July 13, 2020
Kim’s warped debut begins on the final night of the Lindstrom family’s annual reunion at the weekend getaway house they call Le Refuge. The next day, Hannah Min drives to Alderson Prison in West Virginia with her younger brother, Sam, and his beautiful blonde wife, Beth, part of the wealthy Lindstrom family, who is about to begin her sentence after being convicted of fraud in her high-ranking position at a pharmaceutical firm. At the prison, the guards assume Hannah, who is Korean American, is the one self-surrendering, and pointing to Beth, who is white, Hannah feels “like a narc.” The narrative is loaded with finger-pointing and suspicions of back-stabbing. Beth’s former nanny, Lise, 16, blew the whistle on Beth’s company’s fraudulent marketing, which led to a child’s death. During a prison visit, Beth asks Hannah, a law librarian, to help find out who helped Lise, and why. Hannah digs into the case and begins uncovering family secrets, such as Sam’s sizable debt to Beth’s brother. In chapters alternating between Hannah’s and Beth’s perspectives, the reader glimpses Beth’s easy time in the white-collar prison and Hannah’s wry commentary on the Lindstroms, as well as kept guessing over which characters are trustworthy. This addictive, over-the-top dramedy would make for a great TV series. Agent: Kirby Kim, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc.
Starred review from July 1, 2020
Hannah Min has always felt like an outsider in the Lindstrom family. Her brother, Sam, is married to the glamorous, rich Beth Lindstrom, with two small children. Beth's star rose in the pharmaceutical world, and Beth's own two brothers are also powerful men. Law librarian Hannah, nearing fifty, feels small and excluded in comparison. But when Beth is implicated on criminal charges?she helped to market an ADHD drug to teenagers who subsequently died?Hannah must step in to be there for her brother and nieces. Beth, in prison, also wants Hannah to investigate further into the case, as an unknown whistleblower brought her to where she is. As Hannah digs deeper, the novel's perspective moves between hers and Beth's, giving the reader an insider view reminiscent of Orange is the New Black (2010). Surprising secrets abound in this fresh and inventive novel. Kim, a Harvard-educated attorney, brings a strong legal background to the intrigue, as well as a tender touch to character development and the interplay of the Min and Lindstrom family members. A standout debut.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)