The Perfect Neighbors
Sarah Pekkanen, 2016
Washington Square Press
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781501106491
Summary
How well do you ever really know the family next door?
Bucolic Newport Cove, where spontaneous block parties occur on balmy nights and all of the streets are named for flowers, is proud of its distinction of being named one the top twenty safest neighborhoods in the US.
It’s also one of the most secret-filled.
Kellie Scott has just returned to work after a decade of being a stay-at-home mom. She’s adjusting to high heels, scrambling to cook dinner for her family after a day at the office—and soaking in the dangerous attention of a very handsome, very married male colleague.
Kellie’s neighbor Susan Barrett begins every day with fresh resolutions: she won’t eat any carbs, she’ll go to bed at a reasonable hour, and she’ll stop stalking her ex-husband and his new girlfriend.
Gigi Kennedy seems to have it all together—except her teenage daughter has turned into a hostile stranger and her husband is running for Congress, which means her old skeletons are in danger of being brought into the light.
Then a new family moves to this quiet, tree-lined cul-de-sac. Tessa Campbell seems friendly enough to the other mothers, if a bit reserved. Then the neighbors notice that no one is ever invited to Tessa’s house.
And soon, it becomes clear that Tessa is hiding the biggest secret of all. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1967
• Where—New York, New York, USA
• Raised—Bethesda, Maryland
• Education—University of Wisconsin; University of Maryland
• Currently—lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland
Sarah Pekkanen was born in New York City, arriving so quickly that doctors had no time to give her mother painkillers. This was the last time Sarah ever arrived for anything earlier than expected. Her mother still harbors a slight grudge.
Sarah’s family moved to Bethesda, Maryland, where Sarah, along with a co-author, wrote a book entitled “Miscellaneous Tales and Poems.” Shockingly, publishers did not leap upon this literary masterpiece. Sarah sent a sternly-worded letter to publishers asking them to respond to her manuscript. Sarah no longer favors Raggedy Ann stationery, although she is sure it impressed top New York publishers.
Sarah’s parents were hauled into her elementary school to see first-hand the shocking condition of her desk. Sarah’s parents stared, open-mouthed, at the crumpled pieces of paper, broken pencils, and old notebooks crowding Sarah’s desk. Sarah’s organization skills have since improved. Slightly.
After college, Sarah began work as a journalist, covering Capitol Hill. Unfortunately, Sarah could not understand the thick drawls of the U.S. Senators from Alabama, resulting in many unintentional misquotes. Sarah was groped by one octogenarian politician, sumo-bumped off a subway car by Ted Kennedy, and unsuccessfully sued by the chief of staff to a corrupt U.S. Congresswoman. Sarah also worked briefly as an on-air correspondent for e! Entertainment Network, until the e! producers realized that Capitol Hill wasn’t, by any stretch of the imagination, what one might call sexy.
Sarah married Glenn Reynolds, completing her rebellion against her father, who told her never to become a writer or marry a lawyer.
Sarah took a job at Gannett New Service/USAToday, covering Capitol Hill. Sarah was assigned to cover the White House Correspondents Dinner and rode in the Presidential motorcade to the dinner. Sarah convinced a White House aide to let her stick her head out of the limousine moon-roof during the ride and wave to onlookers. Later, her triumph was tempered by the fact that bouncers would not allow her into the Vanity Fair after-party. Sarah attempted entry three times in case the bouncers were just kidding.
Sarah took a job writing features for the Baltimore Sun, and interviewed the actor who played Greg Brady. She refrained from asking if he really made out with Marcia, but just barely.
Sarah and Glenn’s son Jackson was born. He arrived too quickly for Sarah to receive painkillers, and Sarah was pretty sure she saw her mother smirking. When Glenn put a loving hand on Sarah’s shoulder during the throes of labor, Sarah decided the most expedient way to get Glenn to remove his hand was to bite it, hard. She was proved right.
