Our Beautiful Mess

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 8/12/2025

A London family comes unglued when traces of a decades-old affair resurface in this tedious domestic drama from bestseller Parks (Two Dead Wives). Connie Baker is happily married to Luke, with whom she has three daughters. When Christmas rolls around, she's eager to welcome home from college her oldest girl, 21-year-old Fran, who's bringing along her first serious boyfriend, Zac Knight. On the day of the pair's arrival, the Bakers are shocked to discover that Fran is pregnant and has every intention of keeping her baby. Furthermore, Connie finds out that Zac's father is John Harding, the man she had an affair with at the start of her marriage 25 years ago. Though Luke forgave her, Connie has kept this secret from her daughters, so when Zac announces plans for the two families to meet, she starts to sweat. Meanwhile, chapters from the viewpoints of Fran and Zac reveal that they have secrets of their own, one of which will put the whole family in grave danger. Unfortunately, Parks saps all suspense from the proceedings with tedious internal monologues, and she paints her Gen-Z characters with an exhaustingly broad brush. By the time the melodramatic finale arrives, even Parks's fans will have tuned out.