 Penguin Audio presents The Husband's Secret by Leanne Moriarty, read by Caroline Lee. The dedication reads, For Adam, George and Anna. And for Amelia. To err is human. To forgive divine. Alexander Pope. Poor, poor Pandora. Zeus sends her off to marry Epimetheus. A not especially bright man she's never even met. Along with a mysterious, covered jar. Nobody tells Pandora a word about the jar. Nobody tells her not to open the jar. Naturally, she opens the jar. What else has she got to do? How is she to know that all those dreadful ills would go whooshing out to plague mankind forever more? And that the only thing left in the jar would be hope? Why wasn't there a warning label? And then everyone's like, Oh, Pandora. Where's your willpower? You are told not to open that box, you snoopy girl. You typical woman with your insatiable curiosity. Now look what you've gone and done. When for one thing it was a jar, not a box. And for another, how many times does she have to say it? Nobody said a word about not opening it. Monday. Chapter 1 It was all because of the Berlin Wall. If it wasn't for the Berlin Wall, Cecilia would never have found the letter. And then she wouldn't be sitting here at the kitchen table, willing herself not to rip it open. The envelope was grey with a fine layer of dust. The words on the front were written in a scratchy blue ballpoint pen. The handwriting is familiar as her own. She turned it over. It was sealed with a yellowing piece of sticky tape. When was it written? It felt old, like it was written years ago. But there was no way of knowing for sure. She wasn't going to open it. It was absolutely clear that she should not open it. She was the most decisive person she knew, and she had already decided not to open the letter, so there was nothing more to think about. Although honestly, if she did open it, what would be the big deal? Any woman would open it like a shot. She listed all her friends and what their responses would be if she were to ring them up right now and ask what they thought. Miriam Oppenheimer. Yep, open it. Erica Edgecliff. Are you kidding? Open it right this second. Laura Marks. Yes, you should open it, and then you should read it out aloud to me. Sarah Sacks. There would be no point asking Sarah because she was incapable of making a decision. If Cecilia asked her whether she wanted tea or coffee, she would sit for a full minute. Her forehead furrowed as she agonised over the pros and cons of each beverage before finally saying, Coffee! No, wait, tea! A decision like this one would give her a brain seizure. Mahalia Ramachandran. Absolutely not. It would be completely disrespectful to your husband. You must not open it. Mahalia could be a little too sure of herself at times with those huge brown ethical eyes. Cecilia left the letter sitting on the kitchen table and went to put the kettle on. Damn that Berlin wall and that cold war and whoever it was who sat there back in 1940 whenever it was mulling over the problem of what to do with those ungrateful Germans. The guy who suddenly clicked his fingers and said, Got it, by Jove. We'll build a great big bloody wall and keep the buggers in. Presumably he hadn't sounded like a British sergeant major. Esther would know who first came up with the idea for the Berlin wall. Esther would probably be able to give her his date of birth. It would have been a man, of course. Only a man could come up with something so ruthless, so essentially stupid and yet brutally effective. Was that sexist? She filled the kettle. Sample complete. Ready to continue?