The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller is a family drama which mainly focuses on Elle a 50 something mother of three and academic, married to a handsome Englishman, Peter, a financial journalist. There's too much ground to cover here, but the novel traverses two timelines simultaneously: Elle's life from birth and a 24 hour period where the family and friends gather at the family holiday shacks on Cape Cod - named the paper palace after the cheap wall material from which they are constructed.
Elle and her sister Anna's upbringing and early adulthood are chaotic. Her parent's are often distracted by their own lives to worry too much about their children. There is a succession of step parents and divorces and a lifelong childhood friend Jonas. Elle and Jonas meet at Cape Cod in their tweens and a bond develops between the two which waxes and wanes, but endures over the decades. A major trauma occurs in their teenage years which means the two share a dark secret for life.
The book begins the morning after a drunken night at the paper palace and an infidelity happens - you can guess who. From there we explore the previous 50 years leading to that point and the next 24 hours.
Heller's writing rolls along very nicely and I found nearly all the characters well drawn. There are unexpected turns in the story which kept me on the hook. I read this book quickly so that's a sign I enjoyed it.
No book is perfect of course and there were some gaps in time and one or two thin characters which could have benefited from more development. At nearly 400 pages perhaps the editors called time - I imagine there's some commercial pressure in the publishing industry to keep novels to a manageable length.
All in all I found this a entertaining read and highly recommended.
Until next time, peace and love.
