This Beautiful Life by Helen Schulman, 222 pp.

Whoa. This is one of those "There but for the grace of God..." stories that are happening all around us these days. So it's easy to identify with/feel the terrible pain and desperation of the Bergamot family when their Beautiful Life is suddenly shattered. I loved the mom, Liz. As the mother of a teenager and an adopted 6-year-old who has gone from the laid back life of college-town Ithaca to the hyperlife of Manhattan private school mom, she is overwhelmed and exhausted, even before her son gets into trouble. I wanted to cheer out loud when she said, "This beautiful life. I DON'T WANT IT!" Well done, Schulman, although I'm not sure we needed the little peek into the future as a way of finishing the novel. Recommended.