Those Other Women

Australian author Moriarty follows her debut, The Fifth Letter, with a darkly droll page-turner. Devastated Poppy Weston, who’s been blindsided by her husband’s announcement that he’s dumping her for her best friend and that he has changed his mind about not wanting kids, finds comfort where she can, first from office mate Annalise and then from the Facebook group they launch to connect childfree working women like themselves in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta. But each of these brings problems of its own. Beneath spunky Annalise’s exterior lie disturbing—maybe even dangerous—secrets. And the Facebook group, known as NOP (for Non-Mums Online in Parramatta), begins to fall apart after a mole leaks some of the more vitriolic anti-mum posts to their archenemies, MOP (Mums Online—Parramatta), leading to a few hairy real-life run-ins. Although Moriarty doesn’t quite manage to successfully infuse the weightier material that appears, including abuse and early-onset dementia, into a thriller that’s largely a chick-lit soufflé, she does serve up a tasty divertissement. Agent: Pippa Masson, Curtis Brown (Australia). (June)