Sunday, 25 July 2021

The Pessimists by Bethany Ball

 

The Pessimists

by Bethany Ball

Bethany Ball’s The Pessimists gives us a cutting, satirical look at American suburbia through the interlacing stories of three Connecticut couples.  We first meet the protagonists during a New Year’s Eve party thrown by Virginia and her husband Tripp, who is obsessed with surviving the end times and keeps an arsenal of guns hidden in the basement.  Virginia’s old friend Margot, an obsessive-compulsive “perfect” mother/housewife is there with her husband Richard, who has a not-so-secret crush on Virginia.  Joining the circle of friends are Swedish architect Gunter and his much younger wife Rachel, who have recently moved from New York to provide their children with a quieter life.  In the background there is the constant presence of the Petra School, a much-coveted local private educations institution which is looked up to as the epitome of progressive learning, but which might hide a darker history and methodology than is immediately apparent.

While in the first part of the book the characters are primarily presented as “couples”, the second partfocusses on the individuals. Like a magician shuffling a deck of cards and surprising the audience with sleight of hand, Ball has several twists up her sleeve.  The result is an acerbic novel which is also unexpectedly gripping.  I found it less of a laugh-out-load comedy than some other reviewers, but it is certainly a witty and thought-provoking satire.  

Kindle Edition304 pages, 

Grove Atlantic

Expected publication: October 12th 2021

No comments:

Post a Comment

Latest post

Held by Anne Michaels