Thursday 2 April 2020

Book ~ "Other People's Houses" (2018) Abbi Waxman

From Goodreads ~ As the longtime local carpool mom, Frances Bloom is sometimes an unwilling witness to her neighbors' private lives. She knows her cousin is hiding her desire for another baby from her spouse, Bill Horton's wife is mysteriously missing, and now this.

After the shock of seeing Anne Porter in all her extramarital glory, Frances vows to stay in her own lane. But that's a notion easier said than done when Anne's husband throws her out a couple of days later. The repercussions of the affair reverberate through the four carpool families - and Frances finds herself navigating a moral minefield that could make or break a marriage. 

Frances is in her mid-forties, married to Michael and the mother of three.  She is a busy stay-at-home mom and carpools some of the kids on her street, including her own, to their schools.  Her neighbours include Anne and Charlie and their two kids, Bill and his son, and Iris (Frances' cousin) and Sara and their son.

There's a lot going on in the neighbourhood!  One day Frances walks in on Anne having "relations" on her living room floor with a man younger than her.  Breaking up the guy, Anne figures she can move on with her husband and family but Charlie finds out and kicks her out of the house.  Bill's wife, Julie, has suddenly disappeared and everyone in the 'hood assumes the worst ... she's left Bill for someone else.  Iris and Sara have a son and Iris would like another child but is nervous about bringing it up to Sara who is focusing on her career as an actress.

This is the second book I've read by this author and I liked it.  It was written in third person perspective from the different characters' points of view.  I found the writing amusing.  As a head's up, there is swearing (the F-bomb is used a lot).

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