"Everyone in Shaker Heights was talking about it that summer: how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down.
In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is meticulously planned - from the layout of the winding roads, to the colours of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.
Enter Mia Warren - an enigmatic artist and single mother - who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenage daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than just tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past, and a disregard for the rules that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.
When old family friends attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town - and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at an unexpected and devastating cost..."
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, though it wasn't quite what I'd been expecting after the clips from the series that I'd seen on Gogglebox. It has made me want to subscribe to Amazon Prime just so that I can watch the series though, I think I'll be doing that very soon.
Sounds intriguing, sometimes the series is very different to the book, if you do subscribe you will have to let us know if it's worth watching.
ReplyDeleteI'm not really interested in subscribing to Amazon Prime although I know my daughter does. It's not something you can share with friends or relatives although she does let us share her Netflix account which is very good of her :)
ReplyDeleteI got Prime free for a month and I watched the series. I loved it but was a little disappointed with the end, only because I was hoping there would be another series.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this book, it's on my watch list on Prime video. Her first book, Everything I never told you, is also worth a read.
ReplyDeletex
I find show (and movie) clips are often deceiving - one way or another. Either they don't do it justice or reflect the best bits of the program and the rest is not as good.
ReplyDeleteWell it has many parts you've described, that would interest me. Adoption, single moms , and family tension. But, I ve got my baseball going on here!
ReplyDeleteI loved this book. I've heard a few reviews of the series but it didn't sound like it would match what was in my head!
ReplyDeleteIt took me two attempts to read this book, although I did enjoy it once i got into it. I've watched the series and thought it was brilliant, for once I think the TV series out-did the book.
ReplyDeleteSounds like an intriguing read! Thank you for sharing xx
ReplyDeleteI'd not heard of this at all, so many thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
You should be able to get Prime free for a month, although I must admit to subscribing to both Prime and Netflix.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds interesting.xxx
ReplyDelete