted into television series for HBO and ...
that was first published on 30 July
2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
. The novel tells the story of three women, whose lives unexpectedly interconnect after one of them discovers a devastating secret.


Synopsis

The novel is set in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, Australia, where Cecilia Fitzpatrick is a happily married mother-of-three who leads a seemingly perfect life. Meanwhile, Tess O'Leary is a career woman who returns to Sydney with her son after her husband, Will, confesses that he is in love with her cousin and best friend, Felicity. Tess' son and Cecilia's children are enrolled in the same school, where Tess' ex-boyfriend, Connor Whitby, is a PE teacher. Rachel Crowley, the school secretary, suspects that Connor is the man responsible for the unsolved murder of her daughter that still haunts her almost three decades later. Then one day, when Cecilia's husband John-Paul is away, she finds a letter from her husband to be opened only in the event of his death. Cecilia opens the letter anyway, and the devastating secret she discovers has massive consequences for her and the other women.


Reception

The novel was well received. ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
''s Leah Greenblatt gave the novel an "A−" rating, describing it as "a sharp, thoughtful read". ''
Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...
'' concluded that, "Simultaneously a page-turner and a book one has to put down occasionally to think about and absorb, Moriarty’s novel challenges the reader as well as her characters, but in the best possible way." ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
''s Patty Rhule gave the novel three-and-a-half stars out of four, noting that Moriarty "avoids an unfortunate trend in women's fiction to make men bad guys or doofuses. The men in The Husband's Secret are fully realized, thoughtful and caring, as flawed and faithful as the women who love them." Writing for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', author Sophie Hannah selected the novel as one of her "top 10 pageturners", adding that "it's a perfectly paced mystery with a beautiful solution and a breathtakingly twisty final chapter." The novel made both ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' and the ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' Best Seller lists.


Adaptation

In September 2013, CBS Films acquired the rights to the novel. in May 2017, it was announced that the film will star Blake Lively. In February 2022,
Kat Coiro Kat Coiro is an American filmmaker known for directing Marry Me (2022 film), ''Marry Me'', a romantic comedy starring Jennifer Lopez, Owen Wilson, and Malumaa box-office success for Universal Pictures in 2022. She directed and executive produced ...
was announced as director of the film, with
Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...
distributing.


References


External links


Lianemoriarty.com.au: ''The Husband's Secret''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Husband's Secret, The 2013 Australian novels G. P. Putnam's Sons books Berkley Books books Novels set in Sydney Australian novels adapted into films