Rating: 
Summary: Barbara Delinsky Does It Again
Review: This is just another in a long line of wonderful books by Barbara Delinsky.The book revolves around the occupants of four houses in a cul-de-sac,with Amanda and Graham O'Leary being the primary characters. Amanda is a school psychologist and Graham is a landscaper. They are trying desperately to have a child with no luck, and their marriage is suffering from their total focus on this. The other neighbors are Georgia and Russ Lange. She runs a large business, necessitating constant travel,and would like to sell it and remain at home. Russ stays at home with their two children, writing articles on the side.Karen and Lee Cotter come next;she busies herself with much volunteer work, and he owns a computer business,being frequently away from home and seeing other women.They have three young children and teen-age,Jordie who plays a vital role in the story. The fourth house harbors Gretchen,a young widow who married Ben after the death of his wife, and who has also now died. She is pregnant, long after Ben's death. Her pregnancy stirs many questions among the other three women, all wondering if perhaps one of their husbands fathered this child. Things in each household become unstable,with potential estrangements arising. A tragedy, followed by a major crisis, shakes up everyone and resolves many of the situations. Barbara Delinsky's characters are so believable. Her story flows smoothly from one event to the other and the people are like people we all know.Her characters have such substance,and, Amanda, the main character, is so lovable, you want to rush to her aid during her difficult times.Barbara Delinsky engenders such strong feelings for her characters in all of her books and she has done so again. This is a highly readable book.
Rating:
Summary: A story filled with surprises
Review: Barbara Delinski delivers a powerful tale of friendship, love, trust, suspicion and faith in a story that centers around a young pregnant widow on a quiet cul-de-sac. When no one can discover who the father is, the marriages of the other 3 couples on the street are tested--as well as the friendships that have evolved amongst the neighbors. Each couple makes a decision based on what is really important in their marriage and in life's scheme of things. Several sub-plots add richness and tension.
Rating:
Summary: Great relationship drama
Review: Amanda came from a background where her parents continually fought so she wanted to make sure that the man she married would really be the one for her and he alone. When she first set eyes on Graham O'Leary, Amanda felt a flutter inside her heart. By the second date, she knew he was the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. They bought a house in Woodley, Connecticut and spent their first year of marriage adjusting to one another. Both want children and in their second year of marriage try to have a baby. They fail to conceive and as the years pass they finally visit a fertility specialist, but in doing so some of the spark and spontaneity exit their marriage. When THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR turns up pregnant, everyone, even Amanda, wonders if Graham is the father? Barbara Delinsky has written a real heartwarming drama centering on two people who clearly love each other, but still have problems because a key desire cannot be fulfilled from within. THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR shows the psychological strains, traumas, and agonies on an infertile couple. Ms. Delinsky is on her way back to all the lists with this deep, complex and beautiful tale. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: A Real "Page Turner"!
Review: This is a great book to make you forget the lazy, hazy days of Summer that we are having now. Barbara has a talent for making the reader feel as if they know the characters in her books and The Woman Next Door is certainly no exception. These people could easily be your friends or neighbors and you often feel as if you are eavesdropping on their private lives. This story takes place in western Connecticut and, since I live there too, it was fun to read about towns that I know. This book explores many of the problems that are facing families today and is a "must read" for parents of teenagers.
Rating: 
Summary: My neighborhood too!
Review: The was a really enjoyable book to read. The charactors were well defined. I felt like I was one of the neighbors as well,sharing their fears and concerns. This could be my neighborhood. A delight for any reader!
Rating:
Summary: A "suburban melodrama"
Review: How silly we humans can be at times and how we cause our own anxiety! Can't you just see it happening? You live in a cul-de-sac where you know all of the neighbors and their comings and goings-one big "happy" family with the cookouts, etc. But there is one that doesn't quit fit in- the young attractive widow that keeps to herself. There is just something about her- a kind of helplessness- that draws the men in the neighborhood to run to her "rescue" whether its plumbing problems or taking the trash out to the street. You all speculate about her life and when she starts showing that she is pregnant- WOW! How can that be when she's a widow, doesn't ever have company and never seems to go anywhere. OOOh! Then to complicate things some of the marriages are going through difficult times and insecurities start showing up. I can see it happening... all of the women start questioning little mishaps at home and the things that the men say, looking for hidden meaning. For me, I felt like an observer in the neighborhood and it was all so believable to me. I enjoyed it, had hoped for a little more in the end. But it was good. So if you want a little something different, try it- yes, I would recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Trust - Believe - Grow: The Characters We Love Do.....
Review: I admit it. When I read a novel I tend to read from
a vantage point that is perhaps different from
the norm.
Retreat, rest and diving into the characters is
always satisfying, especially when you grow
to like the characters... but I tend to look for
a spiritual growth dimension as well and I
found exactly that in this book by best selling
author, Barbara Delinsky.
Yes, it is about well - off families in a cul-de-sac
and it is also about you and me.
It is about trusting the one you love, trusting your
judgment and continuing to stand in love even
when you feel yourself waffling -
It is about the characters allowing themselves
to be strongly THEMSELVES, in Amanda's case,
to be fully herself in spite of her mother's voice
echoing negatively in her mind or her mother-in-law's
lack of love richocheting into the home she
shares with her husband, Graham.
It is about Karen learning to not be afraid, to
stand up for herself - and teaching her son
Jordie to do the same in the process.
It is about accepting someone who is different
and not leaping to conclusions.
It is mostly about deep love and affection -
and the beauty of life.
A great read - I would recommend it to
anyone looking for some joyful (and growth
inducing!) escapism.
Rating: 
Summary: More like 3 1/2 stars...
Review: I'm a fan of Barbara Delinsky. I've read a few of her books, and enjoyed them, as I did this one. However, I thought the story was a bit repetitious...like she had to fill so many pages. The story is centered around Amanda and Graham O'Leary. The couple has been married for 5 years and is struggling to conceive a child. They have been seeing a fertility specialist for some time and nothing seems to be working. This part of the story got old real quick. The two of them would fight, and voice their fears, and then 20-30 pages later they'd be fighting about the same thing, and worrying about the same fears.
I found the other three households on the cul-de-sac to be much more interesting, though we didn't get to learn nearly as much about them. There's Georgia, a high powered business woman, and her stay-at-home husband Russ...Karen, a mother or four and her philandering husband Lee...then there's Gretchen, the young beautiful widow who becomes pregnant months after her husbands death. I really enjoyed this part of the story. Which husband was responsible for this? Who was the cheater? It's what got me to finish the book. But alas, I was disappointed with the end. I can't get into it without giving anything away, but I wasn't happy with who turned out to be the father of her baby.
Regardless, it wasn't a bad book, just a bit monotonous. I will say that I was pleased with half the ending, and the side stories were really what kept me interested. Ms. Delinsky is still a favorite of mine, but this book was just ok. Oh well, better luck next time.
Rating:
Summary: A little unbelievable
Review: A story set in an upscale Connecticut neighborhood focuses on the lives of its residents; three couples living their lives and dealing with the trials and tribulations of marriage, parenthood and infertility. The characterization in this story was very well done, and you'll no doubt find yourself sympathizing with some of the situations they find themselves in and perhaps even relating. What I found completely unbelievable, was what happens when their young, attractive widow neighbor becomes pregnant. This is a woman who has been shunned by the ladies in the neighborhood because they didn't want her in their little clique, but suddenly is the focus of all their attention, to the point of obsession. It's unfathomable to me, that these women can be so insecure, in themselves and in their marriages, to be certain that it was one of their husbands who impregnated their nemesis.
A good read if you have nothing else available, but definitely not one of Delinsky's best
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorites by Barbara Delinsky
Review: THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR by Barbara Delinsky
August 21, 2004
Barbara Delinsky has become one of my favorite authors. In THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR, she writes about a group of women living on a culdesac who find themselves threatened when the neighborhood widow is found to be pregnant.
The novel opens with the wedding of Amanda and Graham O'Leary. It is a happy beginning to a promising future. Graham is a member of an 8-sibling family, and they are all anxious for Amanda and Graham to start a family of their own. As the years go by, however, Amanda has yet to conceive, and their fertility problems begin to put a strain on the marriage. It is now 5 years into their marriage, and they are still childless. Karen and Lee are another couple living on this culdesac. They have their own marital problems, mainly that of Lee's infidelity. Russ is a househusband, working as a writer from home as he watches and takes care of the kids. Wife Georgia is a career woman and is rarely home, as she travels to promote her company's products. She is the CEO of this company and she's proud of her achievements.
When word gets around that Gretchen, the lonely widow that had been married to a much older man, is pregnant, the three women begin to worry. She had been widowed long enough for them all to know that her husband was not the father. And she never seemed to have company. She was always alone, or else one of their own husbands were over at her place fixing the plumbing or doing some other odd job around the house to help her out. Each of the women at one point or another suspect that their own husband is the father of that unborn child.
Delinsky does a good job creating well-developed characters that appear real and true to life. As each couple's relationship is detailed and taken apart, the reader will try to guess who is truly the father of this woman's child. When Amanda goes out of her way to befriend the lonely widow, more is learned about Gretchen, the young woman who is treated as an outsider, because she made the mistake of marrying a widower who also was much older than she. Amanda learns that there is more to Gretchen that meets the eye, and sees that maybe possibly she and the other women are wrong about Gretchen.
As I have with most books Delinsky, I very much enjoyed THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR. As always, Delinsky writes a novel that is fast paced and is hard to put down. She blends elements of contemporary fiction with a hint of romance, that between Amanda and Graham, who are the main characters, but the other couples play a large role in the story as well. I also found the ending very satisfactory (but I won't give that away), making this book for me a 4.5/5 rating.
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