Everything She Never Knew

By: Annette Chavez Macias

Narrated by: Elena Rey

The author of When We Were Widows turns to life after betrayal in this emotional, heartwarming novel about a woman whose marriage and friendship collapse all at once.

As next-door neighbors and best friends, Claudia and Rachel share everything. But in Claudia’s mind, that means recipes and clothes—not husbands. So it’s a huge shock when Rachel runs off with hers.

If that weren’t enough, her mom shows up at her door with heavy suitcases in tow. She intends to stay until Claudia has pulled through this. But behaving like a typical mother or grandmother isn’t Gloria’s style, and Claudia wonders why she’s really there. She also wonders why she can’t stop thinking about Nick, the husband Rachel jilted for her own, who still lives in the next house over.

It’s all a bit much for Claudia, who, unlike her impulsive mother, has always prized the familiar comforts of stability and routine. Now that those have been snatched away, she’ll have to face her fears and take some risks—for herself and for her daughter.

©2025 by Annette Chavez Macias. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Stand tall and fix your crown

A well written story about a woman who gets betrayed and has to start over. I enjoyed the whitty comments and the Spanglish. It made the book very easy to read. I liked the character developing and her owning her strengths and fighting for her daughter.


The quote below is my favorite. I’ve always felt this way about people.

“As for me, I choose to believe that some people come into our lives for only a season. They serve a purpose, whether it’s to teach us a lesson about ourselves or just help us through things at that time. Then they’re gone.”

Resilience in words

A lovely read! Highly recommend! The cultural experience mixed with the family drama was everything a reader needs.

3 stars

Everything She Never Knew by Annette Chavez Macias drew me in immediately. However, we are never given a reason as to why David or Rachel were worth Claudia being so desolate about. There weren't any significant flashbacks to show us how they interacted before the breakups. It seemed like the mere fact that her husband left her for her best friend was a sufficient reason for us to stay engaged. Because we weren't shown, I didn't have much sympathy for Claudia.

As a fellow Latina, I loved how the characters incorporated talking about their Mexican culture, cuisine, and products in El Mercandito.

Elena Rey is a great narrator that kept me engaged.

A Good Read

This was a pretty good read that I also listened to on audio. Claudia and Rachel grew up living next door to each other. Claudia lives with her mother who is a single mom with Rachel has two parents when one cheats on another. This story was told in dual times by Claudia. Her diary entries as a young girl and her current life. Now they are both married and are neighbors, and it's everything Claudia thought it would be. She has her husband, daughter, and best friend, what could go wrong? Her husband leaves her and Rachel runs off with him and she wants answers. This was a book that I didn't think I would like. This book was well written with no errors in grammar or spelling. I also liked the narrators. I am looking forward to reading more from this author.

Really great story

This is a really interesting and great story. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from it however, it was very well written. I read the story for my book club and I also purchased the audible so when I couldn't read my Kindle I could listen to the story. I found myself pulled into the story and wondering what would happen next. It was very emotional for me because of the situation that happened in book I had empathy for the character. I feel like there is a lot happening in a deeper sense so it's going to take me probably a few days to let everything really sink in. Overall, I really enjoyed reading / listening to the book and I'm glad that our book club chose it. Very interesting, sad at times, but also kind of empowering.

Awesome reading

I loved the detail the author took to describe Olvera street. I could visualize the area and could practically taste the churros from the mercadito yummm!