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A Novel
by Hannah Selinger
Stepford Wives meets Big Little Lies in this twisty thriller that uncovers the untruths, petty grievances, and local school politics underneath a seemingly quaint small town.
Hamilton, Massachusetts is one of those suburban towns that appears untouched by the outside world where stay-at-home moms wear 2ct diamond studs to the playground, where a million-dollar property is "affordable," and where the Parent Teacher Organization is a hotbed of controversy. Sure, some people struggle to make ends meet, but residents would say discussing such ugly matters is impolite. Hamilton has been like this forever, and everyone likes it that way. Or: almost everyone.
It's not that Anna Plummer doesn't like Hamilton, but she never thought she'd be married with two young kids, comfortable, complacent…and growing more bored by the minute. So, when she realizes her second grader won't be able to attend the "Ziti with Your Sweetie" school dance because she didn't pay for a "Premium" membership, she snaps. She sends an email to the terrifying president of the PTO—and all hell breaks loose.
One year later, Anna is found dead in the frozen Ipswich River. Left to pick up the pieces, her husband, Denny, is shaken to his core. He's no expert, but he's seen enough Dateline to know that the police think he's the main suspect. If they aren't going to get justice for Anna, he will. Told through the alternating perspectives of Anna and Denny exactly one year apart, and with a shocking concluding twist, Valley of the Moms is a gripping look at the underpinnings of grief, the social structures of wealth, and the secrets people keep—even among friends and loved ones.
"In terms of sheer soapy drama … this delivers the goods. It's an entertaining diversion." —Publishers Weekly
"This thriller leans hard into the domestic drama of suburban mom life ... [and] will
appeal to readers who appreciate a detailed suburban setting, complicated female friendships, and deliberate pacing." —Booklist
"Recommended for fans of novels full of secrets, lies, betrayal, and bread-crumb clues to how well-dressed, rich, mean mothers can behave badly." —Library Journal
"Unsettling, heart-pounding, and full of rich characters and deep betrayals, Valley of the Moms will have you turning pages late into the night, and questioning how much you can really know about the women in your life." ―Daria Lavelle, author of Aftertaste
"Sleek, smart, and deliciously unnerving—Valley of the Moms peels back the glamorous veneer of privilege and perfection, exposing the dangerous illusion of having it all." ―Kelsey Cox, bestselling author of Party of Liars
"Keenly observed, Valley of the Moms is a tense and twisty dive into the toxic power dynamics of wealthy suburbia, where 'good' zip codes mask petty grudges, unspoken rules, and corrosive secrets. Selinger's multidimensional characters and deft use of dual timelines reeled me in and kept me guessing until the very end." ―K.T. Nguyen, author of You Know What You Did
This information about Valley of the Moms was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Hannah Selinger is a James Beard Award-nominated lifestyle writer and mother of two based in Boxford, MA, and the author of the memoir Cellar Rat: My Life in the Restaurant Underbelly. Her print and digital work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, Eater, Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and elsewhere. Her 2021 Bon Appétit essay, "In My Childhood Kitchen, I Learned Both Fear and Love," is anthologized in the 2022 Best American Food Writing collection.
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