Twenty months later, Sarah and Glenn’s son Will was born. Three weeks later, Sarah and Glenn moved into a new home and renovated the kitchen. Two weeks later, Glenn caught pneumonia and simultaneously started a new job. Ten days after the kitchen renovation was complete, the kitchen caught on fire, and Sarah, Glenn and family moved to a hotel while renovation began anew. Sarah and Glenn decided to work on their "timing" issues.
Having left her journalism job to chase around the ever-active Jack and Will, Sarah started writing a column for Bethesda Magazine and began work on a novel. She did not write it on Raggedy Ann stationery.
Her first book, The Opposite of Me, came out in 2010 and her second, Skiping, a Beat in 2011. Those were followed by These Girls in 2012, The Best of Me in 2013, and Catching Air in 2014.
Sarah gave birth to a bouncing baby boy, Dylan, and gets a little weepy every time she contemplates her good luck. (Adapted from the author's website.)
Book Reviews
Pekkanen uncovers the hopes, heartbreaks, and indiscretions that lurk behind a community’s carefully maintained façade in this engrossing novel reminiscent of Liane Moriarty’s suburban-set mysteries. Women’s fiction star Pekkanen’s latest novel will be energetically promoted as the perfect summer read.
Booklist
Pekkanen deftly intertwines four stories into a tapestry depicting the frayed seams underlying small-town American domesticity. A mistress of women's fiction, Pekkanen transforms clichéd suburban troubles—from adolescent drama to infidelity—into a compelling, suspenseful tale.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Throughout the novel, Newport Cove’s residents hold their status as one of the twenty safest neighborhoods in the United States as a point of pride. Yet each of the four female narrators feels unsafe in some way, due to the secrets she is holding. Do you think people need to feel emotionally safe in order to feel physically safe, and vice versa?
2. In a series of flashbacks, we observe that Tessa “tried to do everything right” after her baby Bree was born, but quickly “felt as if she was failing her daughter” (p. 22). How does her anxiety about the “right” way to be a mother impact her children and/or her marriage? How have you observed this pressure in your own life, or in the lives of your friends or family? If you have children, how have your beliefs about how to best raise them been affected by the opinions of “experts”?
3. When it comes to her children’s safety, Tessa grows to believe she is paranoid or too sensitive, to the point where she becomes wary of raising an alarm when she thinks something is seriously wrong. Do you think it is generally better to be overly suspicious or overly cautious? What are the drawbacks of each, as portrayed in the novel?
4. Kellie initially thinks that because she and Miller have never kissed, she is not cheating on her husband. Is “emotional cheating” really cheating? Why or why not? How would you respond if a significant other acted as Kellie did? Have you ever been tempted to slip into emotional infidelity, and if so, how did you deal with the situation?
5. “Facebook stalking wasn’t something she was proud of” (p. 280). Was Susan’s Facebook stalking relatable or an invasion of privacy? Is Facebook stalking a normal part of having a crush/getting over a breakup, or is it self-destructive?
6. For much of the novel, Susan feels incapable of letting go of the past, at one point despairing that “sometimes, though, people didn’t adjust” (p. 233) to an ex moving on. In what ways does Susan’s struggle with her divorce mirror the issues her friends are dealing with? What keeps people from moving forward? Looking at these protagonists, where do you see them ultimately exhibiting personal growth?
7. Susan begins dating only after realizing that her son recognizes that she misses his father. To what extent should the desires of someone’s children impact their dating choices—and should a parent end a relationship if her children don’t like it? Furthermore, do you think falling for someone new is a prerequisite to getting over a past love?
8. What did you initially suspect had happened to Tessa and Harry before they moved to Newport Cove? What did you think of the ultimate revelation, and how did it affect your feelings toward these characters? Why do you think the author ended that story line the way she did?
9. “She’d been waiting for it to come, but she still felt zero guilt” (p. 332). Reread this scene as a group and discuss your reactions to this line. Do you think you would have felt the same in Tessa’s shoes?
10. Besides injecting doses of humor into the narrative, what role does the Newport Cove listserv fill? What sense of the community, or of the individual characters, does it provide? Were there any messages in the listserv digests that echoed larger themes from the novel? Discuss a few of your favorite emails.
