The Other Life (2011)

Quinn Braverman is happily married and expecting her second child. As a child, Quinn found a portal to a place where her other life was occurring. The other life was a place where every choice she made was the opposite of what was actually occurring in her present life. For more than 20 years, Quinn ignored the portal and lived her charmed happy life. However, when Quinn gets news that her unborn baby has a life-threatening condition, Quinn cannot resist the temptation of another simpler life. She enters the portal and finds that her deceased mother is still alive and she is living a carefree life with her neurotic shock-jock ex-boyfriend. Quinn travels between worlds, unable to cope with her unborn child's prognosis and unable to stay away from her caring husband and wonderful six-year-old boy. As the portal shrinks, it is more difficult for Quinn to travel between worlds and she must decide where she is needed most. This is a beautifully crafted story about motherhood and the choices we make and the long-lasting consequences. HBO has recently optioned the book to become a series. (AO)

The Smart One (2008)

Bev is one of three sisters - she's the Smart One; Clare, a married mother of two, is the Pretty One; and youngest sister Joey, a former one-hit wonder pop star who became a drug addict, is the Wild One. Bev, after several career missteps and a divorce, has just finished her degree and applied to become a teacher in Las Vegas. But first she has to help her parents' next-door-neighbours, the Waxmans, sell their Long Island home since both couples are sunning it up in Florida. The Waxmans' son, comedy writer Kenny, is also back in town but Bev is still not ready to forgive him for something that happened years ago. Then they find a body stuffed in an industrial drum at the house and as the sisters endeavour to uncover the truth, even more skeletons fall out of everyone's closets. This is a smart one about sibling rivalry and living with labels - with a murder mystery on the side.

Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA (2006)

When a location scout announces that Applewood school may make the perfect setting for an upcoming George Clooney movie, the mothers of the PTA think their fantasies are about to become real. This is their chance to get up close and personal with the hunky actor - oh, and their school will finally get its much-needed stadium. But Maddie Schein, Ruth Moss and Lisa Slotnick need to band together to save the project because PTA president Suzanne Podobinski has decided that the movie threatens historic Applewood Rock. The trio also face dramas on the home front - Maddie thinks her husband is having an affair with his cousin; Ruth is looking for some loving after her husband's stroke left him impotent and Lisa has to deal with an alcoholic mother.

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