Books & Java

Tiny Little Thing

by Beatriz Williams

Synopsis:

In the summer of 1966, Christina Hardcastle—“Tiny” to her illustrious family—stands on the brink of a breathtaking future. Of the three Schuyler sisters, she’s the one raised to marry a man destined for leadership, and with her elegance and impeccable style, she presents a perfect camera-ready image in the dawning age of television politics. Together she and her husband, Frank, make the ultimate power couple: intelligent, rich, and impossibly attractive. It seems nothing can stop Frank from rising to national office, and he’s got his sights set on a senate seat in November.

But as the season gets underway at the family estate on Cape Cod, three unwelcome visitors appear in Tiny’s perfect life: her volatile sister Pepper, an envelope containing incriminating photograph, and the intimidating figure of Frank’s cousin Vietnam-war hero Caspian, who knows more about Tiny’s rich inner life than anyone else. As she struggles to maintain the glossy façade on which the Hardcastle family’s ambitions are built, Tiny begins to suspect that Frank is hiding a reckless entanglement of his own…one that may unravel both her own ordered life and her husband’s promising career

My Review:

Beatriz Williams writes the most enjoyable books. Her characters are so lovable because of their wittiness and cheekiness.  I would highly recommend that if you enjoy audio books, pick this one up as an audio book. As with The Secret Life of Violet Grant, the narrator is fantastic in relating the right tone for each character. This book is a fun book as was TSLVG. This is the story of Tiny Schuyler, a Manhattan socialite in the mid-1960s who marries a Massachusetts up and coming politician. As with the lives of those in politics, there are secrets and scandals to be dealt with. However, little does Tiny realize that she is the subject of the secrets and scandals as a result of a moment of spontaneous living just two years before.  There are pictures being used to blackmail her and potentially ruin her husband's future bids for the White House. Or, is the real scandal not hers but rather her husband's secret life? There is also the fact that Tiny's younger, sassier sister Pepper has come to visit and is forcing Tiny to think of herself and question what seems to be an ideal life. Pepper's character is fantastic. She is honest and cheeky but considering that this is a story that takes place in an upper crust setting of the 1960s her outbursts and logic is refreshingly bold and pleasantly unexpected. 

Great book with what Beatriz Williams does best - an intelligently delightful story with witty dialogue.