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
In Twenty Years
Allison Winn Scotch, 2016
Amazon Publishing
322 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781503935242
Summary
Twenty years ago, six Penn students shared a house, naively certain that their friendships would endure—until the death of their ringleader and dear friend Bea splintered the group for good.
Now, mostly estranged from one another, the remaining five reluctantly gather at that same house on the eve of what would have been Bea’s fortieth birthday.
But along with the return of the friends come old grudges, unrequited feelings, and buried secrets.
Catherine, the CEO of a domestic empire, and Owen, a stay-at-home dad, were picture-perfect college sweethearts—but now teeter on the brink of disaster. Lindy, a well-known musician, is pushing middle age in an industry that’s all about youth and slowly self-destructing as she grapples with her own identity.
Behind his smile, handsome plastic surgeon Colin harbors the heartbreaking truth about his own history with Bea. And Annie carefully curates her life on Instagram and Facebook, keeping up appearances so she doesn’t have to face the truth about her own empty reality.
Reunited in the place where so many dreams began, and bolstered by the hope of healing, each of them is forced to confront the past. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—June 12, 1973
• Where—Charlottesville, Virginia; Seattle, Washington, USA
• Education—B.A. University of Pennsylvania
• Currently—lives in Los Angeles, California
Allison Winn Scotch is an American author with six books to her name. She grew up with a school-teacher mother who loved to read and passed her passion for books onto her children.
After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Allison worked as a freelance writer for popular magazines (a lot of "10 best ways to..." columns), but all the while she was honing her skills as a novelist. First one novel (awful), then another (not as bad), until finally in 2007 she published The Department of Lost and Found.
Since then, she has followed with, Time of My Life (2008), The One That I Want (2010), The Song Remains the Same (2012). The Theory of Opposites (2013), In Twenty Years (2016), Between You and Me (2018), and Cleo McDougal Has No Regrets (2020).
Allison lives in Los Angeles with her family and dogs. When not novel writing, she writes celebrity interviews and profiles, which she says indulges her obsession with pop culture. (Adapted from the author's website.)
Book Reviews
A story about youthful dreams and middle-age reality, this is a page turning book to talk about.
Parkersburg News & Sentinel
Allison Winn Scotch is the ultimate beach read. If you plan to sink your toes into the sand and need a fab book to kick back with...this is the one.
Parade
Both heartbreaking and funny, this novel explores how we cope with the disappointments of adulthood and come to terms with our past.
Real Simple
Winn Scotch’s highly anticipated, thought-provoking, and emotional sixth novel tells the story of complex yet relatable characters questioning the paths they have chosen in life (and who can’t thoroughly relate to that?).
New You Magazine
(Starred review.) Scotch hits a grand slam with this novel.... With wonderfully fleshed-out, relatable characters, this is an absolute must-read that lovers of women's contemporary fiction will devour in one sitting.
Library Journal
Told from five vastly different perspectives of characters who are deeply developed and relatable in their flawed ways, this novel captures the nostalgia many feel for the friendships and simple nature of youth...Heartfelt...Well written and memorable.
Romance Times Reviews
Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
(We'll add specific questions if and when they're made available by the publisher.)
The Light of Paris
Eleanor Brown, 2016
Penguin Publishing
320 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780399158919
Summary
Madeleine is trapped—by her family's expectations, by her controlling husband, and by her own fears—in an unhappy marriage and a life she never wanted. From the outside, it looks like she has everything, but on the inside, she fears she has nothing that matters.
In Madeleine’s memories, her grandmother Margie is the kind of woman she should have been—elegant, reserved, perfect. But when Madeleine finds a diary detailing Margie’s bold, romantic trip to Jazz Age Paris, she meets the grandmother she never knew: a dreamer who defied her strict, staid family and spent an exhilarating summer writing in cafés, living on her own, and falling for a charismatic artist.
Despite her unhappiness, when Madeleine’s marriage is threatened, she panics, escaping to her hometown and staying with her critical, disapproving mother. In that unlikely place, shaken by the revelation of a long-hidden family secret and inspired by her grandmother’s bravery, Madeleine creates her own Parisian summer—reconnecting to her love of painting, cultivating a vibrant circle of creative friends, and finding a kindred spirit in a down-to-earth chef who reminds her to feed both her body and her heart.
