Sande Boritz Berger is a new author to me and the description of this book was very appealing. Alex and Donny are new to suburban life and have two young daughters. Alex is a stay at home who is very crafty and used to paint but is now making pushke money by making handpainted t-shirts. Donny works for his family business that is an industrial lingerie company, it’s not his dream job of music but it’s following in his father’s footsteps as expected of him. Alex and Donny are used to being artsy and trendy people in New York life and now are in suburbia with two kids wondering “what’s next” and also trying to make more out of their bedroom lives as well. They have attended marriage seminars and talked to fellow neighbors and friends about their concerns. Alex meets a woman and her husband while visiting her parents in Florida and learns about open marriage. Open marriage becomes a topic within story and makes for interesting situations. A lot of concerns arise with these characters about communication and what they want from each other and how family dynamics. This is an excellent book that I really found as a reader shows things aren’t always what they seem. Characters in this story are so diverse even and the time period is like its own character in this story as well. It’s not a topic often done in many books and it’s so well done and beautifully written. The dynamic of family is really brought to light within this book. How it all plays out is great.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This just wasn't the right book for me. It appealed to me because I'm a child of the 70's and the concept of "spouse swapping" always makes for good drama. But I really disliked every single character in this book. I found them all self-centered and unsympathetic. Other than the children, I really didn't care what happened to any of them.

This book changed how I thought about some things. A lonely wife and mother is warmed by the attention she gets at a party from a man she's just met. At the same time her husband is a bit off and decides that they should swing with this couple. This is the rollercoaster ride and oh what an outcome!

This had a very juicy premise: swinging couples in the 70s. This is subject matter ripe for exploration, but we never go deep with anything. The MC, Alex, and her husband are incredibly unlikable. She has zero personality and I have no idea how she inspired a book to be written in first person. We never truly get to know her. She’s full of random quips and we get lots of flowery, overwritten sentences in the middle of sparse writing. Inconsistent is the word for this book.

The husband, Donny, is a total jackass. We get some flashbacks that should have been foreshadowing to how he is incredibly self centered he is and how he will never settle down with anyone... somehow Alex misses this. And what was with the scene of her losing her virginity in his PARENT’S bed??? That made no sense and it was a major red flag. Ew. His parents were bizarre. Alex talks about how close she is with his mom, but they aren’t truly close—Alex clearly has no idea how real relationships (platonic or otherwise) work. Case in point: the flooded basement and what happens to her belongings. Each MC has siblings but they are just casually mentioned and never appear in the book, another odd thing as we follow these characters for over a year (through a timeline that is very inconsistent).

Alex also does quite a bit of random flying to FL. Her children are barely featured and when they are, their actions/voices are older than their true age. But then she calls them babies. The other couple... OMG. I never understood the appeal of Paula; she was just a female version of Donny I suppose, but without any charisma. She was written as an automaton... always confused and pale. I didn’t get it. The only character I liked and was rooting for was the other husband, Charlie... except he deserved better than any of these people he ended up saddled with, including his jerk kids!

A lot of big things happen in this book (demotions, death, plane crashes) and it all slips by with a shrug. Nothing is fleshed out here. The first few chapters feature gratuitous product mentions to try and set the time/place. THIS IS THE 1970S! If you didn’t know, let me tell you about Family Circle, my Bulova watch, my bellbottoms, the shag carpet... I could go on. We were beaten over the head with this... but aside from that, we don’t get the sense of this being in the 1970s at all.

Thank you to NetGalley and She Writes Press for the advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"But I am just a housewife, I remind myself -- a housewife painting in torn underwear, worn inside out. I throw off my robe and grab the blue denim work shirt hanging on the back of the door. I've kept this ragged shirt since college -- a promise to myself I'd never give up." -Alex Pearl<br><br>Sande Bortiz Berger takes us on a journey into the Pearls' last-ditch effort to salvage their quickly staling marriage where instead we find a delightful coming of age story of Alex Pearl, a housewife fighting for a greater sense of purpose.

Split-Level presents itself as a look at a marriage in the post-Nixon era. The Pearls, married seven years with two children, take a dive into the swinging lifestyle that tantalized suburban couples of the seventies and gets more than they bargained for. And it <em>is</em> mostly about that. We meet Alex and Donny Pearl at a crucial point in their marriage- demonstrated early through Alex's speedy enrollment of the couple into a weekend workshop called "Marriage Mountain" after she finds out that Donny has been giving late night driving lessons to the cute babysitter. This seems almost too obvious of a plot line to take, but Berger does not keep us here long.

The idea of attending Marriage Mountain makes us feel like everything is okay...until we actually get to Marriage Mountain. Berger makes it apparent pretty quickly that this is the final chance to save their marriage. I honestly wish I had cared about the fate of the Pearls (as a unit) more, but Alex Pearl became my main interest pretty quickly.

Alex is entering her 30's. She is an artist, but she dismisses it as a hobby feigning that being a mother gives her all the satisfaction she needs. Similarly, her husband Donny Pearl, works in the family business making ladies undergarments- all the while wishing he had gone back to school and pursued his passion. Berger builds this tension between the Pearls slowly increasing the pressure that both Donny and Alex feel as individuals in their personal endeavors, driving a wedge between them. Donny is immature, self-conscious, and doesn't get the validation he desperately desires from Alex or his boss-father. Hence, the late night driving lessons with the babysitter. Berger draws Donny and Alex further apart with the stark difference in their motivations- Donny's desperate need for validation from others and Alex's need for validation from within.

When Donny and Alex dip their toes in the open marriage pool, they officially don't feel like the Pearls anymore. By opening up this world of curiosity in our characters that they truly have no idea how to navigate, both Alex and Donny's lives- in general- begin to change. Donny gets a demotion at work, Alex sees success in her side hustle and finds new inspiration for her art. All of a sudden, Alex can see herself as a 3-dimensional person with thoughts and feelings and desires and that reflects in the art she creates. Donny seems as if he's simply hopped from one relationship to another with Paula Bell (the female counterpart of their partner couple).

The details of the Pearls' relationship with the Bells was so auxiliary to me (and I don't want to ruin it for you!!!) that I almost don't even want to mention it other than that it was a vehicle. It gave me drama and helped drive Alex to destination self, which was all I could've asked. I will note, though, that Berger did a really important and smart thing by having the messy navigation of swinging reflected in the Pearls' and Bells' children. This was a major grounding moment for Alex seeing that this lifestyle change wasn't as simple as sending the kids away for a weekend and trying to be secretive. A similar moment is when Alex finds out later that so many more people knew about their arrangement with the Bells than she thought, and what TRUTH! The realness of this situation was so good.

Alex Pearl's story arc was dynamic, real, and invigorating to experience. It's easy to tell the sexy story of the swinging couple that gets off on the idea of swapping partners, but it is daring and brave to tell the story of the couple that tries and fails in a time where failing is not an option.

As a child of the 70's, I jumped at the chance to read Split-Level. What happens when a married couple decide to have an "open" marriage and become swingers? I have often wondered how marriages can survive without monogamy. Sande Boritz Berger gave me a though provoking glimpse into a life style completely different than my own. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this captivating novel!

I was drawn to this book because of its setting in the 70s, the decade in which I primarily grew up. I love both the music and films from this decade. I also love reading about stay-at-home mothers, because I always wished to be one of those but couldn't. However, I'd be lying if I didn't confess to being lured in by the provocative nature of this storyline- a married couple experiencing the 7-year itch, and both deciding to scratch it.

Donny and Alexandra Pearl have lived in their own home for three years in the suburban mecca of Wheatley Heights, New Jersey. Donny is a gifted piano player, but through financial necessity works for his father's bra company. The couple has two young daughters, Lana and Becky, and mom Alex is a stay-at-home mom (as most were in the seventies). Alex has an art teaching degree, but now creates decorated tee-shirts for some extra money. Alex also paints on canvas, when she can harness the inspiration. She and Donny met when they were counselors at a summer camp. After seven years of marriage, Alex has covertly purchased a book in the hopes of spicing up their love life, "A Sensuous Life in 30 Days."

The marriage hits the first major bump in the road when Alex receives a phone call from her babysitter's mother informing Alex that she will no longer allow her daughter to babysit for the Pearls. Apparently, Donny crossed a line in appropriate behavior while driving the babysitter home late one Saturday night.

