Other People's Children

This is the story of a group of people who are connected by way of multiple marriages and children by different parents. Matthew, who was previously married to mentally precarious Nadine, and who had three children with her, has just married Josie who was previously married to Tom and had a son by him. It's a convoluted story with many characters, but is so well written that it's no problem to keep the strands separate, as each family and inter connected family sorts through their new situations and makes sometimes painful adjustments to make their lives more livable. At times it's a bit wrenching to see how some natural parents poison their children's minds against the new step parent, demanding unquestioning loyalty from them where it isn't deserved. This book doesn't have a completely fairytale ending with some parents and adult children unable to shake off the ties of childhood, to the huge detriment of everybody.

This book really presented an accurate view of what it's like to be in a stepfamily today. I think this should be required reading for anyone considering a marriage with someone who has children from a former relationship!

Sometimes it's hard to review Joanna Trollope's books for fear of putting off a potential reader. Such is the case with "Other People's Children," which is a brilliant look at what step- families are really like. I know that I, reading the above sentence, would think, "Oh, not again, it's been done to death, yuck." And then I would have missed one of Trollope's best works, one that is not boring in the least, and that has such insight, such truth, that it can enrich any reader.So. That having been said, please bear with me as I try to explain this book, which is slight on plot and heavy on insight. It involves a number of very nice people of all ages, from young Rufus, just 7 when the book begins, to a 20-something engaged couple, to a 30-something newly married pair who are blending their respective families, to a May-September relationship between a single woman in her early 40s, Elizabeth, and a twice-married architect with two adult children from his first marriage, and Rufus from his second. This man's name is Tom. It is his adult son, Lucas, who is engaged (to Amy), and his second wife, Josie, mother of Rufus, whose recent remarriage has blended two families. Her husband, Matthew, has his hands full with his teenaged girl and boy, and a younger girl as well, all of them products of a highly dysfunctional mother whose sick dependence on them makes it nearly impossible for Matthew and Josie to have a normal life, especially with Lucas added to the mix.It is Tom's adult daughter Dale, however, who causes the most destruction in this story, once again illustrating Trollope's favorite "no man is an island" theme. Having lost her mother at the tender age of 4, Dale, now a successful businesswoman in her 30s, cannot let go of her clinging (and cloying) attachment to her father Tom or her brother Lucas. She retains a key to her childhood home and barges in whenever she feels like it, despite the fact that Elizabeth, Tom's fiancée, now lives there, and that Dale's young step-brother Lucas spends some weekends there as well. Dale is the catalyst for the eventual destruction of some relationships, and the triumph of others. The rippling effect of her neurotic behavior is catastrophic, even though she consciously means no harm. Does love conquer all? Not in this book--and not in real life, either. Kudos to Trollope for pointing this out, and for having the courage to resist a pat ending.

It can be amazing, the effects of one decision. Josie, amarried woman with a child, falls in love with Matthew, a married manwith 3 children... and the snowball begins the avalanche. This is a wonderful book, this look at the balancing around stepchildren (not for them, but not ignoring them either.) There is a lot of love, a lot of pain, oh sure, but more intriguingly, there is a lot of truth in this examination of the lives of people so caught in the juggernaut of modern life.

Josie Carver marries Matthew Mitchell. However, his three children (fifteen-year old Becky, twelve-year old Rory, and ten-year old Clare) from a former marriage and his mentally imbalanced ex-wife cause problems for their relationship. In contrast, Matthew gets on well with her child (eight-year old Rufus) from her former marriage. Can this couple survive the storms of an extended family? Josie's ex-husband architect Tom Carver becomes engaged to client Elizabeth Brown. His oldest son Lucas (from his first marriage to the deceased Pauline) hopes his dad finds happiness. His other adult child from Tom's marriage to Pauline, Dale, causes major friction between them. Can this couple survive the storm of one individual? Renowned for her novels set in England, Joanna Trollope writes an excellent and timely contemporary drama on the impact of various related step-families. The story is extremely complex, enjoyable, and poignant. The motivations of the numerous characters are comprehensible and allow readers to deeply look into the varying dilemmas confronting adults and children with the modern ultra-extended family. OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN demonstrates that Ms. Trollope knows how to dig into the psychological heart of the modern world.<P<Harriet Klausner