Book Review: The Soulmate | Sally Hepworth

This is a spoiler-free review of The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth. If you have read the book and want more detail on the ending or are looking for spoilers, you can head to my spoiled-review where I unpack the ending and my thoughts.

A domestic-suspense novel with fascinating relational dynamics and a compelling ending that will have you tempted to re-read the whole book in a different lens. The Soulmate is my personal favorite book I’ve read by Sally Hepworth. The characters are well-crafted and the narrative structure added an interesting element to the plot reveals.

The Characters

Pippa and Gabe Gerard are married and have two daughters, Freya and Asha. They recently moved to a coastal town into a house at the top of a cliff. Gabe is a stay-at-home dad in the present timeline, though he has held different jobs in the past. Pippa’s sister Kat and her wife Mei live nearby. Mei and Gabe were formerly co-workers.

Amanda and Max Cameron are married and childless. Amanda met wealthy Max when she was waitressing an event he was at. They have been married for over two decades when the events of the book take place.

The Plot

Pippa and Gabe Gerard have recently moved their small, happy family to their dream home in a sleepy coastal town set at the top of a cliff. The cliffs are beautiful and dangerous, and they learn after moving in that they are a popular destination for those looking to take their own lives.

Over the past year since they moved in, Gabe has taken on the role of the helper to the lost souls who come there. He has saved several lives, spending hours talking to the individuals until they are ready to come back off the ledge to safety.

Until one day, a woman comes to the cliffs and Gabe isn’t able to save her. In a twist of fate, this woman isn’t a random stranger. Her name is Amanda Cameron, and it turns out Pippa and Gabe knew her. When Pippa learns who the woman was, she begins to replay the scene over and over in her mind, trying to make sense of it.

Gabe is her soulmate, after all… would he lie to Pippa? As details emerge, the dynamics between the Gerards and the Camerons become more twisted. What really happened to Amanda Cameron? And will the survivors be able to live with the truth when it is revealed?

The Structure

Told in alternating timelines to before and after the death of Amanda, The Soulmate is a fascinating character-study in a beautiful and terrifying setting. Chapters are narrated by both Amanda and Pippa, and we learn more about each woman—how they met their partner, what drew them to him, and what their life has been like since. The timelines and different perspectives unfold until the shocking and emotional conclusion.

My Thoughts

I really love Sally Hepworth’s writing and The Soulmate might be my favorite book I’ve read by her. I’ve seen some readers talk about whether they expected more or less from the twists based on early reviews so I want to talk a bit about the genre. The Soulmate is full of twists and turns throughout the book that cause the reader to rethink their assumptions about the story and the characters at each turn. I think some readers of psychological thrillers expect every twist to be jaw-dropping and “WTF?!” style twists, and those are a lot of fun.

What I would say is that isn’t Sally Hepworth’s style. Her books are more suspenseful, domestic fiction in style. Her twists tend to occur from learning new information that alters your perspective on what you think is happening and where the book may go. They are real life type twists (though heightened), and they are dropped in as secrets revealed, or new information learned. They come through the delicate and complicated weaving of narratives. They are explosive in their impact on characters you’ve grown to love, because they change the direction of the story. Her ending twists tend to be delicious morsels that round out the theme of the book in a way that satisfies the broader message of the story.

The Soulmate revolves around two couples, and the book opens with the death of Amanda, and then explores how these two couples knew one another and how their stories are intertwined while also separate. Pippa and Gabe take the bulk of the story, because we not only learn their past and how they came to meet and grow their family, but we are also watching them deal with the fallout of the incident on the cliff. Amanda and Max are a secondary though equally compelling story that begins with Amanda’s death and the questions surrounding it, then backtracks to their very beginnings.

Both relationships are immensely complicated and beautifully messy. These feel like real couples—ones you’d know and maybe even be friends with. Pippa and Amanda are very different characters, as are Max and Gabe. I enjoyed both narrative but I found Amanda’s story particularly compelling. Never forget the title of the book is “the soulmate”—but part of what we are seeing unfold is what that really means in the lives of these four people.

The characters and relationships are expertly developed. Each twist and turn changed what I thought was happening. By the end, I was actually less concerned about the answer to Amanda’s death that sparked so much of the events of the book than I was about the people and their stories. The ending was satisfying, emotional, and compelling. The epilogue rounded out the story in just the right way. A must-read for fans of this style of book!

The Ending

I loved the way this book ended and I wanted to get into it more, so I’ve got a spoiler review that you can check out to find out how The Soulmate ended and what I thought. Head to that review to hear the ending explained!

About the Book (Goodreads)

There’s a cottage on a cliff. Gabe and Pippa’s dream home in a sleepy coastal town. But their perfect house hides something sinister. The tall cliffs have become a popular spot for people to end their lives. Night after night Gabe comes to their rescue, literally talking them off the ledge. Until he doesn’t.

When Pippa discovers Gabe knew the victim, the questions spiral…Did the victim jump? Was she pushed?

And would Gabe, the love of Pippa’s life, her soulmate…lie? As the perfect facade of their marriage begins to crack, the deepest and darkest secrets begin to unravel.