The Book:
Cobble Hill by Cecily von Ziegesar, 2020
The Characters:
Mandy, Stuart, and their child Ted
Peaches, Greg, and their son Liam
Roy, Wendy, and their daughter Shy
Tupper and Elizabeth
The Plot (from Goodreads):
Welcome to Cobble Hill. In this eclectic Brooklyn neighborhood, private storms brew amongst four married couples and their children. There’s ex-groupie Mandy, so underwhelmed by motherhood and her current physical state that she fakes a debilitating disease to get the attention of her skateboarding, ex-boyband member husband Stuart. There’s the unconventional new school nurse, Peaches, on whom Stuart has an unrequited crush, and her disappointing husband Greg, who wears noise-cancelling headphones—everywhere.
A few blocks away, Roy, a well-known, newly transplanted British novelist, has lost the thread of his next novel and his marriage to capable, indefatigable Wendy. Around the corner, Tupper, the nervous, introverted industrial designer with a warehouse full of prosthetic limbs struggles to pin down his elusive artist wife Elizabeth. She remains…elusive. Throw in two hormonal teenagers, a 10-year-old pyromaniac, a drug dealer pretending to be a doctor, and a lot of hidden cameras, and you’ve got a combustible mix of egos, desires, and secrets bubbling in brownstone Brooklyn.
The Review:
I had very high expectations for this book, given how much I loved the Gossip Girl books and TV show.
I loved the characters–each was so quirky and unique, and their storylines were definitely interesting. They weren’t really relatable or likable, but that was the point. Some people don’t like this, but I love reading books about rich people and their eccentricities.
As strong as the characters were, though, there really was no plot. The book was pretty superficial. The author would briefly mention an issue that could have been explored more deeply, and then shy away in favor of more neighborhood gossip. There wasn’t really much to draw me in and make me care about the story.
If you’re looking for a light, entertaining read, you’ve come to the right place. Cobble Hill was enjoyable and the characters were interesting, but there wasn’t much more to it than entertaining neighborhood gossip.
