Belong to Me

BELONG TO ME: Marisa de los Santos: William Morrow: Fiction: 390 pages

Being childless is just one of many things that alienates Cornelia from her neighbors when she and her husband Teo move from the city to the suburbs. Piper Truitt, the reigning neighborhood socialite, confirms all of Cornelia’s fears about suburbia, criticizing Cornelia’s lifestyle, appearance, and conversation. It is only after Cornelia meets Lake, another new member of the community with a precocious teenage son, that Cornelia begins to feel welcome in her new town. Everyone has a secret, though, and relationships change and develop, demonstrating the multitude of ways in which the neighbors belong to one another. This is a beautiful book that is surprising in its depth and delightful in its characterization of complicated individuals and relationships.

MBC