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The Woman Next Door by Barbara Delinsky Purchase at:  Amazon.com  Paperback largeprint edition (October 2001)  Thorndike Pr (Largeprint) ISBN: 0786235128

Description from BarnesandNoble.com

From Our Editors

In a spellbinding novel about the hope of dreams, the power of suspicion, and the fragility of relationships, Barbara Delinsky stirs things up in quiet suburbia with The Woman Next Door. Three seemingly secure marriages begin to unravel when a young widow who’s new to the neighborhood turns up pregnant and no one knows who the father is. Amanda wonders if the strain of infertility has finally led her husband Graham to take desperate measures to ensure he has a child. For Karen, suspicion only seems natural, given that her husband, Lee, has been unfaithful several times before. And Georgia can’t help but wonder if the demands of her career have finally driven a permanent wedge between herself and her stay-at-home husband, Russ. Delinsky carefully peels away the surface façades in this cliquish clan of women, revealing their soft, vulnerable underbellies in a process that’s both riveting and painful. But thanks to Delinsky’s poignant prose, it’s also wonderfully unforgettable.

Synopsis

In The Woman Next Door, New York Times bestselling novelist Barbara Delinsky delivers her most engaging novel to date, a story of trust, jealousy, and the struggle to keep love alive.

On a charming cul-de-sac in suburban Connecticut, three close-knit couples find their long-cherished harmony undone when a lovely, younger neighbor, widowed a year ago and presumably still unattached, becomes pregnant.

Who is the father? Could it be one of the husbands?

One by one, the couples turn inward, taking stock of their marriages and of the loyalties that perhaps have been taken too much for granted. In each case this close scrutiny reveals a weakness, and for each wife the situation becomes the kind of crisis that forces her to make a decision, one that will result in either the strengthening or the dissolution of her marriage.

Filled with suspense, surprises, and the kind of insights into the minds and hearts of her characters that have won Barbara Delinsky a huge and loyal following, The Woman Next Door is an ingenious portrait of suspicion and deception, faith and love.

Annotation

Filled with suspense, surprises, and the kind of insights into the minds and hearts of her characters that have won Barbara Delinsky a huge and loyal following, The Woman Next Door is an ingenious portrait of suspicion and deception, faith and love.

From the Publisher

On a charming cul-de-sac in suburban Connecticut, three close-knit couples find their long-cherished harmony undone when a lovely, younger neighbor, widowed a year ago and presumably still unattached, turns up pregnant.

Who is the father? Could it be one of the husbands?

One by one, the couples turn inward, taking stock of their marriages and of the loyalties that perhaps have been taken too much for granted. In each case this close scrutiny reveals a weakness, and for each wife the situation becomes the kind of crisis that forces her to make a decision — one that will result in either the strengthening or the dissolution of her marriage.

Filled with suspense, surprises, and the kind of insights into the minds and hearts of her characters that have won Barbara Delinsky a huge and loyal following, The Woman Next Door is an ingenious portrait of suspicion and deception, faith and love.

From Library Journal

The woman next door is young, attractive, widowed, and pregnant. Since the neighboring ladies know that she keeps to herself and doesn't receive visitors, they naturally wonder: "Could my husband be the father?" Delinsky's latest novel is like a murder mystery, with clues and even red herrings thrown in along the way, but Delinsky surprises the reader in the end. Her plot concerns the personal problems of the three close couples who live on the widow's cul-de-sac, focusing mainly on Amanda and Graham. Every detail of their own baby quest is noted, including fertility treatments and the dissension with Graham's baby-demanding family. Amanda's job as a school counselor is highlighted, especially when a teenager commits suicide at school. Will Amanda have a baby of her own? And will the father of her neighbor's baby make himself known? Popular author Delinsky (The Vineyard) has written another book that will appeal to readers of traditional women's fiction. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 4/15/01.] Carol J. Bissett, New Braunfels P.L., TX Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Customer Reviews

Katie (tjmartin61@yahoo.com), August 29, 2001,
REAL DRAMA, REAL LOVE, REAL SUSPENSE
This 'Can't Put It Down' book has all the ingredients for an exceptional story. The author captured all of the elements in today's modern relationships. She captured the Love, Jealousy, Grief, Happiness, Desires, Turmoils, and Bliss. I believe anyone will be able to relate to at least one out of the three couples and/or their neighbor. While the three married couples are dealing with their own 'marital blisses,' the young, beautiful,widowed woman next door is going through something that is pretty 'bitter sweet' on her own. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to bury himself/herself in a great book.

Gail Cooke (grospoin@aol.com), August 21, 2001,
A DECIDEDLY DELICIOUS READING
Tony Award winning actress Karen Ziemba renders a decidedly delicious reading to this story that gives block party a new name. Spring arrives in Connecticut, but that's not all that's blossoming on a well-to-do block of homes - Gretchen, an attractive young widow who is not known to have been seeing anyone since the death of her husband a year ago, is pregnant. If one were to guess who the father might be it would be one or another of three neighbors' husbands. Each of the men has been helpful to the grieving widow, and each is a likely suspect. One has strayed in the past, another is often left alone by his fast track business woman wife, and the third and his spouse have an infertility problem. The author said she had 'always been fascinated by neighborhood dynamics and the requisite balancing act between intimacy and separation.' From that interest she has woven an intriguing tale as each woman takes a closer look at her marriage and the forces that impact it - in-laws, neighbors, children, fidelity, suspicion, and love. In the end, the question is, exactly who is the woman next door?

A reviewer (harstan@ix.netcom.com), June 8, 2001,
heartwarming drama
Amanda came from a background where her parents continually fought so she wanted to make sure that the man she married would really be the one for her and he alone. When she first set eyes on Graham O’Leary, Amanda felt a flutter inside her heart. By the second date, she knew he was the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. They bought a house in Woodley, Connecticut and spent their first year of marriage adjusting to one another.

Both want children and in their second year of marriage try to have a baby. They fail to conceive and as the years pass they finally visit a fertility specialist, but in doing so some of the spark and spontaneity exit their marriage. When THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR turns up pregnant, everyone, even Amanda, wonders if Graham is the father?

Barbara Delinsky has written a real heartwarming drama centering on two people who clearly love each other, but still have problems because a key desire cannot be fulfilled from within. THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR shows the psychological strains, traumas, and agonies on an infertile couple. Ms. Delinsky is on her way back to all the lists with this deep, complex and beautiful tale.

Harriet Klausner