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Other People's Houses  By  cover art

Other People's Houses

By: Abbi Waxman
Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
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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

What listeners say about Other People's Houses

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Overwhelmed by profanity

If a “prize” were awarded for most prolific use of the f-bomb, this book would be a top 5 contender. The cultural insights and wry humor were overwhelmed by the profanity and obsession, often gratuitously graphic, with sex. Too bad because I can tell this author is intelligent and funny, too, but I found the language and frequent sexual descriptions not only distasteful but also distracting.
On the upside, the narrator is one of my favorites!

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

A miss among an author who has qualified hits...

So, now that I see Abbi Waxman actually looks at Goodreads and responds to her readers, I'm a bit nervous to rate this one. I'll try to be kind. And I'll preface it by saying I've read her books "out of order"...In recognizing the the characters from her first book "The Garden of Small Beginnings" make appearances in this one and "The Bookish Life of Nina Hill", which I read first. So, she's established quite a LA literary universe, Waxman has. And I also want to say I LOVED "Nina Hill" and enjoyed "Small Beginnings."

It is also possible that Saskia Maarleveld, the narrator for this one, and NOT her other two...Maybe just didn't get the story rhythms right.

So now that I've prepared anyone reading this...I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. It seemed to be missing the wit, humor and heart that rounds out the real life occurrences in Waxman's books. All the characters in this one seem a bit TOO cynical, a bit TOO harsh, and don't have any level of softness that makes them likable. It felt like the book was trying to ride the wave of popularity that came with "Big Little Lies", but something just didn't click.

The main character, I guess, is Frances Bloom - and the actions of the story kick off when she accidentally walks in on her neighbor, Ann, engaged in an affair with younger art professor, Richard (and since this is a shard universe, this isn't the same Richard that marries Lily's sister Rachel, right?!). As the repercussions hit her small LA community, we are introduced to Iris and Sara, the cheating Ann and her husband Charlie, Francis's husband Michael, and Bill and Julie...and all their children. Some stories carry more dimension and characters provide more depth, but too often, the story jumps to each characters' feelings and point of view, making it a bit clumsy. There isn't clarity of perspective. And since we're talking clarity, all the kids in the story are interchangeable. As I was reading, short of angsty teenager Ava, I wasn't even clear on the ages of any of the kids - so are they realistically written!? I have no clue. Should Theo be able to talk as well as he does to his sister or friends!? Couldn't tell you - because I'm not even sure how old he is supposed to be.

As for Frances, sure, she's flawed. I don't mind flawed characters. I love the characters in Waxman's other books - flaws and all. But they have soft edges and heart. Throughout the course of the story, Frances shifts between considerate mom, to judgmental mom to shrill harpy. I know not all stories are black and white - but for the character on whom the story spends most of its time - there's really nothing appealing about her. Iris and Sarah, a lesbian couple, seem relegated to the cliche "Will we have another baby" story line? And Bill and Julie are so inconsequential, their outcome isn't of much importance to me. And the biggest travesty, is none of them are likable! They all come across as just a bit too self-centered for me to care what happens to them. None of them ever speak up for their feelings or know how to have mature conversations with their spouses. It's all melodrama and cliche.

The dialogue all seems a bit forced, and when it comes to any references that only apply to the characters under 18 - it all seems contrived and an attempt to come across as hip and modern. "Look, I am writing realistic children characters with depth because I mention Minecraft!" Like I said, it is possible that narrator missed the rhythm of the book. There are moments of wit and some potential at heart - but the book seemed delivered with an overall tone of cynicism. If delivered and paced better, I wonder if I would've gotten the same sense I got when I listened to Waxman's other books. A sense of joy and humor and wonder in the midst of an adult story with serious consequences and implications.

Ultimately, this Waxman novel just didn't meet the pinnacle of the other too. It lacks the heart I've come to expect from an amazing author.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Boring and predictable

10 plus hours wasted listening to this book about carpools, coffee and superficial female relationships. Nothing deep or thoughtful about these predicable suburban characters.

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8 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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Kept listening....

This book was so boring and anti-climactic. I seldom write negative reviews but this book was really bad. Bummed I wasted my credit!

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2 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Boring Story

This was one of the most boring books I have heard in a long time. Just flat!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

banal

unnecessary peek into a busy body neighborhood. a place i would never want to be. why is swearing necessary? not everyone does but they do in this book. maybe someone else may like it, in did not and only read for a book club

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

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

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great writing about realities of life

This was such a great book. It was hard to read at times due to how real and raw it felt, but I love that.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

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.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Good

Good book
Really enjoyed the story line Anne’s character improved majorly from the beginning heads up lally is short for Alexandra

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