In the perfect suburban Melbourne neighborhood, Essie, Fran, and Ange raise their children. All three women understand how hard it can be to care for children, keep their houses in order, and keep the spark in their marriages. Add in depression, job stresses, infidelity, secrets, and lies, and you get one crazy ride of a story.
And then Isabelle moves in.
Essie has two young girls to raise, and she feels especially fortunate when her mother moved close to help her out. Especially since she struggled so hard when her first was born. The postpartum depression was so hard for her, but she got help and was able to manage her stress. Things were better when her second daughter came along. But now the new neighbor is making Essie spin out of control once again. Will she be able to regain her balance, or will she suffer from another psychotic incident?
Fran also has two young kids. She’s still on maternity leave from her job as an attorney, and when things get too much at home, she goes running. But she worries. Her affair with the man at work was still going on when her daughter was conceived. Could it possibly be his, and how will her husband react if he ever finds? The secrets are eating her up inside, but she doesn’t know who to talk to. So she runs.
Ange’s two boys are older, no longer infants. Her real estate business is going strong. And she thinks her marriage is strong, until a chance encounter in a hospital waiting room causes her to wonder if she’s missing something. If he hasn’t been faithful to her, how will she react? What will happen to her family?
And then there’s Isabelle. The newest resident to this neighborhood has no children. She isn’t married. There must be a reason she chose to live in a neighborhood full of families, but what could that reason be? What is she hiding?
As the weeks go by, the temperatures rise, and the secrets come out, these neighbors find out what everyone is hiding behind their closed doors and realize that maybe they can build the kind of friendships that can help them endure whatever life may throw at them.
Sally Hepworth’s The Family Next Door is a moving novel about family and friendship, about making mistakes and finding forgiveness, about finding strength within yourself so you can be strong for others. I listened to this on audio, and narrator Barrie Kreinik brought these characters to live with a delightful Australian accent that added so much personality to these characters.
I really enjoyed The Family Next Door. I felt transported to another place that felt like it could be the neighborhood I live in here in America. I was really moved by these characters’ stories, and I was rooting for them to find the resolutions they so desperately wanted. The Family Next Door is a heart-warming novel of real life and family secrets that resonates long after the last page is read.
Galleys for The Family Next Door were provided by St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley, but the audio was provided by me through Audible.