Margie and Madeleine’s stories intertwine to explore the joys and risks of living life on our own terms, of defying the rules that hold us back from our dreams, and of becoming the people we are meant to be. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Born—ca. 1973
• Where—outside Washington, D.C., USA
• Education—M.A., in literature
• Currently—lives outside Denver, Colorado
Eleanor Brown is the author of two novels: The Light of Paris (2016) and The Weird Sisters (2011), which became a New York Times bestseller, receiving both popular and critical praise. Her writing has also appeared in anthologies, magazines, and journals.
She was born in the Washington D.C. area, one of three sisters. She taught middle school for seven years, earned an M.A. in literature, and now teaches writing workshops in the Denver, Colorado, area. She lives with thriller writer J.C. Hutchins.
Book Reviews
Fresh, endearing…finely written and absorbing, and explores the always compelling questions of how to balance reality and romance, duty and dreams, family and freedom.
Minneapolis Star Tribune
A story about love, marriage, divorce, self-discovery and how things often turn out far from what you had planned.
Fort Worth Telegram
Stylistically less daring than Brown's previous title (The Weird Sisters), this book still manages to plumb the difference between the things in life that give us joy and the things that we do to stifle that joy. Verdict: For all fans of intelligent women's literature. —Jennifer Mills, Shorewood-Troy Lib., I
Library Journal
Brown’s novel tackles an age-old question about what life would be like if we took more chances….Makes readers sit up and take notice.
Romance Times
Brown conveys the miseries and satisfactions of women's journeys toward happiness.... While some characters—or their motivations—might have benefited from more fleshing out..., the whimsy and romance of post-World War I Paris and Madeleine's growing [confidence]...provide forward momentum.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. The city of Paris becomes a character in its own right throughout the novel. What is the significance of Paris to the story itself? What does it mean to Margie when she lives there and to Madeleine as she reads about it?
2. What are the family patterns that are carried through the three generations of women—Margie, Simone, and Madeleine? How are they similar and how are they different?
3. Madeleine has a difficult relationship with her mother, Simone. Did you feel sympathy for Simone at any point? Have you experienced a mother-daughter dynamic like this in your own life?
4. How are Margie and Madeleine’s relationships with their mothers similar? How are they different? Do you think the habit of parents placing expectations on their children is a breakable pattern?
5. Madeleine and Margie want independent lives, but both have been very sheltered. In what ways are they prepared or unprepared for the realities that face them?
6. The story takes place during two different time periods: 1924 and 1999. What do those years have in common, and how do they affect the story?
7. Madeleine escapes to her home town of Magnolia in the same way that Margie escapes to Paris. Do these two cities have anything in common? How are they different? Do they impact Madeleine and Margie in similar or different ways?
8. Margie wants to write, Madeleine to paint. How does their art affect both their lives and what happens in the story?
9. Did Margie make the right choice? What were the consequences of her decision?
10. At the end of the novel, Madeleine gets a studio to paint in—a room of her own. What is the significance of this space for Madeleine? How does it affect her character?
11. How have circumstances for women changed between the different time periods of Margie and Madeleine’s stories? In what way are they the same?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
A Certain Age
Beatriz Williams, 2016
HarperCollins
336 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780062404954
Summary
The bestselling author of A Hundred Summers brings the Roaring Twenties brilliantly to life in this enchanting and compulsively readable tale of intrigue, romance, and scandal in New York Society, brimming with lush atmosphere, striking characters, and irresistible charm.
As the freedom of the Jazz Age transforms New York City, the iridescent Mrs. Theresa Marshall of Fifth Avenue and Southampton, Long Island, has done the unthinkable: she’s fallen in love with her young paramour, Captain Octavian Rofrano, a handsome aviator and hero of the Great War.
