The Darlings
A Novel
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3.5 • 8 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
A Bonfire of the Vanities for our times, by an author who “knows her way around 21st-century wealth and power” (The Wall Street Journal).
Since he married Merrill Darling, daughter of billionaire financier Carter Darling, attorney Paul Ross has grown accustomed to all the luxuries of Park Avenue. But a tragic event is about to catapult the Darling family into the middle of a massive financial investigation and a red-hot scandal. Suddenly, Paul must decide where his loyalties really lie.
Debut novelist Cristina Alger is a former analyst at Goldman Sachs, an attorney, and the daughter of a Wall Street financier. Drawing on her unique insider's perspective, Alger gives us an irresistible glimpse into the highest echelons of New York society—and a fast-paced thriller of epic proportions that powerfully echoes Claire Messud's The Emperor's Children and reads like a fictional Too Big to Fail.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Two parts Too Big to Fail, one part The Devil Wears Prada, Alger's debut is taut and compelling. The recession-era Manhattan elite are bruised and a touch less confident than in their heyday, but the summer homes, charity balls, and general extravagance persist and the titular family is still riding high. Alger's portrayal of the magnetic Darlings is convincing, particularly that of Paul Ross. Married to the eldest Darling daughter, he's a self-made man forced to take refuge in the employ of his father-in-law's hedge fund. What unfolds, amid all the character building, is a well-constructed Madoffian financial scandal, with Alger leaning on her knowledge (she is a graduate of NYU Law School and a former analyst for Goldman, Sachs) for verisimilitude that only occasionally overwhelms. Though the plot is bogged down by a secondary cast who come to drive the drama, sophisticated central characterizations make this novel well worth the time; Alger expertly evokes both sympathy and contempt for her characters and writes with a polished ease, telling the story of our time (or a particular glittery, corrupt corner of our time) with a mix of ruthlessness and sensitivity.
