The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth (Book Summary)

Purchase The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth via Amazon: https://amzn.to/3DXFJlF

Essie lives in Pleasant Court with her husband, Ben, and two children, Mia and Polly. When Mia was still a baby, Essie went into port Partum depression. She just left Mia in the park. She went home and her mother, Barbara, asked her where Mia was. Fortunately, when they went back to the park, Mia was still in the same spot she left her.

Polly is Essie’s second baby, and she is trying to make everything right this time. Barbara has also moved to a house in Pleasant Court to help her.

Essie is sort of friends with her neighbors, Ange and Fran. They will have another neighbor, her name is Isabel. Unlike the usual resident at Pleasant Court, Isabel lives in the house alone. It was said that she is moving because of her work. They also assumed that Isabel is gay because she mentioned a partner, and she doesn’t have a family of her own even when she is already around 40 years old.

Ange organized a neighborhood watch meeting. She came up with this idea when they talked about a few years before a baby was snatched from her home. Essie intended to go to this meeting, but she decided to drop by Isabel’s place first because she thought it would make Isabel more comfortable or welcome. However, Essie and Isabel just had dinner and wine and skipped the meeting. Essie had so much fun that night.

As expected, Ange asked Essie why she wasn’t at the meeting. Essie told her that she was looking after Barbara, who had a cold. This was a lie, and even though she did nothing wrong, Essie also said the same lie to her husband.

Lately, Barbara and Ben have noticed that Essie is acting unusual. It looks like she’s going to have another episode of postpartum depression. Barbara decided to let Essie relax by booking an appointment for her to a salon. When Essie came back, Barbara was shocked because of how Essie looked – she copied Isabel’s hairstyle. After having that new hairstyle, Essie phoned Isabel, wanting to meet her to show her her new look. Isabel was about to go to Essie; however, her boyfriend, Jules, arrived. They hadn’t seen each other for a while, and Isabel missed him, they had sex, and she forgot about going to Essie.

Essie was waiting for Isabel and was looking at her house through the window. She saw someone going inside with her, and she decided to go to Isabel’s house and check what was happening. She saw Isabel with Jules. At that moment, Essie realizes that she loves Isabel.

Just in time, Ben found Essie and asked her to come home. She refused to leave, and she only agreed to go with Ben when Isabel went out of the house and saw her. That night, Barbara left Mia and Polly at Ange’s as they took Essie to the hospital.

While in the hospital, Isabel visited Essie. Essie ended up confessing that she has gone obsessed with Isabel, that she’s attracted to her, that she loves her. Instead of being surprised, Isabel said that it all made sense. Isabel explained that they are sisters, and Essie is feeling just Genetic Sexual Attracted. She revealed that Essie’s real name was Sophie, that she was snatched from the hospital when she was a baby. Isabel also has proof. She took a strand of hair from Mia and had it tested. The result confirmed their relationship. Essie doesn’t believe this. She insists that Barbara is her mother and Isabel may have made a mistake. She asked Isabel to leave.

At Pleasant Court, Isabel decided to confront Barbara about stealing Essie as a baby. Barbara looked shocked. It wasn’t the reaction that Isabel expected. Barbara insisted that Essie was her baby. After that, she went inside her car with Mia and headed to the hospital to visit Essie. However, it has already been over an hour, and they haven’t arrived at the hospital. Ben started looking for them, and Isabel confessed that her confrontation affected Barbara.

Barbara got very confused during the car ride with Mia. She has confused the past from the present. She thought the child she was in the car with was Essie, not Mia. She got confused on why Mia called her gran, and she insisted that she was her Mum. A woman saw Barbara’s confused look and got suspicious. When Mia started crying, Barbara pulled her shirt even though it looked like it hurt Mia. The woman took a video, and the police could locate them.

When Mia was already in the car, they drove away once more. Barbara is confused about where she is going, so she decides to get out of the car to ask for help. However, Mia also made a run outside because she wanted to go to the tram. Barbara ran after her because another vehicle was approaching. Mia was safe, but it was Barbara who got injured.

Barbara survived, and after being released to the hospital, she will stay at a psychiatric facility. Essie already believed Isabel’s story about Barbara kidnapping her, but Essie does not hate Barbara. Barbara will not go to jail because she wasn’t mentally stable when she committed the crime. Essie also got her back because Barbara has been a great mother, after all. In the end, Barbara lived not too close and not too far from Pleasant Court. She stays in touch with Essie and her family, even though she cannot spend time with the children without someone else’s supervision.

In the end, all went well. Isabel gave birth to a baby girl, and they named her Sophie.

Other relevant scenes.

• • • Ange is also facing her own problems. She found out that her husband, Luke, cheated again. He cheated on her first with Josie. Luke was about to leave Ange for Josie at that time, but Ange wasn’t ready to be alone, so she told him that she was pregnant. She is not, but she had sex with Luke multiple times to get herself pregnant. Their marriage survived, Josie is no longer an issue.
    • This time, Ange found out again that Luke cheated again, and he had a daughter with the woman. Luke asked for forgiveness, and she tried forgiving him. However, later on, Ange realizes that she no longer wants to settle with Luke. She realized this when she noticed how Ben looked at Essie. Luke doesn’t look at her like that. Ange and Luke broke up.
    • Fran also has her own problem. When her first child was born, her husband, Nigel, was depressed. During that time, she had an affair with a workmate. She got pregnant again, and she wasn’t sure if the baby was Nigel or the man she had multiple one-night stands with. She, later on, confessed this to Nigel. It affected their marriage. He went away for a business trip. When Eva was rushed to the hospital due to a high fever, Fran called Nigel and flew back immediately. They decided to work things out. Fran discovered that her mom, who seemed not to care about her, had called Nigel and apologized. In the end, Nigel held on to the vast possibility that Eva is really his daughter because her blood type is O-, which is a sporadic blood type.

The End of The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth.

Purchase The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth via Amazon: https://amzn.to/3DXFJlF