Helpful Score: 2
If nothing else, this book should teach us all to KNOCK at a neighbor's door before just walking in. Anyone who has had small kids, lived in a close neighborhood, been in the PTA, or had kids in soccer can relate to (most) of this book. Funny and quick paced.
Crisp and funny novel about the intertwined lives of several families in an upper-middle-class California neighborhood. When one of the wives is caught in an extramarital affair, the shock waves ripples through several households. Sharp characterization and witty observations about the nature of marriage and the struggles of raising children. And speaking of children -- this is one of the few novels I've read in which the children (there are several, ranging in ages from 4 to 14) are realistically drawn and each given their own distinct personality, as well as their own role to play in the book.
I liked the premise of Other People's Houses. We truly do not know what happens behind someone else's closed door. That premise could have led to deeper questions about the strength of a marriage and the building and destroying of trust in a relationship. Unfortunately, for me, it does not. The off putting opening scene, the gratuitous cursing, and the large cast of characters and issues incorporated make this not the book for me.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2018/06/other-peoples-houses.html
Reviewed for the Penguin First to Read program.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2018/06/other-peoples-houses.html
Reviewed for the Penguin First to Read program.
