This richly appointed and generously portrayed (Kirkus Reviews) debut
novel tells the story of a WASPy, old-Boston family coming face to face
with an America much larger than the one it was born in. Told from five
perspectives, the novel spans an explosive week in the life of the
Dunlaps, culminating in a series of events that will change their way of
life forever.
Caroline Dunlap has written off the insular world of the Boston deb
parties, golf club luaus, and WASP weddings that she grew up with. But
when she reluctantly returns home after her college graduation, she
finds that not everything is quite as predictable, or protected, as she
had imagined. Her father, the eccentric, puritanical Jack Dunlap, is
carrying on stoically after the breakup of his marriage, but he can't
stop thinking of Rosita, the family housekeeper he fired almost six
months ago. Caroline's little brother, Eliot, is working on a giant
papier-mâché diorama of their town--or is he hatching a plan of larger
proportions?
As the real reason for Rosita's departure is revealed, the novel
culminates in a series of events that assault the fragile, sheltered,
and arguably obsolete world of the Dunlaps.
Opening a window into a family's repressed desires and fears, The
Hazards of Good Breeding is a startlingly perceptive comedy of manners
that heralds a new writer of dazzling talent.
A New York Times Notable Selection and a Boston Globe Book of the
Year.