An intense and deeply honorable man, Octavian is devoted to the beautiful socialite of a certain age and wants to marry her. While times are changing and she does adore the Boy, divorce for a woman of Theresa’s wealth and social standing is out of the question, and there is no need; she has an understanding with Sylvo, her generous and well-respected philanderer husband.
But their relationship subtly shifts when her bachelor brother, Ox, decides to tie the knot with the sweet younger daughter of a newly wealthy inventor. Engaging a longstanding family tradition, Theresa enlists the Boy to act as her brother’s cavalier, presenting the family’s diamond rose ring to Ox’s intended, Miss Sophie Fortescue—and to check into the background of the little-known Fortescue family.
When Octavian meets Sophie, he falls under the spell of the pretty ingenue, even as he uncovers a shocking family secret. As the love triangle of Theresa, Octavian, and Sophie progresses, it transforms into a saga of divided loyalties, dangerous revelations, and surprising twists that will lead to a shocking transgression . . . and eventually force Theresa to make a bittersweet choice.
Full of the glamour, wit and delicious twists that are the hallmarks of Beatriz Williams’ fiction and alternating between Sophie’s spirited voice and Theresa’s vibrant timbre, A Certain Age is a beguiling reinterpretation of Richard Strauss’s comic opera Der Rosenkavalier, set against the sweeping decadence of Gatsby’s New York. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1971-72
• Where—Seattle, Washington, USA
• Education—B.A., Stanford University; M.B.A., Columbia University
• Currently—lives in Greenwich, Connecticut
A graduate of Stanford University with an MBA from Columbia, Beatriz spent several years in New York and London hiding her early attempts at fiction, first on company laptops as a corporate and communications strategy consultant, and then as an at-home producer of small persons.
She now lives with her husband and four children near the Connecticut shore, where she divides her time between writing and laundry. (From the author's website.)
Book Reviews
[A]ll the makings of a juicy soap opera ripe with scandalous affairs, family loyalties and the secrets of the rich and fabulous. Set in the Roaring Twenties in the high-society circles of New York City, Williams’ story is a rousing, enjoyable read.
Diana Andro - Fort Worth Star-Telegram
[A]ll it took was a few pages and I was hooked. A Certain Age is about the twenties, an era that has never really attracted my interest. In Williams’ hands however this time becomes as fresh and entertaining as possible. Because of her skills, readers are welcomed into the world of clubs and clandestine relationships.... Williams knows exactly how to capture the excitement of these people and this time.
Jackie K. Cooper - Huffington Post
A tale of Manhattan society in the Jazz Age, spiced liberally with secrets and scandal.... Chapters oscillate in time, ending on cliffhangers that can be jarring, but this novel is mainly propelled by its period-perfect prose style. A certain age, acutely observed.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
We'll add the publisher's questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use these LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for A Certain Age...then take off on your own:
1. What do you think of Theresa Marshall? Is it possible to feel sympathy for her? In what way might you say she is product of her times, reflecting the era in which she lives?
2. Consider Sophie Fortescue. Yes, she is innocent, but how else would you describe her? How does Sophie represent the rise of a new kind of woman in the early 20th century?
3. How did World War I impact Octavian--although he survived virtually unscathed on the outside, what internal scars does he carry?
4. What do Theresa and Octavian see in one another? She is twice his age, calls him Boyo, never by his name, and manipulates and controls him. What do both gain (aside from the obvious) from the relationship?
5. Describe the era itself in which Beatriz Williams sets her story. Williams herself has said A Certain Age reflects the conflict between "old money and new, young and old, past and present"? How so? Consider, too, the changes wrought by new technologies. Do you see any parallels between then and now?
6. Talk about the attraction between Sophie and Octavian and, especially, the connection they share from the past.
7. Why does Williams lead with the scandal and the "trial of the century"? In other words, why do readers get the "reveal" so early in the story? How does the knowledge affect your reading of the book?
(We'll add specific questions if and when they're made available by the publisher.)
Rich and Pretty
Rumaan Aman, 2016
HarperCollins
304 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780062429933
Summary
As close as sisters for twenty years, Sarah and Lauren have been together through high school and college, first jobs and first loves, the uncertainties of their twenties and the realities of their thirties.
