Other People's Marriages

by Rosie Thomas

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-

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Chick Lit, Contemporary

558 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Janey 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.

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 :-)

[Linsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want to read a book about adultery, than this is the book for you.

[Dani Angel · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Franziska Self Fisken · Rating 4 out of 5]

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".

[Tracey- Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

At first I Enjoyed the read, but midway through I started to lose interest as the characters didn’t catch my attention enough .

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

[Kath · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Rosalynmp · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delicious soap opera, two seasons worth and more, that I could cover at a good speed.

[Digby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Married couples and their utter boredom exposed.

[Sondashi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice book

[Kaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5**

[Bamboozlepig · Rating 1 out of 5]

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.

[Mel Haggart · Rating 1 out of 5]

Started it - couldn’t finish it. Very unenjoyable

[Tricia Cassavaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25

[CM · Rating 1 out of 5]

Simply crap

[Adri · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tedium personified. Not a single character in the book that I liked. Definitely not my cup of tea.

[Biddy · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a depressing look at marriage this was! Everyone was having affairs and/or break ups and the characters were all unlikeable.

[JenniferB]

Quite good but ultimately depressing