Other People's Houses

By: Abbi Waxman

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

Length: 10 hrs

Publisher's summary

"Abbi Waxman is both irreverent and thoughtful." (Number one New York Times best-selling author Emily Giffin)

The 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 joy...someone making love on the floor to a man who is most definitely not her husband....

*record scratch*

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.

©2018 Abbi Waxman (P)2018 Penguin Audio

meh

it is an okay story. predictable. I like the narrator. she did her part well.

Mmmm...

did I love the book? I'm not sure... I'm not usually someone who writes reviews, however I felt the urge to write this review in order to put my thoughts in order...
back to my question, did I love the book.. no not really.. i liked the book.. I thought it's interesting and very accurate in many ways.. as a mom and wife myself it was almost depressing being in the mind of the main character.. going through the everyday routine, Boring, tiring, stressful and always playing catch up with your own life.. but it did have a sense of humor that veered it away from being completely depressing.. then comes the stories of everybody else in the neighborhood.. most of the people are likeable and listening to the book feels like a day in the neighborhood.. anecdotes here and there, drama and some funny situation.. but that's it... that is what makes this book hard to review.. it feels like nothing special, but the characters are nice.. the drama sometimes felt to me unnecessary... all in all it's an enjoyable listen but forgettable... was it worth a credit? honestly the jury is still out

5 stars

Good listening! Some moments LOL funny. Good story and well developed characters. Great choice for narrater

A look at other people's lives...

This was a fun read, but when I finished it, I found myself wondering what the point was. I guess, at the end of the day, it was a glimpse into the lives of characters who seemed so real I felt like I knew them! No complicated plot twists, just well described characters living their lives.

Slice of Life

This book was able to make me laugh and pull on my heart strings all at the same time. It examines the inner workings of a suburban neighborhood and what kind of fall out there will be when a woman is discovered cheating on her husband. The standout character for me was Frances. She was incredible.

Loved the raw emotions. F word overused.

I liked this book overall. The emotions expressed in the story were genuine, raw, and relatable but the rampant use of the F word was a bit much.

great book!

the main character was super funny! I thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of the book, nothing too deep, nothing too sappy. great to listen to while I worked.

An interesting mix of characters

I liked the relatable interactions between a fairly broad range of characters, and their inner dialogues regarding their family members, neighbors and themselves. The author was able to instill humor where appropriate but some of the
interwoven plots in this story were serious and troubled.

I’m glad I don’t live in LA

Do educated mature adults really talk to each other like this? I’m glad I live in the boring multi- season Midwest.
Reflections on parenting were funny at times but always had that ring of cynicism. At least the author tried to redeem her characters st the end.

Not sold in narrator

I liked the story and chose it bc I’d read another of Abbi Waxman’s books. I just didn’t love the reader. I thought she sounded too somber, not enough humor in her voice.