This book was not for me. I was expecting a thriller, but instead it was more of a desperate housewifes type book. I couldn't get into it, but if you like dramas and are not looking for a thriller completely, I'm sure it's for you!

This was a really intriguing book. It is a great glimpse into the suburban woman's life. You never know what's going on behind closed doors.

Ange, Fran and Essie each carry a secret. They vary in degrees of severity, but are there none the less. When a new woman arrives in their quiet suburb everyone is intrigued. All are wanting to figure out what she is about and what secrets she may hold.

An engaging and compelling read. The story shows that looks can be quite deceiving and that not everyone is always who they say they are. Twists and turns will have you going down one path and then racing back for towards a different one.

You think you know your neighbors, and then you don't. A fascinating tale with surprises and pleasant resolutions.

This one had great potential to be a gripping story of suspense. Unfortunately, I didn't find it particularly gripping or suspenseful. There is a bit of mystery, but even with a few red herrings thrown in, it wasn't hard to figure it out. The whole thing reads a bit like a soap opera or a bad Lifetime movie, except that there are fewer characters here likable enough to root for. I spent a good portion of this book feeling sorry for Essie's husband, Ben, who seems to be the only person on this street that has any sense. And not to belittle postpartum depression in any way, but I might've had more than a hot minute's worth of sympathy for Essie except that three years later, she has a second child who is apparently the perfect baby - until she's not and Essie isn't getting enough sleep, so starts having similar problems as she did the first time. Of course, the rest of the people living on this street aren't any better. Among the men we have one who can't keep it in his pants and another who makes a bad financial decision and goes through a rather exaggerated depression, and among the women, we have the one who gets pregnant to keep her husband, the one who's baby may or may not belong to her husband, the clingy mother/grandmother, and the mysterious single woman who's in everybody's business. A couple of these not so likable characters do redeem themselves somewhat toward the end, but it wasn't enough for me to care much about them. After glancing at the many four and five star reviews for this story, I realize I'm in the minority here, but for me, this was a rather depressing story and the mystery, which could've been a redeeming element, was just too easy to figure out.

What, a suspenseful read! This story had me on the edge of my seat and scrolling through my kindle as quick as possible. The plot was fast paced and the descriptions were so realistic that you could feel the characters emotions. I enjoyed the characterization in this book and it was chilling how much this book proves there is so much more than what meets the eyes. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for something filled with deception, family issues, love and so much more! The twists and turns in this story surprised me and caught me completely off guard. I can't wait to see what Sally Hepworth has in store for us next! I hated putting this story down and am looking forward to reading Ms. Hepworth's previous works. Thank you so much to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. I appreciate this opportunity and all views expressed are my own.

Although The Family Next Door ended up being quite an arresting read, it didn't get going until the halfway point. The story begins (after a compelling prologue) with a whitebread neighborhood and four women who become increasingly interesting as we learn more about them. The author drops in clues and red herrings, teasing us as to what's going to happen. As a result, we're surprised but what does happen, and it was a good twist and resolution. Unfortunately, 75% of this story is told to me, and I didn't connect with most of the characters. The theme of the book could be "be honest with each other," or "bad things happen when we try to go it alone." A good concept but not well executed.

I found this book to be so addictive, I almost felt like a voyeur while reading this.
Centred around three young families in a typical suburban street of Pleasant Court, Bayside, Melbourne, each family has secrets and insecurities. They all know each other, without being great friends and a wave is all it takes to be good neighbours. But who is this new neighbour Isabelle, a single woman who isn’t quite what she seems.
This was so easy to read but I must admit that I took pen to paper at first just to get the characters/families straight in my head. Covering a multitude of subjects like postpartum depression, infidelity and mental illness it was just like a portrait of everyday life with a twist, which drew me in from the very first chapter and with many moments of ‘just one more chapter’.
This was a book I devoured in a few hours and loved and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it at all.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy to read.

There's a lot going on on Pleasant Court, that frankly is not all that pleasant!

Essie suffers from postpartum depression so severe that after the birth of her first child she abandoned her in the park, but thanks to her quick thinking, ever present mom Barbara, here daughter was rescued thirty minutes later.

Now it is three years later and Essie has given birth to a new baby Polly. At first things are going well, but Essie's mom Barbara and her husband Ben are starting to see signs from Essie that concern them. Essie's behavior becomes more erratic when a mysterious new single woman, Isabelle, moves in on a street that is typically populated by families. Some things with Isabelle don't add up...why did she really move to Pleasant Court?

Meanwhile there is plenty going on with the other women on Pleasant Court. Real estate agent Angela's life may be picture perfect on social media, but we all know those people are the ones who have the most to hide. And, why is neighbor Fran running ALL the time - does she have an exercise addiction or is there more than meets the eye.

Told in alternating chapters by each woman we get a slow build on all of the drama going on in each of their lives until there is a twist that changes everything.

The characters in this book were complicated and interesting and I did not see the twist coming! Fooled me!!

Thanks to the St. Martin's press for the ARC!

