The Woman Next Door

Rating:
Summary: Actually 3-1/2 stars
Review: I've never read of Barbara Delinsky (okay, I never HEARD of Barbara Delinsky) before, but the premise of this story seemed so interesting I had to get it.
The story was intriguing. I'm giving it 3-1/2 stars rather than 4 because a) I didn't think it was realistic for Graham to essentially do nothing when his mother continually snubbed Amanda, b) I didn't like the suggestion that a pregnancy will result just by relaxing. I also guessed the identity of the father and think it would have been better if there had been on other obvious suspect. But it was a good read, and overall I enjoyed it.

Rating:
Summary: An interesting concept
Review: I thought this was a pretty good book,ALTHOUGH I was disappointed with the ending. The book kept me guessing until the end and then I was disappointed. I read it in about 3 days,so it's a book that kept my interest.

Rating:
Summary: good story, good characters
Review: The premise of "The Woman Next Door" is relatively simple. A lovely widow turns out to be pregnant. Only problem is, her husband has been dead at least a year. She lives in a cul de sac with three other couples. The three couples are all experiencing some manner of strain in their marriages. Once the pregnancy of the widow becomes apparent, each of the wives silently wonder if her husband is the father.

The main couple of the story, Amanda and Graham, is the most intriguing. They are struggling with infertility. Married for five years they both desperately want a child but are turned off and wearied by years of fertility procedures. The interesting issue that Delinsky explores with this couple how the idea of conception can begin to overpower everything else in a marriage. Even a very strong and healthy love.

The second couple, Karen and Lee Cotter are much more volatile. Lee has had infidelity issues in the past. They aren't as much a focus as Amanda and Graham but they do provide a stark contrast to Amanda and Graham. Karen and Lee have 4 children and many more problems.

The third couple Georgia and Russ seem almost an afterthought. Georgia is the driven executive who travels four days out of five. Russ is the stay at home husband who watches the kids and writes freelance articles. It is a reversal of traditional gender roles. Comparatively speaking, Georgia and Russ have few problems except her absence.

Delinsky gives each man a plausible motive for possibly having slept with the widow. And she even manages to throw suspicion on each one of them in various parts of the book. Although the identity of the father adds a nice little bit of suspense, the more engrossing part of the book is the makeup of each of the three marriages and the reasons why these women can find it so easy to suspect their husbands of infidelity.

I always enjoy Barbara Delinsky's work. This book is no exception.

Rating:
Summary: An insult to women; read it to lower your IQ
Review: I'd give it a negative number rating if I could. As another reviewer notes, you just don't care who fathered the neighbor's baby. This drones on for pages and pages. The "plot" could have been cut by two-thirds. I had to start skipping ahead. None of the women have any spunk, and the fact that the wives believe ALL of the husbands had the potential (not just the opportunity, but the potential) to be unfaithful doesn't say much for these marriages. You dislike all the characters equally. Even worse, the idea that if you just love each other enough and in the right way you'll finally be able to conceive a baby is incredibly insulting. Get this book off the bestseller list by making a different purchase.

Rating:
Summary: A nice read but no oomph...
Review: Who can resist a new novel from this author?? Not me.... but I was disappointed in this one. The story is sluggish and although the character development is good, it's hard to stay interested in where the plot is taking them.

Rating:
Summary: Another Delinsky Hit!
Review: A very enjoyable read - intricate characters and lifestyles. Ms. Delinsky has again delved into the feelings between not only men and women, but women and women. This one has it all - jealousy, anger, love, resentment and infidelity. How each couple deals with it all and the factors involved in each relationship makes for a wonderful read. Thankyou to Ms. Delinsky again for a wonderful book. Among my favorites are Coast Road, More Than Friends, For My Daughters, Shades of Grace and A Woman's Place.

Rating:
Summary: A DECIDEDLY DELICIOUS READING
Review: Tony Award winning actress Karen Ziemba renders a decidedly delicious reading to this story that gives block party a new name.

Spring arrives in Connecticut, but that's not all that's blossoming on a well-to-do block of homes - Gretchen, an attractive young widow who is not known to have been seeing anyone since the death of her husband a year ago, is pregnant.

If one were to guess who the father might be it would be one or another of three neighbors' husbands. Each of the men has been helpful to the grieving widow, and each is a likely suspect. One has strayed in the past, another is often left alone by his fast track business woman wife, and the third and his spouse have an infertility problem.

The author said she had "always been fascinated by neighborhood dynamics and the requisite balancing act between intimacy and separation." From that interest she has woven an intriguing tale as each woman takes a closer look at her marriage and the forces that impact it - in-laws, neighbors, children, fidelity, suspicion, and love.

In the end, the question is, exactly who is the woman next door?

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, but not my favorite
Review: I'm inclined to agree with the reader who said she hadn't enjoyed Delinsky's newer books as much as her older ones, although I always buy her books (in hard cover, no less) and I always read to the end (which I can't say about all the books I buy), so she's definitely still got something I like. I was disappointed in this book because of the conflict between the two principle characters -- Graham and Amanda. Graham was clueless, I thought. I got irritated with him about halfway through the book and wondered why in the world Amanda still loved him the way she did. Personally, I thought he needed hit over the head or something. That family of his was obnoxious, and the fact he couldn't get up the gumption to tell them to lay off his wife just turned me off. I also didn't like the way he wouldn't talk to Amanda. But still . . . the book was worth reading. Just not worth five stars.

Rating:
Summary: The Woman Next Door
Review: I've have always looked forward to a new book by Barbara Delinsky, but if this had been the first book of hers I read, I would never look for another. It reads like something that had to meet a publishers deadline and not a well thought out story line. After Coast Road, The Vineyard and some of her older ones this was a real disappointment. The first 110 pages is dedicated mostly to Greg and Amanda and their quest for her to get pregnant, one page reading pretty much like the other. It skips back and forth from them to the different neighbors with no real character development of any of them, I have no feeling of knowing any of them and didn't even care who the father of the widow's baby was! Everyone has a bad day now and again, and I am hoping that's what happened to Delinsky when she wrote this one! If you want to read the book, my suggestion is wait for it to come out in paperback, not worth the hardback price! I rated it 1 star, when I usually rate her books a 4 or 5.

Rating:
Summary: More a 2.5 star book
Review: I've been reading Barbara Delinsky for years. Recently though I haven't enjoyed the novels as much. I can't really put my finger on why.

In any case, this was an okay read. The premise was interesting, as was the glimpse into the married lives of the neighborhood. But it never really grabbed my attention. The characters were not particularly likeable. You never really get to know much about Gretchen, so she isn't the most sympathetic of characters. Graham seems kinda disconnected and oblivious about his wife's problems with his family. There are hints as to his marital history and why he behaves the way he does, but frankly, this needed more development. The ending for Graham and Amanda seemed abrupt and hurried. Sort of a slapdash, happily ever after ending without actually working through their problems.

I guess I'm giving this 2.5 stars because I like Barbara Delinsky's work generally, and am not ready to give her work thumbs down.