Girls with Bright Futures
At Seattle's elite Elliott Bay Academy, college admissions is a full-time preoccupation--for the parents. When Stanford says they will only be offering admission to one EBA non-athlete, three mothers obsess about how to get the spot for their daughters. A potentially fatal "accident" raises the stakes, forcing them all to reckon with the question of whether it's all worth it.
I don't often enjoy this kind of suburban domestic fiction with parental schoolyard drama, but the authors struck the right just over-the-top tone here to highlight the absurdity of the college admissions race, while building an interesting backstory for the main character. A good book for fans of Big Little Lies.
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Publisher’s Description
Three women. Three daughters. And a promise that they’ll each get what they deserve.
College admissions season at Seattle’s Elliott Bay Academy is marked by glowing acceptances from top-tier institutions and students as impressive as their parents are ambitious. But when Stanford alerts the school it’s allotting only one spot to EBA for their incoming class, three mothers discover the competition is more cut-throat than they could have imagined.
Tech giant Alicia turns to her fortune and status to fight for her reluctant daughter’s place at the top. Kelly, a Stanford alum, leverages her PTA influence and insider knowledge to bulldoze the path for her high-strung daughter. And Maren makes three: single, broke, and ill-equipped to battle the elite school community aligning to bring her superstar daughter down.
That’s when, days before applications are due, one of the girls suffers a near-fatal accident, one that doesn’t appear to be an accident at all.
As the community spirals out of control, three women will have to decide what lines they’re willing to cross to secure their daughters’ futures…and keep buried the secrets that threaten to destroy far more than just college dreams.
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