Contrary the current trend of a novel hopscotching back and forth from multiple perspectives and place in time, I like that this novel followed a straight timeline with non-confusing back stories. Claire, the central character, is a psyche nurse, mother of three kids and wife of a husband who, politely, can be called a philanderer. Claire’s mother-in-law plans an annual family vacation. This year it is in a villa in Italy. Claire and her husband Dan are trying to repair their tattered marriage after another of Dan’s dalliances. His mother, Ella, drenched in the desire to keep up appearances of a close knit family, is overly protective of her sons, Dan and Jaime. She is meddlesome, and reacts very badly when her younger playboy son, Jaime, arrives at the villa with his wife. What? A wife? They married without informing husband mother? She was furious at being excluded from the wedding, such as it was without fanfare and the 200 or so guests who would have been invited if she had any say about it. Ella puts her best effort forth by welcoming the newlyweds and ejecting her son Dan and her daughter-in-law of ten years, Claire, from their spacious bed chamber and large bed.
Lena, Jaime’s beautiful bride, is perfect in every way. She is absolutely venomous in her interactions with Claire. She slings barb after barb at Claire, hitting all of Claire’s insecurities; her weight, her job as a nurse, and threatening to reveal Claire’s earth shattering secret.
Just when all the clues lead to confirm your suspicions about who is actually pulling the strings in this story of twisted family loyalty, bam!, the twist you never saw coming.