Sarah, the only child of a prominent intellectual and a socialite, works at a charity and is methodically planning her wedding. Lauren—beautiful, independent, and unpredictable—is single and working in publishing, deflecting her parents’ worries and questions about her life and future by trying not to think about it herself.
Each woman envies—and is horrified by—particular aspects of the other’s life, topics of conversation they avoid with masterful linguistic pirouettes.
Once, Sarah and Lauren were inseparable; for a long a time now, they’ve been apart. Can two women who rarely see one other, selectively share secrets, and lead different lives still call themselves best friends? Is it their abiding connection—or just force of habit—that keeps them together?
With impeccable style, biting humor, and a keen sense of detail, Rumaan Alam deftly explores how the attachments we form in childhood shift as we adapt to our adult lives—and how the bonds of friendship endure, even when our paths diverge. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
Rmaan Alam’s writing has been published in New York Magazine, Los Angeles Review of Books, Wall Street Journal, Rumpus, Washington Square Review, Gettysburg Review, American Short Fiction, and elsewhere.
He started his career in fashion publishing at Lucky magazine, has written extensively on interior design for Domino, Lonny, Elle Decor, architecturaldigest.com, and elsewhere, and has worked in advertising as a copywriter and creative director. He studied at Oberlin College, and lives in New York. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
Rumaan Alam creates characters who are grappling with their adult identities while securing their childhood bond.
Wall Street Journal
[A] smart, enticing novel.
Miami Herald
Rumaan Alam transforms a whimsical beach read into compelling literary prose…Rich and Pretty is a realistic look at female friendship.
Associated Press
Written with humor and an impeccable ear for girlfriendly conversation--by a man, no less!--Rich and Pretty is a sparkling debut.
People
Rumaan Alam beautifully frames the nuances of female friendship: that complex alchemy of expectations and envy, and how they chafe with a lingering deep affection for each other.
Elle
[A] sweet yet cutting exploration of the bonds of friendship.... With astute descriptions of how values, tastes, desires, and ambitions change over two decades, Alam’s tale of a divergent friendship smartly reflects the trial and error nature of finding a mate and deciding how to grow up.
Publishers Weekly
Sarah and Lauren, best friends since age 11...[find] their lives are diverging.... Perfectly capturing a changing yet resilient friendship, this debut novel full of warmth and humor will appeal to anyone who has experienced a similar bond. —Catherine Coyne, Mansfield P.L., MA
Library Journal
Although Alam seems to have no deep new insight to share and his story is thin on plot, his characters are real and rounded enough to escape being entirely cliche.... [He] captures something truthful and essential about the push-pull of friendship.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
We'll add the publisher's questions if and when they're available; in the meantime use these LitLovers talking points to start a discussion for Rich and Pretty...then take off on your own:
1. Describe the two young woman: what are their personalities, desires, and motivation in life? How do their backgrounds shape their decisions? Do you admire one character more than the other?
2. Talk about the pressures the friendship faces as the two mature. What do you see as the fault lines in their relationship?
3. (Follow-up to Question #2) Sarah thinks to herself:
Things change, in life—of course they do. People grow up, become interested in new things, new people. Our way of being in the world is probably a lot less fixed than most people think. But Lauren is a part of her world, and she's a part of Lauren's.
On the other hand, Lauren wonders if her friendship with Sarah has survived because of habit. What is your assessment?
4. Do you see yourself in either of the characters? Have you ever had a similar relationship in your own life—a long friendship that has felt the strains of different backgrounds or different life choices?
6. What role does socio-economic status play in this book?
7. Talk about the title of the book, "Rich and Pretty." What is its thematic significance? (Notice, too, the blurred cover image.) Lauren's prettiness is never described while Sarah's unattractive features are spelled out. Why do you think that is?
8. As the story ends, what do you think the future holds for the two women? Will their friendship survive?
9. The author is male. How well do you think he captures the female voice? In an interview, Nina Wertheimer of NPR said, "you have a nearly flawless ear for the way women talk. And you are a guy." Do you agree...or not.
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)