Greenwich by Kate Broad seemed like it was going to be a good read for me but it just wasn't. Too many storylines kept me confused as to what the point was. I didn't find any of the characters to be redeeming which I think may have been the point but it was just a bit too much. There would definitely be a lot to discuss in a book club setting. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the gifted copy.

I received a free eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I can’t really remember what made me request this one in the first place! The pub date is far enough out that I probably didn’t hear about it on a book blog or in Kirkus, and it’s a debut novel, so it’s not an author I was actively following. I guess the cover is sort of striking, and I do love books about rich people behaving badly? (although that’s not really what this is about)

I was talking to my teen librarian just this week about books that make us question who the audience is meant to be. Obviously she reads a lot of YA, and she mentioned it was refreshing to read books about teens who…seem like actual teens. I kept thinking this was perhaps meant to be young adult, as the protagonist is a teenager for the majority of the narrative, but it doesn’t *read* like a YA book, if that makes sense. The narrative voice sounds more like an adult reflecting on their teen years (which is the intent). But it’s still fundamentally *about* a teenager, so…? Perhaps it’s in that weird nebulous “new adult” category that never really became a thing.

Ahem. Anyway. Our protagonist is Rachel Fiske. It’s 1999 and she’s just graduated high school AND managed to alienate her friend group, so she concocts a scheme to get out of town for the summer. Her fancy aunt in Greenwich is recovering from some sort of injury (she fell off a horse so…hips, back?) and Rachel convinces her mother to send her to Greenwich for the summer to “help aunt Ellen”. Ellen, of course, has the means to hire full time help, but given that Rachel’s younger sister is also going through cancer treatments, her parents are kinda eager to just get her out of the way and have one less kid to worry about for a bit. Once Rachel gets to Greenwich she’s immediately disappointed - her aunt is even spacier than usual, and she doesn’t seem all that interested in hanging out. But a bright spot quickly develops - Claudia, the babysitter Ellen hired to look after her young daughter Sabine. Claudia is a senior in college, so she’s *just* old enough to appear really worldly and exciting to Rachel. Claudia’s also Black, so it gives Ellen a chance to pat herself on the back for her diversity hire. The two girls seemingly bond as Rachel helps her look after Sabine, and although Claudia at first seems like she’s trying to keep a professional distance, she does eventually start socializing with Rachel on her own (probably because she’s desperate for someone to talk to). Rachel falls for her pretty hard, but it’s unclear where Claudia stands.

Since the story is being told by adult Rachel, we know this summer is heading for some kind of tragedy, and that Claudia and Rachel herself both had a role in it. Without giving too much away, Rachel drops references to “later” and “during the trial”, so there’s also this weird sense of dread as the story goes on. We do eventually “catch up” to the present day, but I found those chapters significantly weaker than the first 3/4 of the novel. I can’t decide if I’d have preferred Broad to split the narrative more evenly, or if we didn’t really even *need* some of those later chapters at all.

But this is a fascinating story about privilege and how it manifests in different ways. It’s a bit like Such a Fun Age from the other side. But I appreciate that Broad isn’t letting Rachel off the hook. She’s not exactly unlikable, but it’s pretty hard to sympathize with her and I think that’s the point. You can see *why* she makes the choices she does, but that doesn’t make them excusable. There’s a lovely quote from Linda Holmes, in her review of the season 1 finale of The White Lotus that I think perfectly sums up this book - The road to villainy begins, often, not with hectoring and not with insults, but with the quieter act of choosing your own comfort over what you know to be right enough times in a row.

