About this item
Critically acclaimed author of The Mourning Hours and The Fragile World, Paula Treick DeBoard returns with a tale of dark secrets, shocking lies and a dangerous obsession that will change one neighborhood forever Liz McGinnis never imagined herself living in a luxurious gated community like The Palms. Ever since she and her family moved in, she's felt like an outsider amongst the Stepford-like wives and their obnoxiously spoiled children. Still, she's determined to make it work - if not for herself, then for her husband, Phil, who landed them this lavish home in the first place, and for her daughter, Danielle, who's about to enter high school. Yet underneath the glossy veneer of The Palms, life is far from idyllic. In a place where reputation is everything, Liz soon discovers that even the friendliest residents can't be trusted. So when the gorgeous girl next door befriends Danielle, Liz can't help but find sophisticated Kelsey's interest in her shy and slightly nerdy daughter a bit suspicious. But while Kelsey quickly becomes a fixture in the McGinnis home, Liz's relationships with both Danielle and Phil grow strained. Now even her own family seems to be hiding things, and it's not long before their dream of living the high life quickly spirals out of control ...
About the Author
Paula Treick DeBoard is a writer, latte drinker and all-around slave to public education. Her first novels - written in the back seat of a 1977 Chevy Caprice station wagon where her parents let her jostle around, unprotected by a seatbelt - were sadly lost in one cross-country move or another.
After earning a BA in English from Dordt College in 1998, Paula thought, "I'll teach high school during the week and write fiction on weekends," a delusion which persisted for a decade, during which time she wrote exactly one short story. In 2010, she earned an MFA in Fiction from the University of Southern Maine and discovered a passion for staring at a laptop screen for long hours.
Paula's short fiction has appeared in The Sycamore Review, deCOMP, Cantaraville and The Shine Journal. Occasionally, her work has appeared in venues that have later closed - although surely this is only a coincidence.
These days, Paula splits her time between teaching (at the University of California, Merced) and writing. Her novels are The Mourning Hours, The Fragile World and The Drowning Girls (April 2016) .
Her heart - and any remaining spare time - belongs to Will and their four-legged brood.
