May 7, 2021
DEBUT NOVEL McDowell's fiction debut (following a memoir, After Perfect) is a brutal, satirical look at life in Washington, DC, and the author knows whereof she speaks; she grew up there. The catalyst for the story is the torture and brutal murder of a wealthy, power-wielding white family, including their teenage daughter. One of her classmates is determined to get to some sort of understanding of what happened and why, and she goes to the jail to visit the young Black man who has been arrested for the crime. It turns out his father was an employee of the family who were killed, and motive is quickly established. The wives of the most powerful families in the nation's capital are all perturbed, but so are their teenage children, the private school classmates of the murdered girl. These are among the most privileged families in the country, and the satire here is deeply wounding; racism, misogyny, and class hierarchy are all fair game, and the irony is inescapable and delicious. VERDICT A fascinating, gossipy glimpse into the lives of the one percent (with footnotes) that should appeal to readers who enjoyed The Assistants, by Camille Perri, or Capital Girls, by Ella Monroe.--Stacy Alesi, Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Lib., Lynn Univ., Boca Raton, FL
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Starred review from April 1, 2021
A wealthy, influential couple and their teenage daughter are ambushed, tortured, and murdered in their Georgetown mansion before the stately home is set on fire. The brutal crime upends the tight-knit Washington, DC, enclave in which politicians rub elbows with media moguls and cabinet secretaries hobnob with corporate titans. While the deaths of Genevieve and David Banks titillate their social circle, the murder of young Audrey captivates her own peer group, a snooty, privileged little cabal of students at a tony private academy. When a Black man is charged with the murders, only classmate Bunny Bartholomew is willing to risk her reputation and security in a sincere but misguided attempt to see that justice is done. McDowell, who was born in DC to a prominent securities attorney who was later imprisoned for financial crimes, uses her first-hand knowledge of this competitive milieu to capture its obsession with status with a deftly ironic flair while subtly probing sobering themes of white supremacy, political corruption, elitist privilege, old money, and new influence. Through blunt caricatures and sharp characterizations, McDowell archly demonstrates her disdain for the superficiality of such an existence and combines social satire with moral outrage to offer a masterfully crafted, absorbing read that can simply entertain on one level and provoke reasoned discourse on another.
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