Greenwich is Broad's debut novel which follows seventeen year old Rachel over the course of a life-changing summer in the late 1990s. I enjoyed the perspective, that of a teenager from Massachusetts in the 1990s since I was also a teenager in Massachusetts in the 1990s, so I can speak to many of the references being authentic. To be fair, most of the book is set in Greenwich, Connecticut, known as an extremely wealthy enclave where many financially elite people live in order to commute to New York City. Here, Rachel lives with her privileged aunt and uncle (the Corbins), her three year old cousin Sabine, and Sabine's Black nanny, Claudia. She is purportedly keeping an eye on her aunt (facing chronic pain after an accident) for her mother, while her mother cares for Rachel's younger sister, battling cancer. Rachel quickly observes her aunt, Ellen, acting strangely, and it isn't long before she discovers why. Meanwhile, Rachel develops feelings for Claudia, and life becomes complicated. A tragic accident occurs and this is where the tensions of the novel really develop - the frictions between being white and wealthy versus being the Black "help." Claudia is certainly educated and not from poverty, but still lives a life of stark contrast to the Corbins. I enjoyed that the novel asked a lot of big questions without coming across as sanctimonious or being too black-and-white. The novel is more of a slow-burn than a page-turner, but always an enjoyable and insightful read.

I thought this book would be too similar to others in the genre, but I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong! A zippy, quick, enjoyable read.

I cannot get this story out of my head! Kate Broad has written a coming-of-age literary novel about Rachel Fiske, a young woman who spends the summer in affluent Greenwich, Connecticut to help her aunt recover from an injury, by caring for her daughter. Early in the novel, the reader receives hints about a trial involving Rachel which occurs at a future date.

Broad masterfully manipulates the reader at near-breathtaking spikes as the summer evolves into a time of adults behaving recklessly while children care for children. As a former Greenwich resident who babysat for wealthy families in the 1990s, many of Rachel's experiences were familiar. Broad's observant eye magnifies the complexities of wealth and privilege, status and perception, and the danger of getting what one wants.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A young woman visits her aunt and uncle and witnesses their dysfunctional marriage. She befriends their nanny and the girls are left with too much responsibility.

I finished this but it wasn't my favorite. The beginning was slow and I felt sympathy for Rachel, but the book got too off track for me.

Thank you for the ARC.

I had an ARC from NetGalley. I was intrigued and the writing was good. There is a deeper message. There’s actually a few messages. Privilege, social class, belonging. #spoilers When we first meet Rachel I kind of felt she was misunderstood. She couldn’t navigate friendship. By the end I felt she maybe had sociopath tendencies- she couldn’t make connections or she just wanted to hurt people because that’s all she knew. She has an ill sister and her parents send her away to “help” her aunt. She’s immature. She’s sheltered, she’s privileged. Claudia is the nanny for her wealthy aunt and uncle. She can care for their child and they can just keep giving her money, but she isn’t part of their world. Rachel is her naivety doesn’t understand the systemic situation and literally sells her out for a free ride to college. Her aunt is addicted to meth but that’s ok because she’s rich and white, even though she neglects her mother duties because of it. And Claudia becomes the scapegoat because wealthy people can’t be responsible for their negligent behavior towards their child. Rachel thinks she can buy forgiveness or connection from Claudia. She realizes too late she was one more pawn for her wealthy relatives. She can’t even be nice to nice people. She’s awful to her college roommate. She becomes a doctor and feels powerful helping the hurt and calling the shots, but I don’t think she will ever know kindness or trust or love.

Greenwich tells the story of Rachel, a nearly 18-year-old girl who spends a summer in Connecticut with her aunt and uncle. During her time there, she begins to unravel some unsettling truths about her hosts while forming a bond with their daughter and the family nanny. The book’s structure hinges on a pivotal event, dividing the narrative into "before" and "after" the accident.

The novel is an accessible read, and the characters are intriguing enough to hold interest. The portrayal of Rachel as a naive and conflicted teenager is particularly effective, capturing her transition from an innocent girl to a young adult burdened by guilt and the complexities of legal proceedings. However, I would have liked more insight into Claudine’s inner thoughts, as her perspective felt underdeveloped. That said, this might have been a deliberate choice to maintain ambiguity.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. It took me a minute to figure out what was going on. Rachel is sent to life with her aunt uncle, cousin and a nanny for the summer. She learns that money talks and sees how her aunt and uncle use it to get what they want. She later realizes that the nanny gets a pay increase to befriend and watch her during the summer; even though she is almost 18 and doesn’t need someone to watch her. That revelation is startling to her as it would be anyone since Rachel is questioning was the nanny really a friend or just doing it cause of the money. This started off good but then was hard to get back into.

