This book begins the same way it ends. In fact, it is such a clean loop that the moment I finished it I wanted to flip back and re-read it. The only difference is that as a result of the events throughout the novel, the tone that the book begins on is completely different than the end.
A crucial part of the book is its setting, a real suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, called Shaker Heights. Not much is changed between the book and real-life, and in fact, the book begins with an excerpt from a 1963 edition of Cosmopolitan and refers to Shaker Heights as “utopia.” It is a planned community, in which everything is perfectly placed and built with strict, infallible rules. The color of a house must be picked from a palette of specific colors based on the style of your house, the lawn must be kept to a height of exactly 2 inches, and any exterior alterations to a house must pass inspection by the city council. This planning reflects the organized mindset of the first family we meet: the Richardsons.
Led by matriarch Elena Richardson, the family has four children: Lexie, Trip, Moody, and Izzy. Between Lexie, Trip and Moody, the dynamic is quite straightforward. They are three different, but kindred souls. They argue in the kitchen and watch Jerry Springer together on the couch. Izzy complicates the family dynamic and creates tension in the perfect structure. Lexie and Trip see her the way their mother sees Izzy: dramatic, irresponsible and a trouble maker. Moody and their father try to see nuance in the situation and are more empathetic towards her.
Across town, Mrs. Richardson owns a duplex designed to look like a single-family home and rents it to Mia and Pearl Warren. They are a nomadic family, following the whims of Mia’s artistry all over the country. This time, though, Mia promises Pearl that they’ll stay put in Shaker Heights.
Although this book starts out with the end, the book feels like less of a mystery and more of an unraveling. To me, it felt like an unrelenting, forceful spiral towards the moment it all burned down. As the Richardsons and Warrens begin to mingle, and relationships grow more and more complicated, Shaker Heights begins to crumble, little by little. Mia, as an artist who doesn’t believe in regulation the way Elena Richardson does, questions the value of order itself. Although Shaker Heights prides itself on the success of its citizens, there are very few artists such as Mia. Elena, particularly, becomes fixated on Mia, and what she perceives to be her secrets.
Meanwhile, Pearl, Lexie, Trip and Moody become irrevocably tangled together. Moody and Pearl become friends first, and then Pearl becomes infatuated with the perfect, stable Richardsons. As Izzy drifts further and further from her family, Pearl takes her place.
It is a very character-driven plotline. Each choice and feeling that pushes characters apart, together, or out of town into far-flung places like Pittsburgh, allows the story to unfold. Questions of race, art, motherhood, and privilege all come into scrutiny. Some stories run in parallel, but opposite, directions. But overall, the story is a descent into despair, ruined relationships, and general angst, all the way until the end.
This brings us full circle back to the beginning—the day everything was lost, forever. Unlike the beginning, when the book ends, it is on a hopeful note. Only after having cut all ropes that bind you can you be free.
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