In Jane Green's newest novel two women on opposite sides of the relationship spectrum decide to take on the other's life for a period of four weeks. Victoria Townsley is 35, single and the features director of Poise magazine in England. Vicky is successful, loves her job, and has a neighborhood guy named Daniel who she can call when she's feeling a little restless. The only thing missing from her life is a husband, children, a country home, and an Aga; sadly, the lack of these items are what she chooses to focus on when thinking about her life. On the other side of the pond, in Highield, Connecticut, lives Amber Winslow, a former lawyer and now married mother of two whose husband commutes back and forth to his job on Wall Street. Amber's life is filled with charity events, lavish spending, and hanging out with the Highfield League of Young Ladies (also known as Social Climbers in Suburbia). Despite appearing to have it all, Amber can't help but feel like something is missing from her life and thinks that participating in the swap just might remind her of what it is.

This book was funny, quick-witted, and shows that the grass is not always greener on the other side. Jane Green's characters are the type of women you'd want to meet for a drink and talk over your problems. Even when they're doing things that annoy you or making choices you don't agree with, Green has the ability to soften even your harshest criticisms with her characters' quick internal dialogue and witty self-deprecation. This book was a quick read and a lovely story, though I still prefer some of her earlier books like JEMIMA J and BABYVILLE. If this is your first Jane Green novel I would suggest either of those over this one, though Green didn't disappoint and this novel will be a fun and lighthearted choice for readers of women's fiction.

Book Summary

What if a successful, single Londoner and a comfortable, Connecticut mother of two were to walk in each other’s shoes for a month? Vicky Townsley is the director of Poise! magazine and lives a glamorous London life. She has everything she wants—except marriage, children, and a house in the country. Amber Winslow has a stone mansion in Connecticut, two kids, and a nanny, but she hasn’t found the fulfillment she had expected from being a wife and mother. When she spots an intriguing contest in Poise! Amber impulsively enters, never expecting to be picked.

A must-read for every modern woman who’s ever considered the road not taken, Swapping Lives is a warm and realistic chronicle of two women who do more than wonder if the grass is greener on the other side of the Atlantic.