So let them talk about us: THE BEST KIND OF PEOPLE.

The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


George Woodbury is beloved in his community, at the prep school where he teaches, and within his own family. All this changes on the evening of his daughter's Sadie's seventeenth birthday when the police arrive at the family's home and arrest George for alleged sexual misconduct with several teenage girls during a school ski trip. Suddenly, the Woodbury family is in complete disarray. Joan, George's wife, doesn't know what to believe and finds herself angry at her husband for putting the family in this position. Sadie is ostracized at school and becomes annoyed with her well-meaning boyfriend. Her older brother, Andrew, returns from New York City to help the family, but quickly finds himself reminded of his own unhappy teenage years. As George remains in jail awaiting trial, it's up to each member of the family to cope in their own way.

I'd heard such great things about this book, but I probably should have just left it be, as I tend not to enjoy whining rich New Yorkers (or those in nearby Connecticut) bemoaning their life's problems. The premise of this one sounded so interesting, though, and it certainly wasn't a bad book, it just didn't blow me away as so many reviews promised. Clearly I'm just not made for literary genius.

There's so much buildup in this book--the story is the slow creep over a year up to George's trial, with a lot of thoughts and feelings from all of our characters, mainly Sadie, Andrew, and Joan. I sympathized with Sadie and Joan at first, but after a while, they both fall apart so much in such odd ways, and you find yourself not always liking them. There's only so much can you like about each, despite their circumstances. I found myself wondering exactly what the message was about women and how they come across under duress. The novel also focuses on the same thing repeatedly-- for instance, multiple scenes of Sadie sneaking off to smoke pot. Enough, already.

So much of the book is just sort of sad and melancholy--Andrew and his reaction to things, not to mention the flashbacks to his high school years; how Sadie is parented and what she falls into. There are a variety of weird plot threads that seem a little discordant at times--a secretary and her anti-feminist splinter group, a writer dating Sadie's boyfriend mom. They all do eventually tie together, but it's a little much at times.

Probably my favorite thing about the novel was how much it does make you think. After the police arrive, you find yourself grappling with George's innocence (or lack thereof) much like his family, and it really does make you think about how you judge guilt. For me, there was a small part of myself in the beginning who couldn't believe a husband and father would do such a thing, forcing myself to confront how I look at sexual assault accusations (especially timely, as I was reading the much more powerful The Nowhere Girls at the time, too). Whittall's characters may not be necessarily sympathetic, but they are fairly well-done, and you'll find yourself intrigued by them, if nothing else. The novel is compelling in its own way.

Overall, this one probably wasn't for me, or at least it wasn't as great as all the reviews led me to believe. As mentioned, it's a little slow and somewhat convoluted at times, with rather unsympathetic characters. The ending was rather frustrating, for sure. Still, much like a train-wreck, you'll find yourself unable to look away once you start reading, especially since it is well-written and will make you question how you look at the world of privilege and sexual assault. Squeaking by at 3 stars for me.

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