The Other Woman – Jane Green

Jun 3, 2009 by shanyn

Title: The Other Woman
Author: Jane Green

Ellie and Dan are living proof that opposites attract.

He always follows instructions and she throws the manual away.
He loves sports whereas Ellie’s allergic to any form of exercise.
Ellie doesn’t have a mother. And Dan does – a mother who wants to take over …
EVERYTHING.

At first Ellie is thrilled to have Linda as her ‘adopted’ mother and to be a part of the close, loving Cooper family. But when she and Dan decide to get married and wedding plans progress, she starts to wonder: is it normal for Linda and Dan to speak on the phone twice a day? How on earth do they come to be having a reception with Chilean bloody seabass and humongous bloody white ribbons tied everywhere when all she wanted was a quiet registry office?

In fact, is she marrying Dan … OR HIS MOTHER?

Since my first Jane Green read was a success (Jemima J), the next time I went to the library I picked up “The Other Woman,” which was the only other one they had. I was skeptical of the title, because I didn’t really want to read about some relationship where a girl was stealing someone else’s boyfriend/husband, but I made sure to read the synopsis where it clearly states that a mother is “The Other Woman.”

I found myself frustrated through most of the book. While I can understand the situation presented, it felt to me like the main character’s husband was too weak for a real life character. I was beginning to get bored with all of the ways the mom would butt into their lives until the climax of the book, which changed things around a bit (one of the reasons I liked Jemima J)… but it did still frustrate me a little with the way things were going. At least one of the characters ended up getting a backbone. Definitely did not like this one as much as Jemima J, but liked it enough to finish it – maybe if I had a different in-law situation I would have felt differently – it just seemed too unrealistic to me. I still look for new Jane Green books at the library when I go, but I would not recommend this one as a first read for anyone starting out with this author.

Related Posts:

• Dune Road – Jane Green
• Babyville – Jane Green
• Jemima J – Jane Green