Other Peoples Children Author:Joanna Trollope With The Best of Friends, American readers have taken Joanna Trollope into their hearts. That critically-acclaimed novel has climbed bestseller lists around the country and garnered raves from reviewers like Good Housekeeping who said that she "captures the poignant rituals of family attachment and detachment with delicious wryness and large dos... more »es of empathy." But with Other People's Children--a number 1 bestseller in England--she brings her work to a bold, new level, with a novel of rare seriousness and depth, about a subject that hits readers right where they live. Here, she delves fearlessly into the emotional dynamics of family life--or rather, life in that ever-expanding unit, the stepfamily. With her sensitive eye and unerring ear, she explores the hard-won truths and often harder-to-overcome difficulties of coping with present and former husbands and wives, and above all, with other people's children. And sometimes it becomes painfully clear that good intentions--and even love--are not enough. Joanna Trollope's understanding of the human condition and empathy with the frailties of her characters are unmatched. No one goes more fearlessly into the emotional and practical dynamics of family life, nor offers such bittersweet truths mixed with hopeful solutions. So moving, so provocative, and so unforgettable is the portrait she has created in Other People's Children that American readers and reviewers are sure to fall in love with Joanna Trollope all over again.« less
This book is very well-written but man, what a painful story. I have not had much direct experience with step-families, but I think this book should be a must-read, even though I realize it's a novel. Seeing the situation through the kids eyes in this novel may be a side of the story that's sometimes overlooked. One negative comment is that for about 90% of the book everyone is in pain, and by the end, it just seems like things fell into place in a more tidy fashion that I would expect. Worth reading, though.