Elllie de Florent-Stinson is a fashion designer who seems to have it all: handsome husband, beautiful homes, and talented children, but appearances can be deceiving. She’s celebrating her fortieth birthday at her new home in Palm Springs. Ellie likes things to be perfect, but almost immediately things start to go wrong including a note from a friend from long ago saying they’re coming to the party.
When she was sixteen, Ellie lived in a trailer part. On her sixteenth birthday, Ellie and her best friend go out to celebrate. They do drugs, get drunk, and end up at the wrong party. It doesn’t end well and has haunted Ellie.
This story is told in two time lines, Ellie at forty and Ellie at sixteen. It’s primarily in her point of view with a few sections by her husband. I found the book rather slow going. The set up is interesting suggesting that secrets are about to come out, but nothing exciting happens. There is a twist at the end, but for me it didn’t save the book.
I didn’t care for Ellie either as a teen or as a forty-year-old. I thought she was too involved with herself, egotistical and selfish. The other characters didn’t come alive at all. The best part of the book was the vivid description of the way the super rich live. The author did a good job with that.
I received this book from Dutton for this review.
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