The Other Mother: Mommy wars--ugh.

The Other Mother: A Novel by Gwendolen Gross

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I'm not sure what I thought of this novel. It had an interesting premise: a newly pregnant career woman moves into a suburban New Jersey house next door to a stay-at-home mom of three. Neither mom is entirely happy with her choices. I found both women very difficult to relate to: perhaps because I have never experienced the outright jealousy and spite felt by some women toward "the other" type of mother. In our circle of friends, one parent often stays at home, but sometimes he or she works part time. Sometimes (as in our case), it's the dad.

Granted, I have not had to make do with the guilt that other work-outside-the-home moms have felt upon leaving their children in day care situations. That is probably liable to make one feel more defensive.

I found the characters difficult to like. They were multidimensional, and the author did a good job of presenting the complexities inherent in the choices they made.

When I first started the book, I delightedly thought, "Oh, this is very well written!" but by the time I was halfway through, I was ready for the book to be over...hence the two stars only.





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