Longlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction 2014 Littlefield Massachusetts home to psychologists college professors & their over-achieving children & recently lauded as one of the Ten Best Places to Live in America If happiness had a home it would be here Then the first dog is poisoned At first there is shock & disbelief who would commit such a cruel act
- & why? As more dogs die residents notice other signs that something's not right in their home the appearance of menacing grafitti the persistent triggering of fire alarms at the middle school & the haunted looks neighbours begin exchanging For the Downings Margaret Bill & daughter Julia Littlefield's gathering darkness hints at flaws in their own lives What is wrong? What can save them?' Well-observed shrewd satire sharp funny & painful Berne takes the domestic & turns it into the majestic' Sunday Telegraph