Review: The Mother-in-Law

The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Sally Hepworth for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advance copy.

Lucy’s mother died when she was young and although she had a loving father, she missed those things that only a mother could provide. When she fell in love with Ollie, she had high expectations for a “best friends” relationship with his mother. She was hoping Diana would fill in and become the mother she never had. As you can surmise, that was not the case. But when Diana dies, the police soon discover that her suicide might just be a cover for murder. Who wanted Diana dead?

I have the amazing fortune of having not one but two mother-in-laws. I know, right? #soblessed. Ya, maybe not so much. Honestly, I have a wonderful stepmother-in-law and am really grateful for her. She has been wonderful and has gone above and beyond for me and my kids. So part of me was hoping for this read to have a vicious mother-in-law, one who I could get on board hating and having her murdered, perhaps, by her daughter-in-law. Nothing like living vicariously through characters in a book! I wanted witty repartee, a husband caught in the middle, maybe a sly woman that whispers nasty comments when no one is looking, driving the daughter-in-law slowly crazy. Ya, that didn’t happen.

Told in alternating perspectives between Lucy and Diana, it switches from past to present. If you don’t want a huge spoiler, don’t read the names of the chapters - ucchh what a way to ruin the ending. Lucy is soft, sweet and insecure, and realistically, no one could have filled her naive expectations. Diana, by contrast, is tough and comes from the school of hard knocks. She has no respect for Lucy because Lucy can’t do anything herself. But this really isn’t a battle between mother and daughter-in-laws. Diana treats everyone equally, including her own children. She is who she is. She doesn’t want to give unfair advantages to her children, she wants them to be strong and stand on their own two feet. The same goes for Lucy. Diana feels Lucy has a privileged life, being a stay at home mother and Lucy can’t get it together. But she isn’t any meaner toward her than anyone else. They are both at fault for not communicating with each other, accepting each other for who they are and not one of them will utter so much as a “Thank You”. But as far as a nightmare of a mother-in-law, Diana doesn’t even rate. I have read, seen and experienced worse.

For me, the characters were awful. I couldn’t relate to any of them. What a bunch of weak, one dimensional, cardboard cutouts. Diana’s husband, Tom, is like the fool who just wants to be liked by everyone, constantly going behind his wife’s back and not caring how his actions affect anyone else’s relationships. Ollie, Lucy’s husband, can’t be honest with his own wife and is so stupid he doesn’t even know when someone is stealing from him. I could go on, but I’d rather not. I didn’t like anybody that much that I care to rehash them here. The mystery part of the novel didn’t work for me either. There was no suspense, no build up, no wondering who did it, it just was and then it was over. So a bunch of spoiled brats, who didn’t inherit a bunch of money they were waiting for and then it was over. At least it was a short novel.
Sorry, not for me.

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