Review: The Mother-in-Law

The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What I really enjoyed about this book was the way the author provided a plausible different POV. Lucy is a daughter-in-law who finds her mother-in-law to be cold and difficult. Diana is the other half of this relationship and, with experience and wisdom, provides a different perspective that is equally compelling. Both narratives make perfect sense and the reader (at least I did) understood both of them perfectly. This, I think was the real objective of the novel. Through the turmoils of life, Diana and Lucy, very different in backgrounds and personalities, find they are not so different in essential ways.

The unraveling of the possible homicide or suicide is interesting and provides a perfect backdrop for a well written novel. The reason the book held my interest was, at times, to find out why or if a crime had been committed, but in reality I was smitten by the evolution of the main narrators. Also fascinated by the stubborn stasis of other characters. Very well written book.

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