Circumstances evolve where the Pearls befriend another couple who live in Wheatley Heights... Charles and Paula Bell. In the most deliciously slow unravelling of a plotline, these couples cross the boundary into a sexual relationship with each other's spouses. This momentous event occurs about 50% into the story, and its repercussions echo throughout the remainder of the book. This wasn't a trashy erotica escapade; this was a well-written and thought-provoking journey of a marriage.

This is a compelling and highly-readable novel which will draw comparisons to Marilyn French and other early feminist novelists, as well as contemporary authors like Liane Moriarty and Jennifer Weiner.. It draws many comparisons between our mothers' generation and ours and shows that, sadly, while some things have improved for wives and mothers, many have not. Everyone in this novel is dysfunctional and yet you can't help but relate to many of them. The 70's references add a bit of nostalgia and the fast-paced writing makes this novel fun but thought-provoking.

This was a quick read for me and kept me occupied on a 4-hour train ride. The setting and plot have a lot of promise, and I love the era the book was set in, but unfortunately it felt quite unpolished. I could never get a handle on the husband--or really, any of the main characters. I think they were fully formed in the author's mind, but something just didn't translate to the page for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and She Writes Press for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I did not enjoy this book. I am a child of the 70s and thought that the nostalgia would be fun, but I couldn't get passed the fact that the characters were so unlikable. I found the main couple to be whiny and immature, with very little perspective on how to deal with problems (in a relationship, on the job, finding one's identity) without involving very young children. While I understand that "swinging" was thing for some back then, and I don't want to tells others how to live their lives, I again come back to thinking of the children. How is an affair going to make things MORE stable in the home -- even if everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) knows about it? And then, you don't even think about birth control?? Wow, self-centered behavior at its best. Pass.

Although it was hard to put this book down, it was also hard to read. It's a story about unhappiness that left me unhappy. You could argue that there's still some hope left in the characters' lives, but there was nothing uplifting about anyone's fate in this book.

This was a good, quick read with some fun 1970's nostalgia. The author touched on the popular trends of couples retreats to strengthen relationships and "swinging" parties to swap spouses.

It was interesting to see how the protagonist grew from a young newly wed and matured into an independent woman in the '70's.

Overall, it was a good book, but I couldn't help thinking that if she had a real job instead of painting t shirts when she felt like it, she might have had a better perspective on her life and perhaps would have matured a little sooner.

Also, I don't want to give anything away, but the outcome of the spouse swapping seemed pretty unbelievable to me, but it was a fun read.

Split-Level is an entertaining and bittersweet story of a marriage coming apart in suburban New Jersey in the 1970's. Alex Pearl is married to Donny. Donny resents working at his father's lingerie business, and thinks he deserves more. Alex knows Donny is untrustworthy, but this at a time when men are expected to stray, and women are expected to put up with it.
Donny starts pushing for an open marriage with no understanding of the consequences. Alex has to learn to trust her own wants and needs. When they meet Paula and Charlie Bell, it seems like manna from heaven for Donny but he cannot plan for what happens when real life gets messy, and his wife stops being in thrall to him. Four stars.

Split-Level captured my attention because of the way it's written. It's from the point of view of Alex Pearl, a housewife whose relationship with her husband is turbulent at best. Although it is a little slow paced, I didn't mind spending the time with Alex's thoughts. It's extremely well-written. I didn't live through the 70s, but I could vividly picture every moment with the minute details that add just the right amount of description. It has a small number of characters and they leave strong impressions. These are the characters that you get to know deeply and understand on some level, even to the point where you can see what decisions they'll make before it's revealed.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a peek at a complicated relationship written with beautiful prose. It was a quick read and the ending was extremely satisfying.

Split-Level, set in my favorite decade promised to be an interesting romp through 1970s married life. Unfortunately, I had to put this book down after 31%, as it was merely a slow narrative of some things that happened. I was looking for a story-line of some nature, but was disappointed. Thank you, NetGalley for allowing me to give it a try - I just couldn't do this one.

Also, I would highly recommend a cover change - we '70s girls really looked better than that.

Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals...
--Anais Nin

This was such an interesting, captivating read...one I won't quickly forget. The emotional upheaval it caused almost made me feel like an angsty teenager in high school. Come on, don't play coy--you know exactly what I mean. Those moments when everything felt so very important and life-altering. Those moments when you felt your emotions so deeply and intensely. Those moments when you just knew your life was ruined because of some guy/girl/friend/lover/parent/teacher.

Split-Level brings all those feelings (and more) to the surface. I can't say it was an enjoyable read because frankly, I actually felt dreadfully uncomfortable reading certain sections. I kept thinking to myself, "Why are you doing this? Why are you allowing him to do this? What good could possibly come from this?" Yet the book kept chugging along, satisfyingly engrossing, while the characters kept making one poor decision after another.

Normally...the characters' actions would have ruined the book for me...but, because this was set in the 70s (which I loved), it absolutely worked. Attitudes were different then. Life was different then. Marriages were different then. Having said that, I felt intense dislike for Donny, his parents, Paula...even poor Rona. And while I found many of Alex's thoughts and choices to be ridiculous, I found myself understanding her at the same time.

I guess, what I'm trying to say with this long, rambling review thus far...the writing is fantastic.

This is a slow-burning, very character driven novel, told strictly in first person by our protagonist, Alex (short for Alexandria). Set in an affluent New Jersey community, the entire cast is complex and flawed--maybe even dysfunctional?

I'd recommend this to any reader who enjoys a thought-provoking novel, and appreciates the blatantly honest dissection of marriage.

**Thanks to NetGalley, She Writes Press, and Sande Boritz Berger for the ARC.

Alex Pearl is a Jewish housewife of the 1970’s. I was married and raising children in the 70’s, so I was able to relate to Alex and her story. A conflicted women searching for an identity. I found Alex and her story to be realistic. I enjoyed this novel, , good story line, well developed characters. Thanks for my advanced copy.

What makes a book “wow, what an amazing story! You have to read this!” For me, it can be an unforgettable character, a page-turning thriller, or a creative non-fiction that teaches me something new. Then there are those special books that delight me because of the writing- the fresh way the author chooses each word, unexpected, new and keenly correct. Words that open me up to both old memories and new feelings and thoughts. This is such a book- a story where word gems create a treasure chest of riches for the reader. this book is good on so many levels.

Alex, short for Alexandra, tells us her story in the first person. The way she thinks and shares her life is similar to her artwork- filled with carefully selected details that both charm and alarm us. The 1970’s, a time of swift cultural changes, is when we meet Alex in suburban New Jersey as she deals with the day-to-day of her married-with-two-kids life. Will an unexpected phone call disrupt everything?

The title of this book got me thinking. A split-level reminds me of the Brady Bunch house- happy kids, happy wife, happy life. This doesn’t seem to describe the real life of Alex. As Alex shares her past and copes with her runaway present, I could see that there were many ways that Alex was “split”. She is a daughter, wife, mother, friend, Jewish woman. She is split by her roles and she is split by her feelings and her desires. Will she split from her marriage? Will she put herself back together?

I don’t mean to make this story sound too heavy. As I read it, I was laughing, entertained and captivated. Alex’s words and observations are so creative and unexpected. One humorous scene is when Alex recalls meeting her husband’s parents for the first time. Her husband works in the family women’s foundations business. As Alex is introduced, her husband and father immediately remark on her bra cup size. That’s what they do! So funny! Or is it?

Yes, there are many layers to this story and much to ponder. Highly recommend.

I received a digital review copy, thanks to NetGalley and She Writes Press. This is my honest review.

A great nostalgic read. Although before my time, the book and setting were so well written that I felt like I was there. A good story, looking at family dynamics.

This was a good, quick read with some fun 1970's nostalgia. The author touched on the popular trends of couples retreats to strengthen relationships and "swinging" parties to swap spouses.
The characters and dialogue was realistic - I grew up in NJ & NY around that time period, so I can attest to that.
It was interesting to see how the protagonist grew from a young newly wed and matured into an independent woman in the '70's.
Overall, it was a good book, but I couldn't help thinking that if she had a real job instead of painting t shirts when she felt like it, she might have had a better perspective on her life and perhaps would have matured a little sooner.
Also, I don't want to give anything away, but the outcome of the spouse swapping seemed pretty unbelievable to me, but it was a fun read.