The Secrets of Married Women

Loved the book. It grabbed my attention from the first chapter and I fought sleep to stay up late into the night to finish it in one sitting. I really like when authors don’t have the story wrap up with a neat bow and give a hea right after the reader finds out what’s going on.Without any spoilers I think in the end after everything is revealed there is a hea for all 3 women, but each of them having it in very different ways. They all end up getting something they wanted in the end imo, but not without loss, betrayal, & heartbreak in each of their friendships, marriages, and lives.Leigh in her mind probably felt like she won a prize & got something great but readers will know karma will come around to visit her in the future. Wendy became stronger and will pursue and achieve her dreams and finds her worth even it is later in her life and Jill with having a child when it’s once thought in her marriage that wouldn’t be an option.It wasn’t a clear cut path for any of the women and definitely not without heartbreak but the author pulled it all together to give each their own at the end.

The Secrets of Married Women is an absorbing read and wasn't anywhere near as frothy and fluffy as I might have believed it to be from the cover and description. Instead, I discovered a thoughtful novel about love, marriage and friendship that covers a topic we don't often see in chick lit, which is always a refreshing change. Often we see infidelity from the women's perspective when she is the wronged party. The Secrets of Married Women explores the topic of women led astray.This novel is full of flawed, real characters. The main character, Jill, whose marriage we witness as issues fester and begin to splinter and erode their relationship, is a wonderful character to root for. I wanted to shake Jill and shove Rob in her face so she could see how wonderful he is, yet I could completely emphasize with how lonely and bereft she feels once he emotionally vacates. I don't condone cheating, and I was slightly surprised that their issue hadn't been going on for longer, but this novel provides multiple angles on the subject of infidelity. You can compare women and men and draw your own conclusions - who ends up miserable, who is redeemed, who is released and why. I think Mason does a fabulous job at making you think with this novel.The Secrets of Married Women isn't just about marriage and infidelity. It's also about friendship. I loved how different the three characters are and I enjoyed following their stories. The relationship between the three women is intriguing as they didn't always confide their deepest secrets to one another, and I could completely relate to this. Some women tell each other everything, which we have one character do, and others keep quiet until there's an explosion or others confide only to some friends as opposed to others and I found it intriguing and characteristic of even some of my own relationships.Mason's depiction of marriage in The Secrets of Married Women is fascinating to me, as I found her other novel, The Love Market. She hits it on the nose every time and manages to write about marriage without the fluffy coating some novels manage to layer on. She stips away the layers and portrays it in all it's greatness and listlessness. Her portrayal of how wonderful and intoxicating it can be, juxtaposed at how lonely and aggravating it can be is fabulous. Marriage is hard, and this novel tells it like it is for these characters. There is no sugar coating, no reality dodging and I loved that. The fact that Rob isn't a terrible person, but loving, and kind with one large exception that becomes a growing problem in their marriage makes what happens even harder to swallow. I love novels that hit hard with reality, and The Secrets of Married Women definitely delivers.There were definitely a few surprises in The Secrets of Married Women, which I loved along with Jill, whose character I really enjoyed . If you're looking for a deeper novel, exploring marriage, pick up one of Mason's novels today.

