An apartment building on the Upper East Side of Manhattan is the backdrop for Elizabeth Noble's latest novel. Ed and Eve Gallagher move from York, England to New York City because of Ed's bank job. The couple believes that they have found the perfect place to live, however, Ed is gone a lot because of his job, and Eve finds herself becoming very lonely as a stay at home wife.
Violet Wallace is a private woman, she is an 82 year's old, an Englishwoman who also lives in the building and she and Eve become friends. Then there is Jackson Grayling III, a spoiled trust fund recipient who is in love with Emily Mikanowski, who is unimpressed by Grayling's looks or wealth. Emily is friends with Charlotte, a frumpy librarian into steamy romance novels, who happens to have a crush on Che, one of the doormen.
Well, you get the picture here, and there are several more residents: Jason and Kim Kramer, Rachel and David Schulman and Madison. It's basically a novel about the building's residents and how their lives intertwine.
MY THOUGHTS - Initially I had high hopes for this novel, based on its premise. A few years back I read a wonderful novel with a similar plot: Between Two Rivers; Nicholas Rinaldi. This book was also set in NYC, a condo building, but it was far superior to this novel, all of the characters were memorable and extremely well developed ; their issues were very real.
In The Girl Next Door, to me, the characters seemed a bit too stereotypical, with issues like: infidelity, infertility, jealousy, betrayal, friendship, love and loss. I did enjoy parts of this book, and I think if you are in need of a lighter beach-type read you might enjoy this book. However, if your goal is for something memorable, something deeper, you might want to look elsewhere. Recommendation - YOU DECIDE - 3.5/5 stars.
(Review copy provided by Simon and Schuster - thank you)
I've been wanting to try Elizabeth Noble's work, so I'm sorry to see you didn't love this one.
ReplyDeleteseems like a busy read...no focus?
ReplyDeleteYears ago, there was a book published called Kissing in Manhattan. Did you ever read that? It was very interesting about people's lives intertwining. I thought it was very interesting. The author would tell a short story about a person in a restaurant and then a story about a waiter in the same restaurant and how one thing done changed the other person. It was good, weird and funny in parts. It is one of my favorite books.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your honest review. I don't think this one's for me.
ReplyDeleteSB and Ruthann...Glad Kissing in Manhattan appealed to you; I'll check it out. This could have been better, I just did not care about some of characters, and some of the issues seemed insignificant.
ReplyDeleteI started it and lost interest.
ReplyDeleteI checked this out from the library. Sorry to hear it was just ok for you. I've been wanting to read this one. I still will though.
ReplyDeleteI was aware of this book but had not heard any thoughts on it as yet. It sounds like the kind of book that I would enjoy, peopled with lots of characters that interact. I will probably try it anyway. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI so loved her last book that I read that I had high hopes for the this. I'll probably read it just to see but I'll save it for the beach! Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeletesorry it wasn't that good. Doesn't quite sound like something I'd be interested in.
ReplyDelete-Lauren
I don't know if you entered the Holey Donuts giveaway or not, but if you could check out this post and do so for my blog, it would mean a TON for my family and you can enter for the book afterwards too if you wish!:
http://shootingstarsmag.blogspot.com/2010/02/giveaway-white-cat-arc-250-holey-donuts.html
I'm intrigued by the premise but this year I'm really focusing on 4 and above books!!! So I'm going with your rating and going to pass on this one!
ReplyDeleteI have a copy of this book. I have a few by Elizabeth Noble, but I think I want to check out "The Reading Group" before I read this one.
ReplyDeleteStaci....LOL I hope you don't miss any good ones simply because I did not like them...LOL
ReplyDeleteStaci....LOL I hope you don't miss any good ones simply because I did not like them...LOL
ReplyDeleteToo bad this wasn't a better experience for you. I need my books a little meatier than this but it's good to see an honest review.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear this wasn't better. I've got it sitting in my pile and I've read and really enjoyed her other books. Hopefully I'll like this one as well when I get to it.
ReplyDeleteI have never read anything by Elizabeth Noble. The premise sounds good. Sorry you were disappointed!
ReplyDeleteSorry that this book was such a disappointment to you. It sounds like it was just too full of cliches and not enough originality. I think I will probably skip this one after having read your review. Thanks for the heads up!
ReplyDeleteI've been meaning to tell you how much I like your ratings graphic logos. Cute!!
ReplyDelete