Prom Mom by Laura Lippman
What’s it About?
Prom Mom skillfully interweaves the high school history of Amber Glass and Joe Simpson with the present, twenty-two years later.
Reading Laura Lippman is as addictively satisfying as crunching on potato chips from a freshly opened bag but without the salt or calories. She celebrated her 25th anniversary as a fiction writer in 2022 and each new publication should be heralded with fanfare. Her work is contemporary noir, bittersweet as the darkest chocolate as well as thought-provoking. It’s fast-paced, original, twisted and full of surprises; replete with characters that possess nerves of steel with ice water running through their veins.
The late James M. Cain would tip his fedora in approval as this best-selling, multiple-award-winning author once again demonstrates the adage that women are the deadliest of the species. Prom Mom is another stunning example of her prowess in writing about the complexities of unhealthy relationships in this provocative, gripping novel that might be a timely little extra graduation gift. Prom Mom skillfully interweaves the high school history of Amber Glass and Joe Simpson with the present, twenty-two years later.
In 1997, Amber, our narrator and protagonist, was a 16-year-old junior, an honor student who placed second in a statewide speech competition and was selected for the school’s peer tutoring program. This naïve, only child was highly intelligent but never popular, unfashionably dressed and generally unmemorable in looks and demeanor. She had a cordial but not close relationship with her stepfather whom her mother married when she was six. Her father did not seek to be a presence in their lives since the hasty marriage and quick divorce. Her stepfather delighted in decorating the small yard of their modest home for every season.
One constant was a family of five plaster geese, gingham clad and graduated in size marching across the front lawn. The revolving seasonally themed decorations included July patriotic, September back-to-school, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and so on with something different for each month. Neighbors and passersby seemed to view these displays as kitschy, tacky or just plain creepy. Her mother, Rona, was repressed; rigid, decidedly odd, and failing to provide even the most rudimentary sex education to Amber.
When the opportunity arises to tutor the handsome star Lacrosse player Joe Simpson, Amber slips easily into a fantasy world where she romanticizes his falling madly in love with her. As his failing grades rise, so does his libido, and the eighteen year-old-senior soon has her in his bed for some extra-curricular lessons.
THE MOST ENGAGING CHARACTERS
Joe Simpson was born with a sense of entitlement. He could win any school popularity contest with his striking looks, easy charm and athletic grace. His upper-middle-class family lives in one of the finest neighborhoods. His two several years older brothers had already flown the house and his mother continues to baby him while his father props him up financially. He plans to attend a Big Ten University and in emulation of his rich Texas uncle work as a developer.
The biggest upset in his young life occurred when his girlfriend Kaitlyn, the most popular girl in the school, dumped him, triggering a sudden slippage in his grades. He acquiesced to Amber’s demand to take her to senior prom all the while entertaining plans to reunite there with Kaitlyn. A group of his friends rented a limo for the night along with hotel rooms, ostensibly to allow the boys and girls to change clothing for the after-parties and the planned sunrise breakfast.
After a few sips of alcohol, Amber, feeling ill, excuses herself and returns to their room. Dazed and suffering intense pain, Amber somehow doesn’t realize she has given birth to a premature baby that is found dead the following morning when a maid enters to clean. Amber somehow walked home and was completely clueless about the birth when police arrived to charge her with murder. Her mother hadn’t noticed her daughter’s pregnancy. The girl was strangely able to disassociate the changes in her body, was in denial and unable to recall her solo ordeal. A capable attorney was able to cast sufficient doubt on the alleged murder to have the charges reduced. Given her age and good standing as a previously trouble-free student, Amber was housed in a minimum security, well-run juvenile detention facility until age 18 when she was released and her record expunged.
Unfortunately, her mother had sold the Prom Mom story to the tabloids complete with a photo of Amber in her flowing empire Grecian-style gown standing in front of the plaster geese. The moniker of Prom Mom stuck. Joe Simpson was briefly labeled “Cad Dad” but his notoriety fortuitously faded fast as Amber remained the focus of public censure.
