The Girls Next Door Author:Peter Turchi Turchi's uneven but appealing first novel attempts to dramatize ordinary lives. George Willus lives with his wife, Donna, in a quiet Baltimore neighborhood, in the house he grew up in. Though just 24, George seems destined to live a life exactly like his father's, who built the house and raised eight children in it, naming the kids after the sta... more »rting team of the 1927 New York Yankees. George has begun to question this small, self-contained world. He's still not come to terms with his parents' deaths. And to further confuse him, the house next door has been rented to a group of young, provocatively dressed women. It doesn't take long for this staid community to determine what "the girls next door" are up to. By this time George has developed an odd, tentative relationship with Dusty, one of the prostitutes. While he does not succumb to the proximate temptation, the "relationship" strains his young marriage.« less
This well-written novel, Turchi's first, was a pleasure to read (and a quick read at that). The main character, an everyday Joe, comes to life with great humor and insightful observations.