“Abbi Waxman is both irreverent and thoughtful.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Emily GiffinThe author of The Garden of Small Beginnings returns with a hilarious and poignant new novel about four families, their neighborhood carpool, and the affair that changes everything.At any given moment in other people’s houses, you can find…repressed hopes and dreams…moments of unexpected … dreams…moments of unexpected joy…someone making love on the floor to a man who is most definitely not her husband…
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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.
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Oooh, what fun this was! I just love a story full of snarky wit and secrets, and Other People’s Houses delivered on both with a level of precision and skill that has skyrocketed Abbi Waxman to one of my new favorites… As a parent, I enjoy reading stories about families and the interplay between adults and children – and I particularly enjoy it when the descriptions of the frustrations and irritations and little daily banalities (as opposed to only the joys and triumphs) are presented in such a spot-on and hilarious fashion. There’s drama here, and sadness – but there’s also a feeling of optimistic levity that pervades even the darkest moments, and I think that’s a testament to the utterly realistic picture that Waxman has managed to paint about what it means to be in and of a family. It was a thoroughly enjoyable read with twists I didn’t see coming, one-liners that made me laugh out loud, and brilliant encapsulations of the difficult joy of being a parent, spouse, and friend…
My review copy was provided by the Penguin First to Read Program.
Other People’s Houses is such a realistic story. Maybe not all the storylines would be happening at the same time, but it is the idea that closed doors every family has their own world happening. As the neighbors look on, there are things that should be kept private yet in a neighborhood where everyone knows everyone it is close to impossible. Many times the happenings behind closed doors become more drama than they have to be just because of other’s opinions, “help”, or just plain nosiness.
Frances was the know all in her neighborhood. Probably due to the fact that she was the stay at home mom that everyone turned to when they needed help. She was given an inside look, through the kids especially, behind the walls of her neighbors. She tried to help everyone, she had her nose in everyone’s household, but she was not the gossip. She knew what was happening, she was willing to help, and she didn’t spread their gossip around.
The other characters all tell their story but Frances is the main narrator. I liked being able to hear firsthand what has happening in their lives and getting an inside look at their lives. Some of the problems were heavy, some were not so heavy, but all were realistic to the real lives in US. I laughed, I blushed, and I felt compassion for most of the characters. I am recommending this book to anyone who enjoys getting an inside look at the lives of others.
Abbi Waxman has such a wonderful way with characters, and her books balance humor with real life issues perfectly. Her characters are people you want to be friends with. Other People’s Houses is a great look into how our lives effect one another. Moms and Dads familiar with everyday soccer and school politics will especially relate to this often funny and quirky novel.
I love this author and the way she writes. Good story.
She is a fun, entertaining author.
Really enjoy Abbi’s books. At times I laughed out loud. I just feel it could be just as good without all the swearing.
I have enjoyed the other books that have crossover characters. This book got off to a slow start, but I did see it through to the end. Could have done with a few less Fbombs.
4-4.5 Stars!
Wow. I’ve read all of this author’s books and this one is completely different and unexpected. I really loved it. Although all of her books are considered women’s fiction, I’m impressed that she’s shown some range among her 4 published books and written unique characters and story arcs in each one.
I loved the representation of real marriages and how each one looks different from the outside, “grass is greener” and all that. Also, how easy it is to compare your relationship against others when you don’t know the real story. There were four couples/marriages portrayed in the story, but Frances and Michael’s were at the center. I loved this couple. They were real and their mutual respect was evident in their playful banter and authentic friendship.
I am consistently moved by Abbi Waxman’s wit, charm, and poignancy. She’s now on my short list of one-click authors.
I laughed so hard at this that I was solidly in “I hope I don’t pee my pants” territory while driving around listening. (I made it…whew.)
Honest, brutal and hilarious whether you are a parent or not!
Thank you to Jonathan K who knew how much I would love this!
This may be a case of “It’s not you, it’s me.”, but I did not love this book. This is the first time I’ve read an Abbi Waxman book, and I can’t say I’m super excited about picking up another one. Many of my reading buddies love her and swear by her though, so I’ll probably give it one more shot.
This story was ok. Not a whole lot happens, and the ending doesn’t really clear anything up. There’s a bunch of characters that are only mentioned sporadically a handful of times, so whenever they popped up (along with their children…looooots of children to keep straight in this book), it was difficult to remember who they were and what their relation was to Frances (since she’s the main character here and did most of the talking/thinking)
I thought the cheating storyline would be much more prominent, but it’s kind of a side-story and not a very good one. Anne is a selfish bitch who has no REAL reason for completely uprooting her family’s lives other than ‘I was just so bored’ and ‘I have a mental problem’.
THAT pissed me off.
No, you do NOT have a mental problem, you’re just another bored selfish housewife who was looking for some entertainment with a hot young piece, then had the audacity to turn into a sniveling mess when your husband felt betrayed and kicked you out. And Richard? The boyfriend? When he wasn’t sleeping with Anne, he was crying. So. Much. CRYING.
The two other families (lesbians Iris and Sarah and married couple Bill and Judith) served hardly any purpose at all. Especially Bill and Judith (I think that’s her name…she was mention so infrequently). You could remove them completely from the book, and absolutely nothing would change (aside from Charlie getting punched).
Overall, this was a ridiculously bland and forgettable read. I finished it about an hour ago and I’m already struggling to remember character names. By the end of the month, the only way I’ll know that I have read this book is because it’s marked in my Goodreads shelves as ‘Read’.
Quick read! I enjoyed getting to know each of the characters and understanding how their lives all tied together, in one way or another. It also gave me some good laughs!
I absolutely, absolutely loved this book…I laughed my butt off and then one part made tears run down my face of sadness for Anne.
Frances Bloom takes care of the neighborhood carpool for the children of several families. Inadvertently she returns to her friends house to retrieve an item that Anne’s son forgot and needed that day at school. When Frances opens the door to get Anne’s son’s project, Anne is on the floor with a man who is not her husband. Soon the neighbor knows and then Anne’s husband. Even tho Anne deserved the verbal abuse by her husband, I really felt for her, I mean this made tears run down my face and I felt so bad for Anne. Anne’s children are so great in that they tried so hard to make their parents get back together. I wanted so bad for Anne and Charlie to work it out.
Frances and Ava are my all time favorites, Frances is so strong and a great mom. Ava is so quick witted and funny. I also liked the relationship between Frances and her husband, they made for an entertaining read.
I highly recommend this book, the writing is so perfect. I would read more by this Author no doubt.
Thank you Abbi Waxman for an entertaining read and funny moments.
Thank you to First To Reads for this electronic book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Cherie’
Other People’s Houses is a humorous take on a classic tale of daily suburban life, parenthood, and marriage.
The women on who live on Frances Bloom’s street individually lament how suburbia and children have affected their career, body, and personal grace. While they all have the life they thought they wanted, none seem to be happy, just busy and tired. When one woman’s illicit affair is exposed, it sets off an epidemic of malaise as if infidelity and divorce are a communicable disease. Ms. Waxman’s wry take on suburban life is as wickedly good and addicting as any night-time television melodrama.
The trials and tribulations of daily life in the Larchmont suburb of Los Angeles are presented lightheartedly as the characters experience what growing old together genuinely means. Author Abbi Waxman clearly shows her readers that regular/normal families are often less humdrum than presumed behind their closed door.
#OtherPeople’sHouses #NetGalley
Other People’s Houses looks behind the curtain into all of the relationships in a block of houses in the Larchmount neighborhood of Los Angeles. Frances Bloom, as the volunteer driver of all of the neighbors children, she gets an eyeful into the lives of her next door neighbor that makes everyone take a second look into their own marriage.
Although the point of view changes from character to character I mostly identified with Frances, the mother of four, slightly overweight stay at home wife who spends her days making other peoples lives easier. Not to say that I make people’s lives easy, but she was more the “everyman” character in this book, so seeing through her eyes was easier and her point of view was very clear. When she catches one of her neighbors in infidelity she keeps her mouth shut, but her knowing creates a cause and effect that builds into a tsunami that breaks over that neighborhood, changing the lives of not only the adults but all of the children as well.
Other People’s Houses needs to stand on it’s own and not be compared to The Garden of Small Beginnings, and I think I did it a disservice at first for being so eager to look for a laugh. I was disappointed when I didn’t get it until further into the book. Abbi Waxman still did an amazing job creating credible, real, emotional characters. I really liked these people so was able to get involved in their stories, but it did take me a little bit to understand that this was not going down the road I had wanted to take and my journey was going to be a lot more emotional. If you enjoy reading books about heartbreaking relationships with an occasional laugh then you will really like this book. If you read The Garden of Small Beginnings, be warned, you are not getting the same uplifting novel with Other People’s Houses, but you will still be enthralled with the story.