The Innocents (review)

Alice and Charlie have always been close friends as well as sisters, but after their mother marries a fabulously wealthy man and sets them down in a posh beach community for the summer their relationship is strained. Charlie seeks to fit in with the dissipated high-schoolers in town. who have too much money and too little supervision, while Alice keeps her distance. They do each find boys to obsess over, however; more importantly, Alice begins to have serious questions about her new blended family's history. How did her stepfather's first wife die? Did his daughter, who looks uncannily like Alice herself, really commit suicide and why? And exactly how long have her mother and stepfather have known each other? The girls themselves are pretty well grounded, and the secondary characters are unusually dimensional: the queen bee has depth and ethical character, her hangers-on are fairly self-aware, and the boys are simply tragic. The gossip is what's delicious here, with a new intrigue around every corner and enough sins and secrets to sink a soap opera. Readers will guess the most important secret long before Alice herself figures it out, which just adds to the enjoyment. Compulsively readable, this brings the fluffy pleasure of a beach read, no matter what the season.