The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth

The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. Each chapter revealed more about each character. The premise of the story is that there is a child that was kidnapped and a nephew neighbor, Isabelle, a single fortyish woman shows up to a neighborhood. A nice, friendly but not too friendly neighborhood. At first glance, we have the first impressions that each of the main households is under the control. The only anomaly is simply that Essie suffered a post partum episode after the birth of her first child. Yet as the story unfolds, the reader discovers that each family has deep struggles. The book concentrates on telling the stories through the women and touches on what women seem to struggle with the most; motherhood, life balance, and impression management.

As crises occur, however, the women slowly break down barriers and discover good friends and support systems where they didn’t expect. Their original opinions of the family next door, whoever they may be, shifts.

The author paces the novel very well. She explores the subjects of marriage, motherhood, friendship, as well as infidelity, rebuilding after a crisis, or choosing not to include people after crisis. The reader doesn’t know who the abductor of the child is and, although there are arguments for each of the households highlighted, the child abduction is really just the catalyst for the houses of cards to fall and personas to slip.

I really enjoyed the book. I found it intriguing but also deeper than what I expected.