* I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *
Title: Mrs.
Author: Caitlin Macy
Publisher: Lee Boudreaux Books (Little, Brown)
Publication Date: February 13, 2018
ISBN: 9780316434157
Synopsis from Goodreads:
In the well-heeled milieu of New York’s Upper East Side, coolly elegant Philippa Lye is the woman no one can stop talking about. Despite a shadowy past, Philippa has somehow married the scion of the last family-held investment bank in the city. And although her wealth and connections put her in the center of this world, she refuses to conform to its gossip-fueled culture. Then, into her precariously balanced life, come two women: Gwen Hogan, a childhood acquaintance who uncovers an explosive secret about Philippa’s single days, and Minnie Curtis, a newcomer whose vast fortune and frank revelations about a penurious upbringing in Spanish Harlem put everyone on alert. When Gwen’s husband, a heavy-drinking, obsessive prosecutor in the US Attorney’s Office, stumbles over the connection between Philippa’s past and the criminal investigation he is pursuing at all costs, this insulated society is forced to confront the rot at its core and the price it has paid to survive into the new millennium.
I wanted to really love this book, but it was a struggle. I did enjoy the read–it’s a fascinating drama unfolding in the Upper East Side of NYC. In this large city, a tiny community of parents comes together daily to drop their kids of and pick them up again at one of the city’s most prestigious day cares. Their world is smaller than even they think, some of these friendships dating back to their own college days or even childhoods. Past acquaintances surface and with them, deep secrets and dark scandals. This book has the makings of an edge-of-your-seat, intense kind of read. The characters all hold their own secrets and insecurities. In a group where they are judged harshly by the others, it’s difficult if you don’t quite fit in.
What really turned me off of this book is the bouncing of perspectives from one character to the next. There are too many voices talking in this book and there are too many things taking place that take away from the central plot. There are a lot of distractions. I couldn’t get into the book because it was constantly shifting and changing. It’s a neat idea in theory–you really get to see the gossiping nature of the group, the inner workings of each relationship, and the inner dialogue of the important players in the story. So, there are benefits to this style. And Macy is a great writer. Each section is written well and each character is compelling. However, there were just too many of them. It detracted from the story for me, rather than adding to it, although I can see what the author was going for.
I hope you have a better reading experience with this book than I did. I think many readers will really enjoy it, but it wasn’t for me. Happy reading!
Worn Pages and Ink 