Always the Last to Know

April 13, 2020
Higgins (Good Luck with That) serves up a punchy, angst-ridden multigenerational women’s contemporary. After 50 years of marriage, Barb Frost—selectman of Stonington, a small Connecticut town—is preparing to divorce her husband, John, with whom she’s grown apart. John then suffers a catastrophic stroke, and Barb learns he’s had a mistress. Barb and John’s daughters are going through pain of their own: Sadie, a struggling artist in New York City (and John’s favorite), has a dead-end job and a philandering boyfriend; Juliet, a successful architect (and Barb’s favorite), is unnerved by stiff competition from a young upstart and former mentee at her firm, and suffers crippling panic attacks. After John’s stroke, Sadie moves back home to help care for him and comes face to face with her first love, Noah, who had followed her to New York before their relationship fell apart. Meanwhile, Juliet worries about work and whether she’s been a failure to her husband and two daughters. The plot, told in shifting perspectives from the three women, expertly intertwines each of their dilemmas and moves along briskly thanks to the charming, snappy prose. Most importantly, Higgins excels at creating multidimensional, sympathetic characters, an ability that is on full display throughout. This sparkling story is perfect summer reading fare.

A superb cast of four narrators delivers this honest, angst-ridden, sometimes humorous portrait of one family's life. Barb and John, married for 50 years, hide secrets and resentments. Juliet, a successful architect, is her mother's perfect child. Sadie, an artist/teacher living in New York City, is the apple of her father's eye. Then, John has a massive stroke, and the family's perfect facade collapses. Xe Sands bristles as smart-alecky Sadie, who uproots her life to care for her father. Laurel Merlington's Barb is angry and sharp-tongued, contemplating life as a caregiver for a man she no longer loves. Amy Rubinate is convincing as Juliet, who is living "the perfect life" yet suffers from panic attacks. Graham Winton is spot-on portraying John, who is confined to his mind and trying desperately to remember. Riveting listening. S.J.H. � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine