The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth - Book Review

I’d love to meet Sally Hepworth, I think she’d be a lot of fun (note to Pan Macmillan Australia: please include Adelaide in Sally’s upcoming book tour!)

The Family Next Door is a gem of a book. It’s easy to read with likeable characters experiencing everyday challenges of motherhood and career, with a few curveballs thrown in.

I enjoyed Hepworth’s empathetic approach to her characters mixed with her sense of humour and gentle wit.

I particularly recommend The Family Next Door for mothers with newborns to provide reassurance that your experiences are normal and comfort that you’re not alone.

I’m looking forward to Hepworth’s new book, The Mother-In-Law, to be released later this month.

Synopsis from Pan Macmillan Australia: Do you ever really know your neighbours?

The safest suburbs often hold the deepest secrets. Such is the case for Essie, a mother of two. In a moment of maternal despair she once made a terrible mistake, one she will always regret. Essie has since recovered, but she fears what may still lurk inside her.

Her neighbours in Pleasant Court have their own issues. Driven and organised, Ange appears to have everything under control, except perhaps her husband. Practical, intellectual Fran can't stop running. For exercise, or something else.

One day in February, during an unprecedented Melbourne heatwave, someone new arrives. Isabelle is single and childless, when everyone else is married with kids. She is renting, when everyone else owns. Her job is mysteriously vague. Strangest of all, Isabelle is very curious about her neighbours. Too curious, some might say.

It soon becomes clear that Isabelle's choice of neighbourhood was no accident. And her presence might bring even more secrets to light...

Happy reading!