Title: My Husband’s Lie
Author: Emma Davies
Published by: Bookouture
Publication Date April 9th, 2020
When I stumbled across the listing for Pevensey House I knew I had found a way for my family to be free and I didn’t hesitate. I should have, I know that now…
When Thea sees her old family home is up for sale – a beautiful old rectory in the small town where she and her childhood sweetheart, now husband, Drew, grew up – she knows she has to have it. Her parents moved her away suddenly when she was eleven, but her childhood there was filled with happy memories. Drew seems less sure, but Thea is certain it’s the perfect place to raise their two children.
But as the last boxes are unpacked, Thea can’t seem to settle. She thought the move would bring her family closer together, but Drew is growing more distant. And why do old friends cross to the other side of the road when they see her coming?
Alone in the house, exploring the creaky corridors she used to cartwheel down as a young girl, Thea smiles as she slides open the loose panel she once used as a hiding place. But it only takes one look at the faded local newspaper clipping inside for the bonds holding her perfect family together to break.
It’s not long before news of the scandal spreads further and the whole town turns against her. Thea’s life is in freefall as her head and her heart wrestle between taking the blame, and fighting for her innocence. In a small town where no one ever forgets the past, can Thea find a way to save her family’s future?
My Husband’s Lie by Emma Davies was an evocative and touching novel, focusing on the much-loved themes of family, marriage and parenthood, and how one person’s unknown past can lead to unforeseen consequences in the future.
I love Emma’s writing style. It’s effortlessly easy to lose oneself within, her descriptions and prose dripping off the page like honey but although this novel has that delicious, easy way of wrapping a person within it wholly, coupled with that gorgeous tight-knit village atmosphere that makes you feel like you’re one of the residents, I have to warn you that it’s nowhere near as sweet as it first may appear to be. Granted, this tale includes all of those warm and cosy themes that I love to read about so much, but there’s also a much darker, deeper matter that weaves right the way through, bobbing to the surface periodically, encouraging you to read on in order to discover the truth.
In My Husband’s Lie by Emma Davies, readers are introduced to Thea and Drew, childhood sweethearts, they’ve known each other since they were children, and grew up in homes just across from each other, too. Now, married with two daughters, Lauren and Chloe, Thea and Drew are moving back to the place where it all started for them. In fact, right back to the very same house! Pevensey House, where Thea’s golden childhood was created, will now be home to the very same girl who grew up there, alongside her own daughters, who she hopes will love it just as much as she did. But of course, nothing is ever as easy as it first appears to be, and although Thea feels in her heart that this is the best move she and Drew could ever make for their family, there’s just something… something simmering beneath the surface… she can’t put her finger on it but as the weeks pass by in their new home, Thea begins to realise that maybe her childhood wasn’t as perfect as she thought it was.
There was so much for me to get my teeth stuck into in this novel. Not only did Emma write beautifully about parenthood and Thea and Drew’s marriage, bringing up the memories they shared of when they were younger, but there was a multitude of other subjects to explore. Everything from meeting the new neighbours to playground tensions, and settling into a new school for Thea’s daughters, there was tons to read about and enjoy, and I completely lost myself in Thea’s new village life. I loved the descriptions of Pevensey House, and found myself conjuring up images in my mind of what it looked like, and what it would be like to live in a place so rustic and enchanting.
“Pevensey House is showing its age a little, but it’s still beautiful. Built during the Victorian era, it spent a good portion of its life as the village rectory but has long since relinquished that role…”
Emma writes about relationships brilliantly, and the way she captures the bond between her characters is heart-warming, to say the least. I loved the tender moments shared between Thea and her daughters, the romance between Thea and Drew, and with the new friends Thea makes along the way. But there’s also Rachel, Thea’s longest standing friend, and it’s not hard to feel envious of the obvious fondness they share for each other, and it’s impossible to miss the sadness that lingers between them just before Thea leaves London to start her new life in the country. Emma leaves nothing unturned when she’s writing about what matters most, and I found her love for her characters to shine through when reading about them, making it all the more enjoyable and long-lasting in my mind.
But of course, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine in this novel. The author chooses to include in this story something very surprising, and something that I definitely didn’t see coming, despite the very vague hints peppered throughout the story. And then even once the truth came to light, I was still a bit taken aback by the direction in which the plot had taken a turn. A serious topic, which I thought the author handled very well, and which also gave this novel a huge amount of realness, which makes me respect it all the more. I must admit, I spent a great deal of my time trying to figure out what this huge secret was, but alas, I failed. There were lots of twists and turns within this story, and a fair few explosive scenes too, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and I found myself rooting for Thea the entire way through. After all, it can’t be easy moving into a brand new area with your family, whether you’ve lived there before or not. Village dramatics are a very real thing, and I personally think that Thea showed a great deal of patience in regards to dealing with some of that situations she comes to face. I won’t say much more than that, I really don’t want to spoil this story for any other potential readers out there.
But I will say that this was an utter joy to read, and I loved every second spent reading it. It was the perfect story to lose myself in, in times such as these, and Emma Davies told it beautifully, with an exquisite amount of heart, soul and tenderness. The mystery was unravelled in the most intriguing of ways and the temptation of this reveal was what kept me on tenterhooks right the way through. I can’t wait to read more books by this author, and look forward to news of her future releases.
The Book Babe is giving My Husband’s Lie by Emma Davies a rating of four out of five. A truly tender and evocative tale, one which will have me returning to this author for more. I’d like to thank the author for providing me with an advanced reading copy of this book, which has no reflection on my fair and honest review. You can pre-order/purchase your copy here.
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