More like 3.5 stars.Call me weird, but I like reading stories about women in close friendships who deal with infidelity. But the stories that interest me are the ones where the women are the unfaithful ones. Part of this is because I wrote a book on the same subject and I'm curious to see how similar their reactions are and their motivations, etc. as the character in my novel. In this case I found the characterization very believable. Unfortunately, I've known a number of people in situations like this where a good friend finds out her other friend is sleeping with the good friend's husband and the agony of how to deal with it is rough, to say the least. I also know of several situations where husbands came around and things worked out despite the woman's cheating. It even happened to a good friend of mine. I ran into her husband, a chronic cheater, a year after their divorce only to find out they'd gotten remarried. I didn't see that coming. I think the difference is in how the affair happened and who the woman loved. Leigh's motivation was entirely different than Jill's. So were their feelings toward their husbands, and that made all the difference to me. I totally identified with Jill's situation and the horror she went through in more ways than one. I do believe if her friend hadn't talked about her affair so much she may not have gone down that road herself.An aside... there is a lot of cursing in this book, but a lot of witty dialog as well. Honestly, I could hear these characters saying angry things like "you bitch" when furious, so it didn't bother me, though I prefer not to read cursing in novels. Most of the time the words fit the scenes. Just sayin'. I also find the way English people curse a little bit amusing. Call me weird, but to me bloody simply means blood coming out of something like a cut. And shag is a type of carpet people had in their homes in the early 1970s. There are a number of other words that I'm sure were meant as bad words, but I didn't know what they meant, so I just kept reading. This book and the characters reminded me a bit of the language and characters in the movie, Sliding Doors, with Gwyneth Paltrow. That story contained a lot of British slang, too, most of which went over my head. Anyway, I liked the resolution at the end and found it plausible. This kind of stuff does happen. I've seen it where a bad situation turns out to have good elements despite how messed up it began. I applaud the author for her dramatic storytelling and her ability to pull me into the characters's lives. This story felt pretty realistic to me. I have to say I felt a bit sorry for these three ladies because they all suffered in different ways. I especially hurt for Wendy. That said, would I recommend this book to people with sensitive ears and minds? No. But for people who like the deep psychology of getting into characters' heads and examining their motivations? I'd definitely recommend it because this dramatic story was well done.

Interesting read looking into three women's relationship. I've been in a very long term relationship which ended two years ago. Unfortunately the main reason of the end was similar than what happened in this book with different circumstances though. I could feel for the main character feeling lonely and alone with someone who she loves so much.What I thought reading this book was that honest communication is the most important aspect to avoid things than what happened in the book especially if two people love each other but maybe for a short time they have difficulties in the relationship.It was also interesting how my opinion kept changing about the women throughout the book. The one I found the weakest at the beginning eventually became the strongest by the end in my eyes. Although she was not the main character, it shows that sometimes we just need a big knock in our life to realise we're not in the right place and eventually start to live our life as we really want to live it.It's a very good read which makes you think about some very important things in relationships and friendships. Because the other main message in this book for me is the importance of friendships. But how hard it is to be the middle one between two of your best friends. And again, how important honesty is. Who is adult and mature enough to accept a different opinion to yours from a friend when you go to them with your issues or problems. Friends are not always there to agree with everything you do but it's sometimes hard to accept.Recommended.

I choose 5 stars for the book as it was a difficult topic with page sliding speed that only having such realistic characters would make me do .I found that I actually felt genuinely worried about 2 of the women but not so much for Leigh not everything can be because of a screwed up childhood. Leigh knew full well what she was doing.I did not expect the ending for which I am very pleased as I tend to predict the ending and get quite miffed when I am right, sounds strange but it's true.Fabulously written Carol Mason fabulous work. Thank you for giving us characters to worry about and take our minds off Covid19 just for a little time

What a brilliant story. I read it in one day, always a good sign! I felt like a fly on the wall listening in to the secrets of Jill, Wendy and Leigh. They are three, thirty something, married friends. Well they are friends at the beginning of the story! As their secrets start to tumble out, each marriage reaches breaking point! Read on!

One of the most disappointing things about the book was that it only took me 2 days to read it! Admittedly it was so hard to put down that I didn't!! This is a story line that I think many people will recognise when you put too much trust in someone you believe you can trust and then they let you down. There are parts when you will be silently shouting at Jill not to get involved but in the belief that she is supporting her friend she does. Will now look for other books by this author.

What happens in other people's lives, your best friends always seem to have everything you don't, especially a child.A story of friendship,love and family.How perhaps some things are best kept private.The heartbreak of infertility all gather together to form a 'perfect storm ' of emotions and events.Avery enjoyable read from an author I stumbled across, highly recommended.