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There are currently 34 member reviews
for Other People's Houses
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Nancy L. (Staunton, VA)
Ordinary People
"Other People's Houses" by Abbi Waxman reads like a morality play. One of the major characters, Frances, despite her frumpy appearance, is cast as the saint. She is all wise and all giving and seems to be the glue that holds the neighborhood together. Claire and Charlie are given the roll of sinners: Claire for having an affair and Charlie for kicking her out and withholding forgiveness. In addition, the neighborhood contains a gay couple and their son as well a wife seeking cancer treatment away from her husband and son.
For me, the plot was weak and the characters unoriginal and uninteresting. I found this novel unremarkable and not to my taste.
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Gail H (Tallahassee, FL)
Less is More
Abbi Waxman's new novel, "Other People's Houses," is one that I wish I liked more than I did. In this story of four Los Angeles area families, Waxman attempted to take a tone of irony on her reflection of suburban life. However, she is a bit too obvious in some of her references and does not allow the readers to deduce the irony on their own. Of the four families, only the characters of Frances Bloom and her husband, Michael, and their three children really come to life. The other neighbors are presented as caricatures and Ann and Charlie are plain obnoxious. This isn't a bad novel, just one which could have used fewer & more clearly defined characters. The ending did pull up loose ends and come together nicely.
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Mary S. (Hilton Head Island, SC)
Spoiled by the ending
The first 300 pages of this book were entertaining-- not great but very readable. It was easy to identify with the characters and situation. However the author, while setting up a believable situation, did not seem to know how to bring the story to an end. All of the characters were tied together in a convenient, but not entirely in keeping with the story, conclusion. I was left wanting more and disappointed in the quick "let's try to tie it all together" method the author used. A good quick read on a rainy afternoon, but nothing more.
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Donna W. (Wauwatosa, WI)
Other People's Houses
The book started out with snappy, clever language and made me laugh, but that soon gave way to so many crude words and such annoyingly "clever" phrasing that it grew tiring.
I didn't particularly care for any of the characters, and there was not enough of a story to keep me interested.
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Sue J. (Brookfield, WI)
Other People's Houses
I enjoyed Abbi Waxman's first book The Garden of Small Beginnings, so I was looking forward to reading the advanced copy of Other People's Houses. It was a bit of a disappointment. Some of the events in the book I felt were too unrealistic which effected the believably of the story for me.
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Gwen C. (Clearfield, PA)
Other People's Houses
I have mixed feelings regarding this book. Opening it I was delighted to see the cast of characters (always a plus) and then, joy of joys, a neighborhood map! Frances Bloom, the linchpin of the book, is immediately identifiable as "the reliable one" whose thought processes – both witty and, at times, profound – strike a chord of recognition with anyone who has ever been married or a parent.
scenario and by page seven any voyeur's appetite is whetted. The novel is off and running with an excellent start!
It held my interest…for a while. Then I found it to be rather ho-hum. The various parents (and their problems) are paraded out. I never felt (with the exception of Charles) their joy or pain. Many of the conversations seemed contrived, not distinctive to the character and, forgive me, too heavy on the fucks, shits and babes, just as none of the children's voices rang true.
And yet I did care about Frances. And Bill's situation. The others? Not so much. Still, there were stretches where I thought, "Hey, this is good!" As I said, I have mixed feelings.
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