Title: A Good Marriage
Author: Kimberly McCreight
Pages: 371
Year Published: May 5, 2020
Language: English
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. (Source: Goodreads)
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. (Source: Goodreads)
This is a slow burn, addictive and suspenseful domestic thriller following Lizzie as she conducted her investigation on a case she wasn't supposed to represent. The book started when Lizzie, a lawyer received a phone call from her old friend from law school, Zach asking for a favour, one she could not fulfill. Zach's wife, Amanda was found dead in their house in the morning after an annual controversial and decadent party. Lizzie's good nature to help Zach out of jail finally bit her in the ass when Zach started acting suspicious. Maybe Zach is guilty after all of killing his wife? If not Zach, then who else could possibly be the murderer?
For the first quarter of the book, I found it difficult to get through it. It started a little bit on the slow side, and dare not I say it... boring. It could be because this is McCreight's first book for me, thus I need more time adjusting with her writing style, getting to know the characters and picturing the world-building. After about 1/3 mark, this book started to gain its pace and I was more engrossed with the story.
This story was told in Lizzie's POV in the present, Amanda's POV in the past (a few days before the party), report from the cybersecurity and testimony by the prosecutor. I love how there are a lot going on in this book, parallel events occurring in the same timeline. Although Lizzie had to focus on her job and the mess she got herself into, at the same time her marriage with her husband, Sam is on the verge of collapse. Even in Amanda's POV, aside from Amanda's traumatic past catching up on her, there was cybersecurity breached at Brooklyn Country Day, the school the upperclassmen's kids were attending.
However, as much as I enjoyed this book, I am aware of its weaknesses. One of the weakness would be unnecessary conversations between Amanda and her new Park Slope friends. While I do realise the gossips were probably meant to paint a better picture of the characters' personality and maybe even to show their true colours, but I still think the gossips were getting repetitive.
One more thing, by the end of the book, there were some unanswered questions and plot holes. Some things didn't add up. I'm not sure if the author somehow forgot to resolve it, or if it was meant to be left hanging.
Success is an abstraction only to rich people.
Characters
As for our main character, Lizzie, I really loved her so much. She is strong, tenacious, professional, calm, collected and passionate. Despite her personal life issues, it never distracted her from being the best and thorough lawyer that she is. She always did her best to win her case. She was brilliant and she knew it. Not to mention how professional she was to switch her demeanour when she had to work on the spot. How brave and determined she was carrying out her own investigation.
And despite all these positive traits, I love how she also has imperfections. The mistakes she committed, the secrets she kept because she was ashamed of her past. These mixture of positive and negative traits made her the perfect main character. Very realistic and humanly. One I can't help but root for.
My life had begun again when I met him. And yet none of that meant we should stay together.
As the story started, we were introduced by Zach first. As Lizzie kept visiting him in jail, I could smell something was wrong with him. He was definitely abnormal. His marriage with Amanda didn't help either. He was a narcissist and I hate him so much.
Somebody else's problems become your own. It doesn't always feel fair.
We got to know Amanda only through her old journals. She was this beautiful woman, but unfortunately due to her dark childhood, she never received the education all her Park Slope friends has gotten. So, Amanda was always trying hard to fit in, to hide her true self. I can empathise with her at a level. How exhausting it was to be surrounded by these fortunate people while carrying a weight on our shoulder. It always feels like people can see right through us, through the non-existent holes on our clothes so prominent.
Amanda's friends from Park Slope, Maude and Sebe, Sarah and Kerry seemed like the perfect couple. Most times Amanda felt a tinge of jealousy at how lovely and open those couples to each other compared to Amanda and Zach. Little did Amanda knew, despite how perfect their marriage seemed, they actually carry secrets and we didn't know what happened behind closed doors. I just love it when rich people suffer.
Writing Style
Although this was my first time reading McCreight's book, the writing style worked for me. It flowed nicely, string together lyrically and described distinctly. At first, some of the professional terms used by the lawyers were confusing me. And that did slow down my reading pace, but at least I learned a lot of new words.
So, if you never heard of this book before, you should definitely try this out. It's a very good thriller and definitely not so heavy on violence. I personally don't prefer violent thriller because I have low tolerance level. And I think this book is suitable for a newbie to try out this genre.
Rate: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
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