Book Review: "A Good Marriage" by Kimberly McCreight
“A Good Marriage” by Kimberly McCreight
Publisher Synopsis: Lizzie Kitsakis is working late when she gets the call. Grueling hours are standard at elite law firms like Young & Crane, but they'd be easier to swallow if Lizzie was there voluntarily. Until recently, she'd been a happily underpaid federal prosecutor. That job and her brilliant, devoted husband Sam--she had everything she'd ever wanted. And then, suddenly, it all fell apart.
No. That's a lie. It wasn't sudden, was it? Long ago the cracks in Lizzie's marriage had started to show. She was just good at averting her eyes.
The last thing Lizzie needs right now is a call from an inmate at Rikers asking for help--even if Zach Grayson is an old friend. But Zach is desperate: his wife, Amanda, has been found dead at the bottom of the stairs in their Brooklyn brownstone. And Zach's the primary suspect.
As Lizzie is drawn into the dark heart of idyllic Park Slope, she learns that Zach and Amanda weren't what they seemed--and that their friends, a close-knit group of fellow parents at the exclusive Brooklyn Country Day school, might be protecting troubling secrets of their own. In the end, she's left wondering not only whether her own marriage can be saved, but what it means to have a good marriage in the first place.
Trigger Warnings: a very bloody crime scene
Rating (out of 5): 3.75
Review: I typically get at least two books from Book of the Month every month, and this was a recent pick—a nicely paced legal thriller that I enjoyed very much.
The novel is set primarily in an affluent community in Brooklyn. Our main character, Lizzie, is working at a white-shoe law firm when she gets a call from an inmate at Riker’s Island—Zach, an old friend from law school whom she hasn’t hear from in years. He’s about to be charged with killing Amanda, his wife and the mother of his child, and he wants Lizzie’s help. She reluctantly takes the case, and gets thrown into the complicated relationships of Park Slope parents.
The novel jumps back and forth between Lizzie’s investigation into Amanda’s death, and Amanda’s POV in the days leading up to her death. We learn how out of place Amanda felt in Park Slope, having just relocated from California, and how much she loves her son. We learn of Lizzie’s frustrations with her marriage, and how they are affecting her job. And we learn Lizzie has some secrets of her own.
There’s a lot going on here—a strange death, some class politics, Park Slope swingers, and even some cybersecurity. I’m also deep into my first watch of “The Good Wife,” so I particularly enjoyed reading a legal mystery. I also appreciated the device of switching between Lizzie and Amanda’s POVs, although it’s important to remember that we, the readers, are omniscient but Lizzie, our investigator and lawyer, isn’t.
No spoilers here of course, but I will say I guessed a few of the twists. The novel does a good job of keeping the reader guessing, though, and I thought the dynamics of different marriages and relationships were fairly realistic. It’s true what they say—you never know what goes on behind closed doors.
TL;DR: A nicely paced legal thriller that explores the dark side of marriage and relationships—and how the secrets we keep can bring us closer together, or tear us apart.
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