I recieved this ARC of The Family Next Door from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Four families, each living on a quiet cul-da-sac, but each dealing with turmoil within their own homes. The Family Next Door will keep you interested from the first page until the last. Everything and everyone seems so normal on the outside, sort of, but each one facing varying issues....infidelity, kidnapping, post-partum depression, illness, paternity.

The author does a very good job keeping the pace and momentum going. Just when you think something seems so predictable, it's not. I would certainly compare this book to Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarity....it's really THAT good!

I would highly recommend this book!

Last weekend, I read the soon-to-be-released novel, The Family Next Door, by Sally Hepworth. And, it was just as advertised - perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty.

The novel focuses on a suburban neighborhood in Australia and four different women who live inside it. Sound familiar? ;) This novel focuses centrally on the character, Essie, a mother who becomes quickly entranced with her newest neighbor, the childless Isabelle. However, Essie's previous experience with postpartum depression causes her husband and her mother to be on high alert now that she has a second child. After the birth of her first child, Essie left her daughter alone in a park and had a breakdown. Consequently, her strange obsession with her new neighbor raises red flags.

However, mixed with Essie's story are two other neighborhood women raising their own children and dealing with their own issues - depression, adultery, and lots of secrets. The other women provide clear contrasts to each other. Additionally, while all women are in a similar life season, the novel works well to show that we never truly know what is going on behind closed doors. It raises questions about what it means to be a mother and a wife. And, I like books that allow me to ask what I would do if I were in similar situations - and this book has enough plausible situations to allow room for these questions.

Hepworth does an excellent job of developing characters and keeping readers engaged in the plot. It is a novel you will not want to put down! Plus, there is a major twist that I never saw coming. I was genuinely surprised, which is something since this genre has taken off in recent years (female-driven character family dramas with a surprise twist).

The small suburb of Pleasant Court is the place to live. It's a family community with 1930s-style bungalows with a beach at the end of the road. Everyone is friendly towards each other. They wave brightly when they see one another, they water each other's plants while they are away. But behind closed doors, there are many hidden secrets. How well do you really know your neighbors?

The Family Next Door is masterfully written. The characters are well-developed and relatable. The story is told from 5 woman's point of view. As their story unfolds, secrets are revealed. It's hard to review this book without giving spoilers. There was a twist that I didn't even see coming and blew me away! Love those kinds of books. This was a quick read and kept me interested throughout.

I highly recommend this book. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for supplying me a copy of Sally Hepworth's "The Family Next Door" in exchange for an honest review.

When a woman moves to a new town, her arrival incites curiosity. As the neighbors get to know her, they must juggle their own challenges and secrets while trying to figure out how to save face in front of one another. Australian author Sally Hepworth gives readers a well-rounded look at small-town life in the warm yet slightly confusing novel The Family Next Door.

In the cul-de-sac of Pleasant Court in the Melbourne suburb of Sandringham, everyone gets along well enough. Essie Walker knows she can count on her neighbors to take in her mail or water her plants if she and her husband, Ben, ever go on vacation. Of course, as a mother to preschooler Mia and six-month-old Polly, Essie and Ben haven’t gone anywhere in ages. Ben’s a devoted father and husband and a fitness enthusiast; he created a fitness app that took off and now has a workout studio to boot. Essie…well, Essie is managing life with two young children.

On the surface everything looks fine, but Essie knows that’s just a front. When she had Mia, she dealt with severe postpartum depression. It was enough to make her mother move in next door. Fortunately things were much better after Polly was born. Now Essie just wishes she could get more sleep.

The heat of summer is making people a little cranky, so everyone welcomes the distraction of a single woman moving to Pleasant Court. Essie’s neighbor across the street, Ange, has the most information about Isabelle Heatherington, the new arrival. Ange owns her own real estate firm and handled the transaction of Isabelle’s rental. Her kids are a little older, so of course, Essie reasons, it would be easier for Ange to have a career and a family. Not like Essie or Fran, whose girls are about the same ages as Mia and Polly.

Essie envies Ange and Fran. They always seem to have everything put together. What she doesn’t know, however, is that behind their closed doors Ange and Fran experience their own challenges. Secrets and lies in their marriages plague them. Each of them looks at her neighbors and wishes for the other’s life. When Isabelle shows up, she seems to have the freedom they all crave. Something doesn’t seem quite right, though, about Isabelle, and the longer she spends on Pleasant Court the more the other women find themselves challenged with situations they never imagined.

Author Sally Hepworth gives readers a familiar setup: the goings-on of small-town families. There’s something inherently charming in Hepworth’s writing. The Family Next Door evokes the feeling that, say, Fredrik Backman’s novels might. Hepworth doesn’t necessarily write with Backman’s level of whimsical prose that delights and touches hearts all in the same sentence, but she creates the same atmosphere of wanting to spend time with these characters and making sure that at the end of it all everyone will be okay.

The biggest drawback in the book comes in too many characters. Readers may forget who Essie, Fran, and Ange are all married too and will have to remind themselves. Stopping for that mental checklist will inevitably pull readers out of the story over and over again, which becomes distracting. It’s a shame too; Hepworth paints a cozy picture of this Australian neighborhood and its inhabitants, and readers will find the distraction slightly annoying because it takes away from their time with the women in the book.

Hepworth creates intrigue by giving each of the women, as well as Essie’s mother, Barbara, and a mysterious, first-person narrator, their own chapters. The women take turns telling their stories, and by the end they endear themselves to readers. Hepworth also succeeds in adding a twist that truly surprises, and although some of the information in the climax feels rushed it contributes to the story in a meaningful way. By the end readers will receive the message loud and clear: the family next door to theirs really isn’t so different from themat all.

Those looking for a book about marriage and relationships, including the ones we wish had the courage to formulate, may enjoy this novel. I recommend readers Borrow The Family Next Door.

A very interesting but at times confusing storyline. A story of long lost siblings, post partum depression spanning across decades (two different but related women).

Martial infidelity in two marriages , child abduction and illegitimate child.

A woman Isabelle Heatherington comes to the neighborhood of Pleasant Court and becomes friendly with the woman next door Essie and her two little girls.. Soon Essie feels that Isabelle is her best friend. Heather however has a secret and has come to Pleasant Court for a specific reason.: to find a missing child that was kidnapped many years ago and is now a grown woman.

Essie once left her older daughter in the park while suffering from post partum depression and her family fears she has it again when she leaves her second daughter in Isabelle's care and it is feared that she too has gone missing.

I thought that Isabelle had a stillborn child and couldn't accept that and thought that Essie's youngest daughter was her own baby.

The truth was very shocking and uncovered an even larger secret that threatened to destroy Essie's family.

This book will keep you guessing until almost the end as to what actually happened long ago.

The residents of Pleasant Grove think everyone else has the perfect life, but nothing could be further from the truth. This seemingly perfect neighborhood is full of secrets.

When Isabelle moves into the neighborhood, she is an immediate object of curiosity to Ange, Fran and Essie. Why single, when everyone else is married with children? Why renting, when everyone else owns? And why does she seem to know so much about everyone in the neighborhood?

The women of the neighborhood tell this story in alternating viewpoints, which gives the reader an excellent way to get to know each of the characters. Ms. Hepworth does an excellent job of giving a complete picture of who these women are.

Fast paced from the beginning, I read The Family Next Door in a day. The story moves along nicely and the suspense kept me turning the pages quickly. I was completely floored by the reveal and thought it was well done. Each storyline introduced here is believable. You can put yourselves into these women’s places. You might not like everything they’ve done, but it’s real life.

This is the second book I’ve read by Ms. Hepworth and she is quickly becoming an author whose new works I will eagerly seek out. If you like a family drama with lots of mystery mixed in, this book is for you.

I was so looking forward to reading this one, I have loved the authors previous books (read the last one in a day) and really looked forward to this one. Unfortunately it didn't work for me. Too much going on and not enough to keep my attention.

Essie’s living a quiet life in suburban Melbourne. She suffered severe postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter, and her husband and mother have been on edge since the birth of her second. Cracks are starting to show, and when a mysterious woman named Isabelle moves into the neighborhood, Essie becomes fascinated with her and goes a little Single White Female. Isabelle seems to be looking for a missing child, and thinks Essie might be involved. There’s some side plot drama with two other neighbors, Ange and Fran, (affairs, cuckolding, etc.) that help round out the narrative a bit, but the main, and weird, story is between Essie and Isabelle. It’s not quite full-on suspense, but the twist is interesting and it makes you question the limits and boundaries of human memory. Can we really forget that we did something terrible in a traumatic and psychotic state?

How well do you know your neighbors?? Five women who live on one block all appear picture perfect on the outside, yet are totally not in the inside. Secrets, their pasts, mistakes, their families, their daily struggles......each character is hiding something which makes for a great read and a good mystery novel! Great writing, interesting characters & many twists and turns that kept me guessing until the very end. Definitely would make a great movie or mini-series on TV! Well worth reading!!!

The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth was a good read.
Each family in this book have a different story and a ton of secret they all are hiding. I loved how Sally showed us each family and how they deal with their issues. It did echo that everyone has issues and everyone deals with these issues in their own ways.
I loved how Sally writes these family that truly had me getting emotionally invested in their lives.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, St Martin's Press, and Sally Hepworth for the opportunity to read her latest novel - loved it! I've loved all of her books and this was another one that I just couldn't put down.

Pleasant Court in Melbourne, Australia, seems like paradise and the families who live on the street are perfect neighbors. Well...until a new neighbor moves in and seems to cause a stir and make everyone question what really goes on behind closed doors and what secrets each of the families are keeping. The story is told from different viewpoints of each of the women involved which allows us to really get to know them and what makes them tick.

Hepworth's writing just pulls this story all together - a great read!

Absolutely fabulous book with unexpected twists and turns that could equal any rollercoaster. The characters are all unique, dynamic and real - I love them all. A+++!