And that’s just the beginning of the story…

I discovered this book when I attended the Writer’s Digest Conference in New York City in August 2014.  I am writing a book with a few friends and thought that the conference would enlighten me on the proper way to find an agent and a publisher.  And to some extent it did.  During the conference there were a few guest speakers.  One was an agent who talked about the importance of titles.  He used “The Husband’s Secret,” by Lianne Moriarty as an example.  He simply said it was a great title.  Who doesn’t want to know what the husband’s secret is.

After the conference, I held off suggesting it for our book club because a few of our members where going through a divorce.  Not knowing what the secret was,  I decided to wait a while.  Two years later it was our February selection.

A third of the way into the novel you find out the husband’s secret.  We all talked at book club about when we figure out what the husband’s secret was. Finding out the secret isn’t the climax of the story. It’s not a psychological thriller with a don’t-see-it-coming ending. Rather it’s about consequences, penalties and penance.

Cecilia Fitzpatrick, the OCD Tupperware saleswoman is married to John-Paul.  He is successful, handsome and a good father.  Sounds like a catch to me – right?  Then we meet Tess who is married to Will and they have a son together.  They spend their time almost exclusively with Tess’s cousin Felicity.  Hmmm…  Lastly, we met Rachel who is equal parts sad and angry. Her teenage daughter was murdered years earlier. 

All three of the women’s lives shatter and veer off their neatly-planned course. 

We talked about this book for hours. And for us that’s impressive.  We talked about what we thought certain character’s penalties should be.  We talked about Rachel’s obsession with blaming an innocent party, and what Tess should do and why. But the biggest discussion occurred over the following questions: Would you forgive your husband if he did what John-Paul did? And, would you open the letter?  When you found it? Later?  In our book club 99 percent said they’d open it as soon as they found it.

This is a good book for book clubs because it starts a conversation.  It won’t change your life or teach you anything, but for this group of suburban housewives and mothers it resonated with us and spurred on some fun discussions.    

Of course, after reading this entertaining novel I had to watch the HBO miniseries on another one of Moriarty’s novels, “Big Little Lies,” with Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman. Another salacious romp set in the bucolic town of Monterrey.  Great backdrop for the story.  Get a glass of wine, hell the whole bottle, and binge watch the series on a rainy night.  Enjoy!

Rating: 8