A gas line explosion takes down an entire office building in
Chicago, killing over 500 people. One year later, the families of the victims
are still trying to pick up the pieces of their lives. There’s Cecily, who was
supposed to be there that day to meet her husband who worked there, but was
running late and missed the explosion. She became the poster-child of the
tragedy, thanks to a photographer, Teo, who happened to be there. While Cecily
is the picture perfect grieving widow, her marriage was actually on the rocks
and she feels like a fraud. Then there is Kate, who is connected to the
disaster somehow, but living a new life in Montreal and trying (unsuccessfully)
to forget her past. And then there’s Franny, a young woman who showed up at the
funeral of one of the victims and declared herself the daughter that was given
up for adoption, which no one knew about. She’s now moved into that woman’s
house and is helping to take care of her two young girls, and her husband.
Franny is a little “off,” but then, so are the rest of the characters in this
book, with secrets galore and suspect motivations. What those are and how these
women are all connected will keep you guessing until the very end, and even
when you think you’ve figured everyone out there will be one last surprise for
you. My favorite part were the interview transcripts between Franny and Teo,
who is shooting a documentary about the tragedy. You can just see Franny
squirming and working through her lies on the page. An excellent read!
