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Other People's Marriages
They were 'the five families' - the pleasant hospitable Frosts, the brash and sexy Cleggs, flirtatious Jimmy Rose and aloof Star, maternal Vicky and reliable Gordon Ransome, Michael Wickham and his perfect wife Marcelle. Old friends, their lives are interwoven in a comfortable pattern of school runs and Sunday golf, barbecues and shared holidays.
Until Nina Cort returns to the cathedral city of her childhood. Rich sophisticated and newly widowed, Nina is an exotic thread in the pattern, whose intrusion reveals a web of hidden flaws.
In the course of a year from which none will emerge unscathed, the five families and Nina discover that you can never truly know the fabric of other people's marriages. Perhaps not even of your own...
Until Nina Cort returns to the cathedral city of her childhood. Rich sophisticated and newly widowed, Nina is an exotic thread in the pattern, whose intrusion reveals a web of hidden flaws.
In the course of a year from which none will emerge unscathed, the five families and Nina discover that you can never truly know the fabric of other people's marriages. Perhaps not even of your own...
Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
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About the author
Rosie Thomas
72 books317 followersJaney King, née Morris was born on 1947 in Denbigh, Wales, and also grew up in North Wales. She read English at Oxford, and after a spell in journalism and publishing began writing fiction after the birth of her first child. Published since 1982 as Rosie Thomas, she has written fourteen best-selling novels, deal with the common themes of love and loss. She is one of only a few authors to have won twice the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association, in 1985 with Sunrise, and in 2007 with Iris and Ruby.
Janey is an adventurer and once she was established as a writer and her children were grown, she discovered a love of travelling and mountaineering. She has climbed in the Alps and the Himalayas, competed in the Peking to Paris car rally, spent time on a tiny Bulgarian research station in Antarctica and travelled the silk road through Asia. She currently lives in London.
Janey is an adventurer and once she was established as a writer and her children were grown, she discovered a love of travelling and mountaineering. She has climbed in the Alps and the Himalayas, competed in the Peking to Paris car rally, spent time on a tiny Bulgarian research station in Antarctica and travelled the silk road through Asia. She currently lives in London.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 6, 2014
I found that the story line was interesting as it wasn't just a one character's point of view. It let you know what the other characters were thinking and you were able to understand what they wanted and thought which helped loads when wanting to know whether you like that character or not.
It was quiet natural how the writer wrote about these marriages as that is what normally happens these days. Plus having the singleton walk in on their lives and cause a mess with relationships which then begins the mess of other relationships is brilliant!
So glad that I was able to read this book, I enjoyed it and the cover of the book was intriguing also. I would recommend it to my family and friends :-)
It was quiet natural how the writer wrote about these marriages as that is what normally happens these days. Plus having the singleton walk in on their lives and cause a mess with relationships which then begins the mess of other relationships is brilliant!
So glad that I was able to read this book, I enjoyed it and the cover of the book was intriguing also. I would recommend it to my family and friends :-)
March 9, 2011
If you want to read a book about adultery, than this is the book for you.
May 28, 2014
Loved the characters. Too many characters to flow as it should. Thought Nina would have more personality, she was a bit dull. Great writing though. Love the author.
April 12, 2024
Reminded me of the life and times of my own life as mother of 3 small children when I lived in Tibberton, a small village in Shropshire.
Evocative of times when middle class women often took time out of their careers to look after their children themselves. And evocative too of an era just before people had mobiles and ready access to the internet.
Having recently looked at UK property in suburban settings, I've become aware that the lifestyle portrayed here which was typical in the 1980s and 1990s is no longer typical of the 2020s!
The characters in the book are well drawn and varied but all are very privilege middle class people living in different but typical middle class settings.
I liked this bit about one of the fathers:-
"Michael knew that he had never been a wholehearted, enthusiastic father to them in the way that he had blithely imagined he would be before Jonathan was born. He loved his children, but quite often they seemed to be unpredictable obstacles that needed to be negotiated in the pursuit of a civilized life. They consumed Marcelle's time, and his own, and although he was proud of them he knew that they did not entirely repay this investment of energy. They did not always act in the way he wanted them to. Sometimes they turned on him and gazed with mute, accusing faces and he felt his heart twist inside him with the knowledge of his own guilty inadequacy."
I suspect the novel's title was inspired by Joanna Trollope's excellent book "Other People's Children".
Evocative of times when middle class women often took time out of their careers to look after their children themselves. And evocative too of an era just before people had mobiles and ready access to the internet.
Having recently looked at UK property in suburban settings, I've become aware that the lifestyle portrayed here which was typical in the 1980s and 1990s is no longer typical of the 2020s!
The characters in the book are well drawn and varied but all are very privilege middle class people living in different but typical middle class settings.
I liked this bit about one of the fathers:-
"Michael knew that he had never been a wholehearted, enthusiastic father to them in the way that he had blithely imagined he would be before Jonathan was born. He loved his children, but quite often they seemed to be unpredictable obstacles that needed to be negotiated in the pursuit of a civilized life. They consumed Marcelle's time, and his own, and although he was proud of them he knew that they did not entirely repay this investment of energy. They did not always act in the way he wanted them to. Sometimes they turned on him and gazed with mute, accusing faces and he felt his heart twist inside him with the knowledge of his own guilty inadequacy."
I suspect the novel's title was inspired by Joanna Trollope's excellent book "Other People's Children".
September 16, 2022
At first I Enjoyed the read, but midway through I started to lose interest as the characters didn’t catch my attention enough .
July 22, 2015
Better than some of her other novels, this one kept my attention and the characters stayed with me long after I had finished it. I was surprised by the articulate writing and adult content - but loved both! A winner for poolside reading.
May 19, 2021
Like a lot of books of this era, (early nineties) my memory is of reading them when at least a decade younger. Not sure what that signifies, and this familiar enough to entertain, although at another time (or in other hands) much of the cosy domesticity might curdle.
Whichever, as an exercise in possibly clearing my shelves of unwanted books, this has failed
Whichever, as an exercise in possibly clearing my shelves of unwanted books, this has failed
June 6, 2022
Powerful, mysterious story about how one person can throw off the axis of 5 couples and their marriages with their lives. Well written so that the brain is constantly wondering what next is going to happen. Best part for me was the 'irony' in the story; loved it! Highly recommend this book for a great read with lots of suspense to keep Readers on the edge of their seats.
August 17, 2017
A delicious soap opera, two seasons worth and more, that I could cover at a good speed.
August 23, 2018
Married couples and their utter boredom exposed.
July 3, 2020
Nice book
May 11, 2021
Peyton Place set in England. Plenty of adultery and smut, but not much plot. Too many characters and after awhile they all sounded the same.
November 17, 2021
Started it - couldn’t finish it. Very unenjoyable
October 4, 2024
Simply crap
October 15, 2011
Tedium personified. Not a single character in the book that I liked. Definitely not my cup of tea.
April 15, 2013
What a depressing look at marriage this was! Everyone was having affairs and/or break ups and the characters were all unlikeable.
Read
July 2, 2016Quite good but ultimately depressing
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews