March 13, 2006
Picks & Pans
Rattled by Debra Galant
FICTION - When Heather Peters, almost 35, moves to Galapagos Estates in New Jersey with her lawyer husband and young son, it looks like paradise. But soon a serpent - a rattler - meets an untimely end in their yard, and the development's hellish nature reveals itself. Galant wrote a column on suburban life for The New York Times, and her knowledge shows in this smart, funny debut - not only through descriptions of SUVs and McMansions but in the subtle rivalry among parents. Part of this satire's charm is that it doesn't take sides. Many have made suburban New Jersey the butt of jokes, but few have done so with insight to equal Galant's.
Review by Natalie Danford
