What a fun summer beach read! So many of us have been or still are members of a book club. We meet monthly to discuss the book of choice. It is not only about the books, it is about socializing and feeling that camaraderie of being apart of the group. Social standing means so much to people. It is about self esteem and wanting to be popular. We all have the face we show the world, like a outfit we have picked out to present the image we want people to see, and the body underneath, that we are protecting from being bruised, that we feel vulnerable about.
Kathy Cooperman has written a light fun novel about the women who live in the wealthy community of La Jolla, California. She has illustrated a look inside the neighborhoods and lifestyles of the families who live in here, similarly to the way Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus wrote about the life of the rich and famous of New York City, in the their book, The Nanny Diaries.
Annie Baker, her husband and three children have just relocated to Carmel Valley, not quite the picturesque, millionaire community of La Jolla. She is invited to the neighborhood book club meeting hoping to find some new friends. There she is reminded of her college days, not fitting in socially with the beautiful girls, being much more of a nerd. Thinking about her best friend Sarah Sloane, who was the college sweetheart, tall, beautiful red hair and winning personality, she hatches a plan. Annie and Sarah are both suffering from personal problems. Annie has three children, but her youngest son has just been diagnosed with autism. Sarah is desperate to have a child and is going for infertility treatments. These are both costly procedures. Looking for some quick money they put together Annie's science expertise and Sarah's good looks and charisma and decide to take advantage of the insecurities of the wealthy vain ladies of the book club.
Though this is written as a funny story about families, their money and social standing the community, it can be read on a deeper level with an important moral to the story about human nature. How gullible we are when it comes to a scheme to make us feels more popular, beautiful, younger and more successful. How much we see ourselves through the reflection of others. Each of the women in the book club seem to Annie so shallow and self absorbed. Sarah begins to get to know them on a more personal level as she sells them their special anti-aging product. She sees that each of these women has a personal story that goes deeper than the face they show to the world.
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