Perfect Family: A Novel

From the acclaimed author of Speak Softly She Can Hear a literary page-turner about a proper New England family and the dark secrets that undo them. Pony Carteret -- the lovely headstrong youngest member of the Carteret family -- has always been a strong swimmer. So when she is discovered drowned at the familys summer home on Lake Aral Vermont her red hair tangled in an anchor chain and her baby abandoned on shore her family is stunned by disbelief. As the police conduct their investigation Jasper Carteret the patriarch calls an urgent family meeting. Had any of her siblings known that Pony would be at the house that day? Was she having personal problems was she depressed? Had she ever revealed the true identity of her babys father? Neither sister -- Tinker the family caretaker nor Mira the moody thoughtful one -- has any information and ultimately the police rule the drowning an accident. But William Carteret Ponys older brother cant accept the explanation that his favorite sisters death was an accident. Determined to uncover the truth he eventually learns the disturbing fact that a stranger had been present at the house the evening Pony died. Who was this man what was he doing at the house and why hasnt he stepped forward? As William digs deeper his investigations quickly lead him to a new and more daunting series of questions not only about the mysteries in Ponys life but also about the shadowy details of his deceased mothers past and even his own. Before long he has opened a Pandoras box of family secrets including one dangerous fact his mother has kept hidden for a generation. Pam Lewiss Perfect Family is a masterful atmospheric tale about the ways in which family secrets no matter how long theyre buried can wield their tremendous power.