Rating: 
Summary: You Only Hurt the Ones You Love...
Review: Sometimes it's hard to review Joanna Trollope's books for fear of putting off a potential reader. Such is the case with "Other People's Children," which is a brilliant look at what step- families are really like. I know that I, reading the above sentence, would think, "Oh, not again, it's been done to death, yuck." And then I would have missed one of Trollope's best works, one that is not boring in the least, and that has such insight, such truth, that it can enrich any reader.So. That having been said, please bear with me as I try to explain this book, which is slight on plot and heavy on insight. It involves a number of very nice people of all ages, from young Rufus, just 7 when the book begins, to a 20-something engaged couple, to a 30-something newly married pair who are blending their respective families, to a May-September relationship between a single woman in her early 40s, Elizabeth, and a twice-married architect with two adult children from his first marriage, and Rufus from his second. This man's name is Tom. It is his adult son, Lucas, who is engaged (to Amy), and his second wife, Josie, mother of Rufus, whose recent remarriage has blended two families. Her husband, Matthew, has his hands full with his teenaged girl and boy, and a younger girl as well, all of them products of a highly dysfunctional mother whose sick dependence on them makes it nearly impossible for Matthew and Josie to have a normal life, especially with Lucas added to the mix. It is Tom's adult daughter Dale, however, who causes the most destruction in this story, once again illustrating Trollope's favorite "no man is an island" theme. Having lost her mother at the tender age of 4, Dale, now a successful businesswoman in her 30s, cannot let go of her clinging (and cloying) attachment to her father Tom or her brother Lucas. She retains a key to her childhood home and barges in whenever she feels like it, despite the fact that Elizabeth, Tom's fiancée, now lives there, and that Dale's young step-brother Lucas spends some weekends there as well. Dale is the catalyst for the eventual destruction of some relationships, and the triumph of others. The rippling effect of her neurotic behavior is catastrophic, even though she consciously means no harm. Does love conquer all? Not in this book--and not in real life, either. Kudos to Trollope for pointing this out, and for having the courage to resist a pat ending.
Rating: 
Summary: Powerful and unrelenting writing on domestic ugliness
Review: This is the third novel of Joanna Trollope's that I've read and possibly the best.I like the way she strips naked any sentimentality and romanticism in new relationships and gives us what life really is about.Daily life is hard.Especially when innocent people are involved-namely,children. Although Becky is the kind of kid you just want to slip poison in her porridge or tea.
Rating:
Summary: His, hers, and theirs....
Review: This novel deals with every aspect of step-familes--the spouses, the ex-spouses, the children, the step-children, step-brothers, step-sisters, half-brothers, half-sisters, parents, the in-laws, and the ex-in-laws. The story revolves around two families--connected by divorce and remarriage--Matthew who was married to Nadine, and their three children, and Matthew's second wife, Josie. Josie's ex-husband, Tom has 2 adult children from his first wife, Pauline, and not long after Josie ("the randy redhead") abandons Tom (taking their son Rufus along), Tom meets and falls in love with Elizabeth, a single civil servant. While Matthew and Josie struggle to form a single family unit under one roof, Tom has problems of his own. What will emerge from this mess? How will families re-form in the face of resentment, resistance, and guilt? Author Joanna Trollope writes with skill, compassion, and wisdom and creates characters who try to do the right thing in an imperfect world.
Rating:
Summary: Well-written, emotional story with deep characterization.
Review: This story brought tears to my eyes. It explores the lives of 3 women(Nadine,Josie,and Elizabeth)and how they are affected by divorce, being separated from their children and gaining stepchildren as well. Reading this story while going thru a divorce myself with a child made me nervous about what's in store for me. I think that Rory ,Becky, and Dale were extremely troubled almost to the point of being unrealistic. I loved the book though and had a hard time putting it down.
Rating: 
Summary: Pitifully pedestrian
Review: This was the first book by Ms. Trollope I have read; it will be the last. I guess this is what might be referred to as a woman's book. But it is certainly not every woman's. The dialogue was deadly dull. There was nothing in the characters which came alive for me so I couldn't care about any of them. The subject of dysfunctional families can be handled with empathy and drama even if one hates the protagonists. I was simply bored by all of them principally because of the pedestrian writing devoid of emotion stirring descriptions. They were all cardboard figures. If you want to read about troubled familial relationships treat yourself to "The Correction", by the brilliant Jonathan Franzen. Even if you hate some of the characters they are unforgettably alive. Maeve Binchy is another gifted author who writes convincingly and with humor and sympathy about families. It's hard to understand the rave reviews for Ms. Trollope.
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