Celeste Ng is the right comp, Liane Moriarty less so. This book is stellar in its writing, the vividness of each image and the details Broad selects, and in the examination of privilege and how sometimes it doesn't make sense not to embrace it. Gonne be thinking about this one for a bit!

Thank you for this ARC. Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. I just could not get into it from the start.

I have mixed feelings about this book. Throughout I was a bit confused what the big picture of the book was. I thought the story was going one way but then it changed into a different direction. At times , because of this, I became disinterested in reading. I only finished it just to see how it ended, but overall, I wasn’t really impressed with the book. None of the characters really sat with me as someone I liked.

I had an ARC from NetGalley. I was intrigued and the writing was good. There is a deeper message. There’s actually a few messages. Privilege, social class, belonging. #spoilers When we first meet Rachel I kind of felt she was misunderstood. She couldn’t navigate friendship. By the end I felt she maybe had sociopath tendencies- she couldn’t make connections or she just wanted to hurt people because that’s all she knew. She has an ill sister and her parents send her away to “help” her aunt. She’s immature. She’s sheltered, she’s privileged. Claudia is the nanny for her wealthy aunt and uncle. She can care for their child and they can just keep giving her money, but she isn’t part of their world. Rachel is her naivety doesn’t understand the systemic situation and literally sells her out for a free ride to college. Her aunt is addicted to meth but that’s ok because she’s rich and white, even though she neglects her mother duties because of it. And Claudia becomes the scapegoat because wealthy people can’t be responsible for their negligent behavior towards their child. Rachel thinks she can buy forgiveness or connection from Claudia. She realizes too late she was one more pawn for her wealthy relatives. She can’t even be nice to nice people. She’s awful to her college roommate. She becomes a doctor and feels powerful helping the hurt and calling the shots, but I don’t think she will ever know kindness or trust or love.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the advanced reader copy.

Celeste Ng is one of my favorite writers, so when I saw that this book was comped to one hers I was excited to get my hands on it. While I'm sure the style of writing will work for other readers, the beginning of the book felt too confusing and meandering for me. It made it hard for me to connect with the characters, which, in a literary novel, feels like the most important thing (in order to pull the reader through).

I picked this book because of the title - I live a few towns away from Greenwich. I found the book easy to read and relatable as far as the social-economical aspect of the area and the problems that come with it. I did find it to be an interesting twist when we found out the aunt was paying the nanny extra to "watch" her niece. I really felt that they had become friends. Toward the end, the book did go in a very different direction than I originally thought when the nanny was brought to trial. I was glad to see that once out of jail, she made something of her life.

I requested this one because I live in CT and loved the idea of reading about places and towns I may recognize. I liked the 90’s vibes a lot. I probably could’ve done without the amount of hints of the impending situation prior to its reveal. This was an OK read for me!

The blurb made me think this was going to be a twisty mystery/thriller but it was really more of a family story with some dramatic elements. I don't think the marketing fits the content. I was surprised by the courtroom scenes, courtroom books aren't always my favorite and I feel like books that go in that direction should make that clear. I felt like it took me out of the story a bit. I would have rather just learned the outcome and go from there.

This was a quick read and a compelling book. The author did a great job of building tension through the narrative. I felt that the commentary on class was definitely accurate and well-handled, although I felt that race was done so less adeptly The point was made well-enough, but given the confrontation at the ending, I wanted a little more build up in that area to explain that final dynamic. That being said, I absolutely loved the character of Claudia - what a beautiful, vibrant character. Would be interesting to read a sequel from her perspective.

A sapphic, suspense-driven twist on the racial and nanny/family dynamics explored in Kiley Reed's Such A Fun Age. Overall, the plot of the book did not unfold the way I expected, in both good and bad ways. The second half of the novel was not as fast paced or interesting to me as the beginning. Would have loved this one to be multi POV!