Have you ever started reading an author, really loved that author’s work, and decided to just read through all of their novels? That’s what has happened to me in the past few weeks with author Sally Hepworth! Her stories all revolve around family dynamics, and they throw in a little mystery/thriller feeling here and there, but not in every book. She also adds in multiple perspectives, so generally each chapter is told from a different character’s point of view. Below, I’ll share a few of my favorites, and luckily all of these are available on Overdrive!
The Mother in Law: This is the book that got me hooked! Lucy and her mother in law Diana have a fairly publicly strained relationship. So when Diana turns up dead, presumably as a suicide, the police zero in on Lucy immediately. But, things aren’t as cut and dry as they seem, and there are many people who could be involved in Diana’s death. The whole family is keeping secrets from each other, and you won’t be able to guess what those secrets are until the end.
The Secrets of Midwives: Told from the perspectives of the daughter, mother, and grandmother, this story weaves together their lives through midwifery and secrets. All three generations of women are midwives, and it does explore both the work of midwives and the fight for validation in the medical community, as well as family secrets. The daughter, Neva, is pregnant, and tells her family there is no father. The mother, comes up against a malpractice suit. The grandmother holds some secrets of her own. Everything is revealed in its own time, but it really comes down to a story of these women bonding more closely than before.
The Family Next Door: Do you really know your neighbors? This book revolves around a seemingly quiet neighborhood, friendly neighbors, perfect little families. Each of the matriarchs in the neighborhood are all hiding things from each other to show that they are the most “normal” family of the bunch, but when a single woman moves into the neighborhood, that dynamic is turned completely upside down and everyone’s secrets spill out.
The Things We Keep: Imagine this-you’re 38 years old, a paramedic, and suddenly you start being forgetful. Then it turns into more than normal forgetfulness, and you are diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s. At 38. This is what happens to Anna. She and her brother decide it’s best if she goes to live in a residential facility, and Anna wants to decide where she ends up, while she still can. So, she goes to a place called Rosalind House, where there is another young Alzheimer’s resident, Luke. When she gets there, she and Luke connect, and make a promise to stay together even when they can no longer remember. The reader gets to experience their loss, as well as both families pain as they deteriorate, but also the hope that is found in their remembering each other as time goes on.
The only one of her books that I haven’t read yet is The Mother’s Promise, but it is also available on Overdrive in both ebook and audiobook form!