This is the first book I’ve read by Sarah May, but what a book to start with! The Rise and Fall of the Queen of Suburbia is a deep dark comedy set in 1983 in a world where dinner parties start with cottage cheese and pineapple and end with frozen cheesecake from the Ice Man. A world where 15-year-old Jessica lives in fear of the bomb and Linda Palmer is losing it with a capital L.
Linda, The Queen of Suburbia, lives on slimshakes and anti-depressants. She cleans her house before the cleaner arrives and her marriage is falling apart before her eyes. Her dinner party is out of control before it even begins - the fish is dead, the guests are congregating in the kitchen and the Nieman’s bring their son along, but there’s only salmon for six. And nobody even comments on the gazpacho soup.
But the other residents of Pollards Close have problems of their own, and pretty soon relationships are falling apart while others are tested to their limit and then strengthened because of it.
And then comes the gruesome and completely unexpected finale…
I really enjoyed this book - the characters were wonderful, and in some cases wonderfully hideous, and it ended with a real bang. As the cast is large I liked the way the chapters were numbered according the character’s house number, which, along with a list of characters at the start of the book, kept the book easy to follow.
Rating: 4/5
Like this? Try The Rise and Fall of a Yummy Mummy by Polly Williams