My Husband’s Sin

Last updated on June 30th, 2016

My Husband’s Sin by Mary Bradford is a compelling read about a devastating family secret revealed after the matriarch’s death and the repercussions it has on the Taylor family. The focus is on Lacey, the youngest of four siblings from a well-to-do Irish family. Sweet-natured, impulsive and somewhat aimless, Lacey is affected the most.  The author does a great job of showing how she grows and matures as a person and finds her way to deal with the revelations.

To the writer’s great credit, the other siblings—image-conscious, troubled, shallow oldest sister Willow, successful brother Rob who thinks he has found that special love, and peaceful, diplomatic, free-spirited Sally who grounds the family but can’t stay grounded in one place too long—are all well-formed, interested characters in their own right. From the minor details like cooking a meal, meeting for coffee, and going shopping, to serious conversations and actions taken to resolve the conflicts, I remained engaged in the lives of the Taylors.

I have a couple of minor quibbles (they don’t even qualify as criticisms) that did not dampen how much I valued the book:

1. The title would have one believe the book is from the point of view of the matriarch, which is not the case.
2. The subplot about Lacey’s cat bothered me in that it was not resolved, and I wasn’t sure what the point of it was other than to show that during that time, nothing was going right for Lacey.

My Husband’s Sin is a very satisfying read that kept me turning the pages. It’s rich in both plot and character development.