In the vein of Such a Fun Age, a whip-smart, compulsively readable
novel about two upper-class stay-at-home mothers--one white, one
Black--living in a "perfect" suburb that explores motherhood,
friendship, and the true meaning of sisterhood amidst the backdrop of
America's all-too-familiar racial reckoning.
De'Andrea Whitman, her husband Malik, and their five-year-old daughter,
Nina, are new to the upper-crust white suburb of Rolling Hills,
Virginia--a move motivated by circumstance rather than choice. De'Andrea
is heartbroken to leave her comfortable life in the Black oasis of
Atlanta, and between her mother-in-law's Alzheimer's diagnosis, her
daughter starting kindergarten, and the overwhelming whiteness of
Rolling Hills, she finds herself struggling to adjust to her new
community. To ease the transition, her therapist proposes a challenge:
make a white girlfriend.
When Rebecca Myland learns about her new neighbors, the Whitmans, she's
thrilled. As chair of the Parent Diversity Committee at her daughters'
school, she's championed racial diversity in the community--and what
could be better than a brand-new Black family? It's serendipitous when
her daughter, Isabella, and Nina become best friends on the first day of
kindergarten. Now, Rebecca can put everything she's learned about
antiracism into practice--especially those oh-so-informative social
media posts. And finally, the Parent Diversity Committee will have
some... well, diversity.
Following her therapist's suggestion, De'Andrea reluctantly joins
Rebecca's committee. The painfully earnest white woman is so overly
eager it makes De'Andrea wonder if Rebecca's therapist told her to make
a Black friend! But when Rolling Hill's rising racial sentiments bring
the two women together in common cause, they find it isn't the only
thing they have in common. . . .
