Christina "Tiny" Schuyler, daughter of an aristocratic New York family, has built a seemingly flawless life for herself as the perfect Boston society wife. Groomed from childhood to marry well, Tiny has slipped smoothly into that role with Frank Hardcastle, scion of a Kennedy-esque political dynasty. But in the summer of 1966, as Frank begins his bid for a congressional seat, both his campaign and his marriage to Tiny will be rocked by long-hidden secrets.
Beatriz Williams (The Secret Life of Violet Grant) returns to the world of New England high society with her fourth novel, Tiny Little Thing. The narration alternates between 1966, as Frank's campaign gathers steam, and 1964, when a chance encounter threatens to upend Tiny's carefully constructed future. Williams deftly unravels her characters' actions and their consequences, building layers of dramatic tension through fraught family dinners and clandestine phone calls.
Tiny is an appealing narrator: the proper, respectable eldest daughter, caught between society's expectations and her own deeply buried desires. Frank's cousin Caspian, a decorated Vietnam War hero, throws a monkey wrench into Tiny's plans--as does her brash, beautiful sister, Pepper, who descends on the Hardcastle family compound on Cape Cod with news of her own.
Through elegant prose and diamond-edged dialogue, Williams evokes a glittering world of political ambition--and pulls back the curtain to reveal explosive secrets lurking beneath the Hardcastles' perfect facade. Tiny Little Thing is a deliciously scandalous and deeply moving story of one woman's quest to build a satisfying life. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams