Review: The Family Next Door (by Sally Hepworth)

My Rating:  3.5 stars

This was a quick, entertaining read that kept me engaged throughout in wanting to find out the various secrets that each of the families were trying to hide.  The story was told from the perspective of each of the 3 housewives – Essie, Ange, and Fran – as well as Essie’s mom Barbara and the new neighbor in town, Isabelle.   As the narrative alternated between these characters, we were given insight into the varying amounts of drama that went on amongst families behind closed doors and how people who may appear from the outside to lead “perfect” lives could, in reality, be falling apart inside.  Most of the characters were well-drawn and some were certainly more likable than others, but all of them I felt were realistically portrayed and relatable.  I especially liked the different aspects of motherhood that were portrayed and getting to see how each woman dealt with the issues that came up, how their respective backgrounds influenced their decisions and actions, how they interacted with their spouses and their children, etc. 

Overall, I would say that this was a good story with interesting characters and a few well-executed plot twists thrown in for good measure, though it’s a story that I’ve definitely seen/heard before, so from an originality standpoint, made it less memorable of a story for me.  I also wasn’t as emotionally invested as I thought I would be and even though the characters were well-written and relatable, I didn’t really connect with them – in fact, there were a few instances where I felt a bit detached, a few scenes where I felt like I should’ve had a more emotional reaction but didn’t.  There were also some parts that were a little too predictable, too neatly resolved, especially given some of the heavy subject matter -- it gave me the impression that this was perhaps supposed to be a “feel-good” read that maybe wasn’t meant to be taken too seriously.  And yes, as other reviewers pointed out, there was definitely a “soap opera” feel to this one, which is perfectly fine of course, just not really my sort of thing.  The writing was solid though and the flow was smooth, which made it easy for me to want to keep turning the pages to find out how all the issues would eventually get resolved.  Overall an enjoyable, engaging, entertaining read, one that I would absolutely still recommend, even if a bit too dramatic and predictable at times for my tastes. 

Received ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley