The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth

The small suburb of Pleasant Court lives up to its name. It's the kind of place where everyone knows their neighbours, and children play in the street.

Isabelle Heatherington doesn't fit into this picture of family paradise. Husbandless and childless, she soon catches the attention of three Pleasant Court mothers.

But Ange, Fran and Essie have their own secrets to hide. Like the reason behind Ange's compulsion to control every aspect of her life. Or why Fran won't let her sweet, gentle husband near her new baby. Or why, three years ago, Essie took her daughter to the park - and returned home without her.

As their obsession with their new neighbour grows, the secrets of these three women begin to spread - and they'll soon find out that when you look at something too closely, you see things you never wanted to see.

This novel encapsulates everything that we think we know when we casually use the term that we never know what goes on behind closed doors. And if you have ever glanced at your neighbours and wondered what their lives are really like then you will love this book which explores this very concept and delves into the lives of five women who all live in Pleasant Court in Melbourne, Australia.

It also explores whether our assumptions of other peoples lives can be right or wrong and the author does this by allowing the reader into the homes and minds of the characters. I liked each of the characters in this book as individuals and I was fascinated to see how their lives would pan out throughout the story. Told from each of their individual perspectives, they were well rounded characters which made their individual situations believable and easy to engage with.

There were also some surprises in the plot of this book which lent this book some gravitas. This book has been labelled by the publishers as 'women's fiction' but I would hesitate to place this book within that specific genre as I think this book would appeal to many men too.

This is the first book I have read by Sally Hepworth and certainly think I will be reading more of her fiction.

ISBN: 978 1473674233

Publisher: Hodder Paperbacks

About the Author:

Sally Hepworth is the bestselling author of The Secrets of Midwives (2015), The Things We Keep (2016), The Mother's Promise (2017), and The Family Next Door (Feb 2018). Her books have been labelled “enchanting” by The Herald Sun, “smart and engaging” by Publisher’s Weekly, and New York Times bestselling authors Liane Moriarty and Emily Giffin have praised Sally’s novels as “women’s fiction at its finest” and “totally absorbing”.

Sally's novels are available worldwide in English and have been translated into 15 languages. She lives in Melbourne, Australia with her husband and three children.