The First Wife's Secret: A gripping, emotional page turner with a stunning twist
by Claire Amarti
Get ready for this spellbinding new release from bestselling author Claire Amarti. Prepare to have your heart broken...
My father looks around the room and raises his glass of champagne high.
‘Friends and family, I’m so glad you’re all here today. Because there's something I've been wanting to share with you.’
The way my stepmother’s looking at him I can tell right away Dad’s gone off-script. He looks out over us all and rubs his hand across his sweat-beaded forehead. He's shaking, I notice. And then he looks my way and his glance is absolutely piercing. Piercing, that’s what I’m thinking when his knees suddenly buckle and the glass drops from his hand. It smashes like a grenade, an explosion of deafening silence.
My father is lying face-forward in the grass.
‘Somebody call an ambulance,’ a voice shrieks.
And the world as I know it ends.
Dinah Spencer is back in her childhood home for one stressful weekend. It’s the twenty-five-year anniversary of her father’s marriage to her stepmother. Those twenty-five years haven’t all been happy ones for middle child Dinah, but she’s getting ready to put the past behind her, keeping the bonds of family strong for her own daughter Josie’s sake - until her beloved dad collapses in the middle of his anniversary speech.
In the wake of her father’s shocking cardiac arrest, youngest daughter Lottie Spencer must struggle to keep her family afloat. Her mother, the ever-capable Mara, suddenly seems disturbingly fragile. Then there are Lottie's two older step-sisters, Vaughan and Dinah, whose own private lives seem to be fraying at the seams. And then there’s that mysterious box in the attic, belonging to her father's first wife. A box whose explosive secrets Lottie is only just starting to unravel...
A heartbreaking, beautifully written and gripping page-turner about family secrets and the lengths we'll go to protect those we love. Fans of Jodi Picoult, Diane Chamberlaine and Liane Moriarty will be hooked on this breathtaking novel.
READERS ARE LOVING CLAIRE AMARTI:
“The perfect book to binge while at home. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐” - Netgalley reviewer
“This is definitely one of those books that will have you saying just 1 more chapter and before you know you finished the book! I really enjoyed all aspects of it.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐”- Netgalley reviewer
“I read this novel in less than 24 hours and if it wasn't for being a mom and wife I probably would have finished it in one sitting. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐” -Goodreads review
“This story catches your attention from the beginning and holds it all the way through to the last page. It is a story in a story. I can not wait to read more from this author. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐” -Goodreads review
"This book with grab your attention and not let go until the last page. Tissues are advised." ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐” -Goodreads review
"I’m glad I had the day off because I felt compelled to finish this book and see how it all played out. Kept me thinking the whole time. It definitely was not a book that I had figured the entire plot out before the finish. It was full of turns and surprises." ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐” -Goodreads review
My father looks around the room and raises his glass of champagne high.
‘Friends and family, I’m so glad you’re all here today. Because there's something I've been wanting to share with you.’
The way my stepmother’s looking at him I can tell right away Dad’s gone off-script. He looks out over us all and rubs his hand across his sweat-beaded forehead. He's shaking, I notice. And then he looks my way and his glance is absolutely piercing. Piercing, that’s what I’m thinking when his knees suddenly buckle and the glass drops from his hand. It smashes like a grenade, an explosion of deafening silence.
My father is lying face-forward in the grass.
‘Somebody call an ambulance,’ a voice shrieks.
And the world as I know it ends.
Dinah Spencer is back in her childhood home for one stressful weekend. It’s the twenty-five-year anniversary of her father’s marriage to her stepmother. Those twenty-five years haven’t all been happy ones for middle child Dinah, but she’s getting ready to put the past behind her, keeping the bonds of family strong for her own daughter Josie’s sake - until her beloved dad collapses in the middle of his anniversary speech.
In the wake of her father’s shocking cardiac arrest, youngest daughter Lottie Spencer must struggle to keep her family afloat. Her mother, the ever-capable Mara, suddenly seems disturbingly fragile. Then there are Lottie's two older step-sisters, Vaughan and Dinah, whose own private lives seem to be fraying at the seams. And then there’s that mysterious box in the attic, belonging to her father's first wife. A box whose explosive secrets Lottie is only just starting to unravel...
A heartbreaking, beautifully written and gripping page-turner about family secrets and the lengths we'll go to protect those we love. Fans of Jodi Picoult, Diane Chamberlaine and Liane Moriarty will be hooked on this breathtaking novel.
READERS ARE LOVING CLAIRE AMARTI:
“The perfect book to binge while at home. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐” - Netgalley reviewer
“This is definitely one of those books that will have you saying just 1 more chapter and before you know you finished the book! I really enjoyed all aspects of it.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐”- Netgalley reviewer
“I read this novel in less than 24 hours and if it wasn't for being a mom and wife I probably would have finished it in one sitting. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐” -Goodreads review
“This story catches your attention from the beginning and holds it all the way through to the last page. It is a story in a story. I can not wait to read more from this author. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐” -Goodreads review
"This book with grab your attention and not let go until the last page. Tissues are advised." ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐” -Goodreads review
"I’m glad I had the day off because I felt compelled to finish this book and see how it all played out. Kept me thinking the whole time. It definitely was not a book that I had figured the entire plot out before the finish. It was full of turns and surprises." ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐” -Goodreads review
