How did Shari Lapena managed to pack all the tropes in one story and still manage to make it completely engrossing? There was so much to enjoy in the story—-secrets, lies, scandals, infidelity—-and I loved reading most of the book. Lapena does an excellent job of not revealing everything about the characters at the first of the novel which caused me to enjoy the book more as I tried to figure out who was telling the truth about whether the death of Patrick’s previous wife was either an accident or murder.

Then all at once she knows what to do – she wrenches open a bottom cupboard and grabs a metal lid, then slides it onto the frying pan. The babies soon began nursing well, but she often thinks about how stressful the C-section had been – for everyone. He could have been developed slightly more however, as the story closed without giving a full picture of the type of person he is. For a moment she stands in the doorway, stupefied, because she can't remember putting anything on the stove. Change country: -Select- Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Republic Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Islands Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Cook Islands Costa Rica Cyprus Czech Republic Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia Gabon Republic Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong Hungary India Indonesia Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Namibia Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Republic of Croatia Republic of the Congo Reunion Romania Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts-Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands South Africa South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Suriname Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City State Venezuela Vietnam Virgin Islands (U.There’s a pair of four-month-old twins with a really nice mom – Stephanie – directly across the street whom Hanna’s become friends with. She hurries into the nursery, whispering shhh, shhhh… She picks each baby up, one at a time, soothing them, kissing their soft cheeks. In the meantime Stephanie is convinced that her husband is as innocent as he protests, but gradually the doubts begin to creep in.

The plot follows several seemingly unrelated groups of characters, whose connections will be revealed later, but the main focus is on Stephanie and Patrick, a young couple from upstate New York who have just welcomed twin girls. She is so “extra” as my teen daughter would say it saps the reality and enjoyment from the parts of the novel she plays a major part in. The letter to Catherine symbolizes many things, but most importantly that he is finally able to tell her something meaningful which is ironic considering he could do it for perfect strangers but never in his own relationships. The house hasn’t been on the market for long, and this is a desirable neighbourhood; she imagines it will sell fairly quickly.Because she was his mistress, and she lives for the thrill of being a homewrecker and seeing them squirm to pay up to rid themselves of her. First-time novelist Lapena’s writing is spare and tense, and it makes The Couple Next Door a compulsive read.

The story alternates between the perspectives of quite a few characters with Stephanie and Patrick being featured the most. This is a classic example of a perfectly good story that gets torn to pieces by a woefully ill-conceived ending. With a set of newborn twins, the sleep deprivation and the general care for the twins is putting added pressure on their relationship.The tension is high,’ The Times wrote of one of the author’s earlier novels and how true that is of The End of Hertoo.