She Treads Softly: No One Needs to Know

Sunday, May 7, 2023

No One Needs to Know

No One Needs to Know by Lindsay Cameron
5/9/23; 320 pages
Random House

No One Needs to Know by Lindsay Cameron is a highly recommended domestic drama involving wealthy residents of Manhattan’s exclusive Upper East Side. This would be an excellent choice for summer vacation reading.

Someone was murdered, but who and why. The drama unfolds through the perspective of three different women who all have 8th graders in a private school. Heather is all about keeping her daughter Violet's eyes on the prize - getting into the best schools. Poppy is ultra wealthy and used to money buying everything. Norah is a high powered executive and the main earner in her family. These three women are all on the track to keep their children a part of the elite class.

When UrbanMyth, an anonymous discussion board grouped by zip code, becomes all the rage in their neighborhood, gossip abounds and rumors are spread on the sight. However, when a photo of Violet vaping is posted to Instagram, UrbanMyth erupts with vicious, viral posts accusing the girl of dealing drugs to her schoolmates. Heather is furious and thinks she knows who did it. Then a “hacktivist” group breaks into the forum and makes it so everyone's posts are no longer anonymous, which means all heck breaks loose.

This is a fun, entertaining novel that doesn't take itself too seriously and simply asks the readers to enjoy the action and the twists in the over-the-top plot. The narrative alternates between the points-of-view of each woman with snippets included from UrbanMyth and police interviews.

None of the characters are remotely likable. In fact, Heather and Poppy are over-the-top disagreeable. We have some despicable husbands too. It makes it rather enjoyable to have characters you don't even have to try to like.

The writing is excellent. Suspend disbelief, freely dislike all the characters, and watch the drama unfold. There are plenty of secrets and all sorts of bad behavior to hold your attention while you enjoy the social satire, drama, and intrigue.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Random House via NetGalley.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.