On the ritzy North Shore of Long Island served by the Port Washington train to the city, the Fletchers have lived in their water-facing compound for decades. They are the richest of the rich Jewish residents in their area and are admired and hated because of this. One day, second generation Carl pulls his car out, as usual, to drive to the factory that his father founded. A hood is thrown over his head, his legs are bound and he is kidnapped for a week until his wife pays a ransom. This incident affects him, his marriage and the lives of their three children in different, unpredictable ways, as do their relationships with wealth and the potential lack of it.
The novel is like a trainwreck, you know that you should move on but you just can't look away. Scatological, uncompromising, and in your face characters move through their lives in reaction to their fate as well as they can, with the deck stacked against them. But underlying the book is the question of whether money stifles aspiration or is a glorious enabler.
Reviewed by Donna Ballard
Publication date - July 9, 2024
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