Two women, neighbors in comfortable upper-class suburbia, find their incipient friendship unraveling over the choices each makes between career and full-time parenting. ( )

This book really challenged my thinking. I thought it would be more about working mother versus stay at home mother, but the issues it really brought up was how as mothers we judge anyone who parents differently than we do, and how that arises from our own self-consciousness as mothers. It also talked a lot about how people balance being needed and needing. I really liked it. I'll be thinking about it for a while. At first, I didn't think I liked it, because I didn't really like either of the main characters, but now I think that was essential to the points. ( )

I have my own hand autographed copy direct from the author (and have bought it for two of my favorite "moms"). It is an interesting tale which takes the point of view from the two main characters in alternating fashion (per chapter). ( )

This book had heart and promise... but it didn't have much more for me. It didn't follow through to the end in a way that I could respect, instead seeming to rely on an unexplained kiss between the two primary characters, Amanda and Thea to propel the story when it began to be just a rote recital of what each side of the mommy wars hates and envies about the other side.

And then the end was pivoted on September 11th, a moment in history that hit all of us, regardless of which side of the mommy war we might be on. Was this choice supposed to tie the two sides together, to show that impacted both sides with ferocity? Was it supposed to say that there are larger issues in the world we should be focusing on? Was it simply that Gross lost her point and needed to stop writing? I couldn't tell.

Yes, Gross wrote both sides of the war well, allowing me, a mother who has lived both sides at least for a year each, to recognize moments, to remember the highs and lows of each. Yes, there is more to the story than simply preaching which side should win, for that I can give the novel a mediocre rating.

But, Gross didn't surpass my expectations of a mommy war novel. [The Other Mother] met my feared expectations, didn't sicken me, but also wasn't able to enlighten me. ( )

This is the story of two women, two mothers. Thea lives in the house where she grew up and is the stay-at-home mom of 3 kids, including a toddler. Amanda, a children's book editor, moves in next door, pregnant, about to start her maternity leave. When circumstances force the two women uncomfortably close, each must face her own choices to stay home or continue to work.

The best thing about this book is that Gross alternates chapters between Thea and Amanda, allowing the reader to get both sides of the story. To each mother, the other is a monster, but both have moments of being able to put themselves in the other's shoes.

The worst thing about this book is that Gross chooses to use the events of September, 2001 to bring her story to a close. The story starts in September, 2000 when Amanda moves in to her new house. The book is divided into sections by the months that follow, with no mention of year, until the following September when the inclusion of 2001 is glaring and obvious. Without going into detail, Gross gets her characters home safely and ends her story quite abruptly.

Gross's decision to use September 11th in this way is a shame because up until the last section this was a very engaging book. I cared about the characters and wanted them to be friends or at least come to terms separately with their own decisions. But it feels as though Gross could not figure out how to make that happen and decided to take the easy way out. ( )