Banned from the family home, Amber headed to a small private college in St. Petersburg, Florida where she worked her way to earning a degree while amassing a sizeable college debt. Eventually, she moved to New Orleans where she worked in an arts and crafts gallery, becoming an expert in Outsider Art. She began to represent formerly incarcerated clients who worked in various mediums. Educated, trained in gallery sales, now poised and attractive, Amber had carved out a successful niche for herself.
She had maintained no contact with her now-late mother and only occasionally communicated with her stepfather. It came as a complete surprise when she learned she was his sole beneficiary and a shock when it became clear the estate was comprised of more than the small house with the geese and other yard ornaments as it included about a million dollars in investments.
Amber Glass would like nothing better than to put her hometown notoriety behind her, fearing recognition in the neighborhood of her youth and the resulting pity or scorn. After an absence of over two decades, she feels compelled to return in person to settle her stepfather’s estate and tend to some unfinished business. “Revenge is a dish best served cold” is an oft-quoted phrase which may have some bearing on this decision to return to Baltimore. Initially, she planned to fly in, meet with a Realtor to list the house and return home to New Orleans. On impulse, she decides to take care of clearing out and fixing up the family home to sell and rents a vacant shop in a nearby strip mall to showcase Outsider Art.
Joe Simpson is still in Maryland and old fantasies are hard to kill. He is a commercial real estate broker and investor with a long marriage to his soul mate Meredith, a plastic surgeon who, in a fashion similar to the other significant people in his life, props him up. Tennis is his game now at an upscale country club and his wife dutifully ignores his occasional flings. One begins to suspect the high point of Joe Simpson’s life ended with graduation from high school. The Covid-19 pandemic begins upsetting an already precarious financial balancing act. It’s now 2020 and the new and improved Amber is back. The stage is set for Prom Mom present day to begin in earnest.
A REALISTIC APPROACH TO CRIME SOLVING
One of the aspects I appreciate in Laura Lippman’s work, whether it takes the form of novels, short stories or archived newspaper articles from her fifteen year tenure as a Baltimore Sun reporter, is her realistic approach to crime solving. The accepted Hollywood unwritten standard was that crimes were always solved. Classic Perry Mason dramas contained a murder, arrest, hasty trial and a courtroom denouement as well as the requisite commercials neatly encapsulated within an hour’s span. Countless films, television programs, murder mysteries and thrillers follow a similar format with the investigator always solving the crime. However, this is certainly untrue in “Charm City” Baltimore aka “Murder City” as it averages close to 300 capital crimes per year. The Washington Post studied the crime statistics for the decade between 2007-2017 revealing that fully 65% of homicides in Baltimore go unsolved. In 15 specific higher crime neighborhoods, this number increased to 70%.
Nationwide in the 50 largest cities, the arrest and conviction rate is about 50%. Sometimes, in Laura Lippman’s fictional world not only do the bad guys and gals get away with murder and other crimes but they may be the most engaging characters. Life is lived in shades of gray and her protagonists are anything but black-and-white cardboard cutouts. Her work is ever surprising with exciting, interesting and unexpected outcomes that keep the fans eager for more.
About Laura Lippman:
Since her debut in 1997, New York Times bestseller Laura Lippman has been recognized as one of the most gifted and versatile crime novelists working today. Her series novels, stand-alones and short stories have all won major awards, including the Edgar and the Anthony, and her work is published in more than 20 countries. A former Baltimore Sun journalist, she has written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, O, The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, Glamour and Longreads. “Simply one of our best novelists, period,” the Washington Post said upon the publication of the ground-breaking What the Dead Know. She lives in Baltimore and New Orleans with her family.
Publish Date: 7/25/2023
Genre: Crime, Fiction, Suspense, Thrillers
Author: Laura Lippman
Page Count: 320 pages
Publisher: William Morrow
ISBN: 9780062998064
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