Synopsis: As the editorial director of Palm Beach Confidential, Maribelle Walker knows what lurks beneath the glittering facade of the moneyed elite on Florida’s most glamorous coast. Or does she?
When her adored and impressive husband, Samuel, dies suddenly, the secrets and lies between Maribelle and her sisters rise to the surface. Compounding the anguish, the authenticity of their socially ambitious mother and lavish lifestyle of mansions, privilege and couture clothes is thrown into doubt.
As their carefully constructed image unravels, each sister realizes she must fend for herself. The pathway out is steep and worth any risk. Until the winner takes all.
Critique:A carefully crafted, original, inherently riveting, and impressively compelling tale of deception and family loyalty, “Maribelle’s Shadow” by author Susannah Marren is a riveting read that will be of immense interest to fans of contemporary women’s fiction. While especially and unreservedly recommended for community library Contemporary General Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that “Maribelle’s Shadow” is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.49).
Editorial Note: Susannah Marren (http://www.susanshapirobarash.com) is the author of Between the Tides, A Palm Beach Wife and A Palm Beach Scandal and the pseudonym for Susan Shapiro Barash, who has written over a dozen nonfiction books, including Tripping the Prom Queen, Toxic Friends, You’re Grounded Forever, But First Let’s Go Shopping, and A Passion for More. For over twenty years she has taught gender studies at Marymount Manhattan College and has guest taught creative nonfiction at the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College. Presently she is teaching at the Westport Writers Workshop.
I am a firm believer in the fact that Taylor Swift has a song for every occasion. I mean, with 10 original studio albums, four live albums, three re-recorded studio albums, and five extended plays, how could she not?
Another thing that I’m a firm believer in is the fact that every book has a certain song, album, or playlist that it goes along with. (If you can’t tell, making book playlists is one of my favorite things). So, today, I have decided to pair some of Beaufort’s titles with songs from Taylor Swift’s newest re-recorded album—Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).
Set against the backdrop of the early days of the AIDS epidemic, Fever by Janet Gilsdorf is a novel about a young doctor’s quest to uncover the cause of a mysterious disease killing young children, and the race to find a cure.
That’s why I think that “Long Live (Taylor’s Version)” with lyrics like “You held your head like a hero on a history book page” and “I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you” fits this book perfectly. With a mix of heroism and hope, both the novel and the song fill readers and listeners alike with the courage to keep going.
Written by a nationally renowned observer of women’s relationships, Maribelle’s Shadow is a compelling tale of deception and family loyalty. In the novel, after Maribelle Walker’s husband dies, the authenticity of her socially ambitious mother and lavish lifestyle of mansions, privilege and couture clothes is thrown into doubt.
When thinking about this novel, I am immediately reminded of the lyrics in “Castles Crumbling (feat. Hayley Williams) (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” that say “Once I had an empire in a golden age” and “Now, I fear I have fallen from grace.” As they say, the only thing that spreads faster than gossip in Palm Beach is news of a mysterious death.
When husbands start dying in the gated community of Avalon, the so-called “Ladies of the Lake” find themselves under suspicion from the LAPD and their own children.
With lyrics like “She’s not a saint and she’s not what you think / She’s an actress, woah,” I think we can all agree that the Ladies of the Lake fit into “Better Than Revenge (Taylor’s Version).” After all, getting away with murder is what’s in style in the gated community of Avalon.
Unlike most books about weight, Fat Kids is not a dieting or weight loss how-to. Instead, it is a narrative nonfiction account of people’s life experiences growing up fat and being the parents of fat children, the methods that were used to cause weight loss, and the outcomes of these experiences. With real-life stories and expert discussions of stigma and bullying, Fat Kids dives into how diet culture impacts children.
Considering the topic of this book, I think that “Never Grow Up (Taylor’s Version)” fits perfectly. With lyrics that reminisce on the simple joys of childhood like “And don’t lose the way that you dance/ around in your PJs getting ready for school” and “even though you want to/ Just try to never grow up,” this song has a very similar message to Fat Kids.
After meeting a mysterious and handsome stranger in the park, Manhattanite Sarah Rock’s life begins to unravel when a woman from the park goes missing and Sarah becomes the prime suspect in the woman’s disappearance. To make matters worse, her lover is nowhere to be found, her husband is suspicious of her, and her therapist is talking to the police.
I’m honestly finding it hard to narrow “Haunted (Taylor’s Version)” down into a few lyrics for this, because there are so many that fit. In the interest of brevity, I’ll only include a few lines from the chorus: “Come on, come on, don’t leave me like this / I thought I had you figured out / Something’s gone terribly wrong.” With no one to trust, Sarah must face her inner demons and uncover the truth to prove her innocence. If this isn’t “Haunted” coded, then I don’t know what is.
I could go on and on about books and songs and how they relate to each other, but for today I’ll stop here. Make sure you give these amazing books a read and don’t forget to stream Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)!
