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When facing Pandora’s box- do you dare to open it? Or is it better to leave Pandora’s box alone?

Secrets. Some are dark. Some are dirty. Some are kept for honorable reasons. Some are kept for dishonorable reasons. Some secrets have the power to hurt for just awhile- almost like a paper cut. Others, though, have a domino effect- the secret just keeps on hurting. Secrets can bond people- but mainly, a secret hurts, hurts everyone who is involved.

Cecilia might never would have known her life was going to change had her middle daughter not been obsessed with learning about the Berlin Wall. One day, Cecilia is a happily married woman, successful, with 3 beautiful girls, the next day, she is a woman looking at Pandora’s box (or shall I say envelope?) wondering what to do? Why did her husband write a letter to her to be opened after he dies? What should she do? Open it? Not open it? Confront her husband? Not tell him? When Cecilia chooses- she chooses wrong. Or does she?

Tess gets the shock of her life when her husband tells her he’s in love with her cousin. Tess, knowing from personal experience, that she doesn’t want her child growing up with divorced parents leaves to go live with her mom for a bit. Her mom has broken her ankle- so it gives her an excuse. When Tess leaves, her intention is to let this affair play out- to let her husband have his fun and then come back to her. Tess, though, learns more about herself in this separation than she counted on. Tess’s husband has no way of knowing what he released from Pandora’s box- but something was released. Can Pandora’s box ever be sealed back? Does Tess even want it to be after she begins to see life differently?

Rachel has known joy and she has known profound and unrelenting pain. Pain that began because of what happened to her daughter. Joy that showed back in her because of her grandson. When her son and daughter in law announce they are moving to New York City and taking Rachel’s joy- she is miserable because pain will the be the only thing left in her life. Rachel feels the pain so strongly- she wants to know who is responsible for her pain, wants them to suffer. One day, Rachel gets an answer to her wish. But, not in the form she was hoping for.

Three women. Secrets. Three women, linked by the secrets, although two of the women are much closely linked than the other. A secret, that in the end, they would have been better off not knowing. Secrets show the best and worst side of a person. Show how far a person is willing to go to save themselves, their families, their lives. Some secrets need to be revealed. Some, though, should stay locked forever in the proverbial Pandora’s box.

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

The Husband’s Secret at first begin on a disjointed note- a letter and talk of the Berlin Wall. The reader may wonder how the two are related- and then acknowledge the simplistic explanation that is given. However, look closer. Liane Moriarty has a deeper reason- each of her characters lives now have a Berlin Wall in them. Go forward and life may change. Stay where you are- and you could be ok. But life, whichever you choose, will not be the same as it was before the Berlin Wall. The women’s stories overlap each other, twist and turn in ways around the others that is not immediately apparent. As the reader turns the pages faster to find out what the secret is; the women’s stories are providing clues. By the end of the book- the reader will have examined their moral code in a vast new light. Highly discussable for book clubs- as potentially the most popular questions will be: Do you open the letter or not?

*This book was provided to Traveling With T in exchange for a fair and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.