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Pink Glass Houses

A Novel

ebook
2 of 3 copies available
2 of 3 copies available

"Delicious, decadent, and utterly diabolical. No one serves up a scandal like Asha Elias."—Kirsten Miller, author of The Change

A seductive social satire about the wealthy PTA moms of an elite elementary school in Miami Beach, Pink Glass Houses is very Big Little Lies and Pineapple Street, but with diamonds, a tan, and a glass of rosé.

There's a reason people call Miami Beach "a sunny place for shady people."

Welcome to Sunset Academy, the most coveted elementary school in Miami Beach, where there are three categories of families: rich, wealthy, and ultra-wealthy.

Perfectly tanned and smiling Charlotte Giordani is Sunset Academy's alpha mom. With a sleek blowout and relentless charm, Charlotte's brashness serves her well. She's up for election as the PTA president and is riding high, having just secured a massive donation from billionaire Don Walker and his socialite wife Patricia. Don and Patricia are philanthropists, media darlings, and the owners of Villa Rosé, a newly built modern glass house that everyone is talking about. (It's either spectacular or a tacky eyesore, depending on how you feel about billionaires.)

Enter Melody Howard, a wide-eyed transplant from Wichita, Kansas. At first a skeptic about Miami Beach and its endlessly hashtaggable social scene, Melody finds herself sucked into the glossy, frenetic world of Sunset Academy moms. Melody's easygoing manner and background in nonprofit management make her an asset to the PTA. But when she emerges as a rival for the PTA presidency, Charlotte begins to unravel. Even the most powerful players on the social scene prove to be vulnerable when an investigation into white-collar crime—triggered by another school mom, the formidable Jamaican-American Judge Carol Lawson—threatens to take down the whole institution. No amount of rosé can soothe tensions as the drama builds to a shocking crisis point.

Told in rotating first person voices, Pink Glass Houses is an irresistibly voyeuristic peek into the lives of the rich and infamous, where cocaine playdates, $100,000 kiddie birthday parties, and relentless social climbing are a way of life.

"Asha Elias takes us on a wildly entertaining journey into the seamy underbelly of Miami Beach — the glamorous, cutthroat, scandalous and sometimes deadly world of (I'm not making this up) elementary-school fundraising." —New York Times bestselling author Dave Barry

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    • Library Journal

      February 1, 2024

      Debuter Elias knows the Miami Beach scene well and offers up a social satire about the wealthy moms at an elite elementary school. Alpha mom Charlotte begins to unravel when challenged for the PTA presidency; there's also an investigation into white-collar crime that might just bring the whole institution down. With a 75K-copy first printing. Prepub Alert.

      Copyright 2023 Library Journal

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Booklist

      Starred review from June 1, 2024
      Sunset Academy is the most elite public school in Miami Beach-and Charlotte Giordani is destined to rule it. A fundraising queen who's brought in huge donations, Charlotte is aiming for PTA president, once the incumbent steps down. Meanwhile, Melody Howard has just moved from Kansas, stunned with culture shock by the town's perfect parents and bombastic shows of wealth--such as the pink glass house of the title, a lavish custom-built home owned by Don and Patricia Walters, the main donors to the Sunset Academy. Melody isn't sure whether to ingratiate herself with high-energy Charlotte or to stick with the more sarcastic moms, and when she accidentally sends a snarky message to Charlotte, she becomes persona non grata at school. But when Melody's friends, including a lawyer and a judge, start sniffing out financial corruption in the PTA, she's determined to restore her image and fix the fraud. She announces her own candidacy for president--running against Charlotte. With its over-the-top setting and skewering of mommy culture, Elias's debut is devilish and witty. A sinister prologue also heightens the tension as the reader waits for the big reveal, and every voice that narrates is pitch-perfect, drawing distinctions between characters that few authors can pull off.

      COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Kirkus

      July 1, 2024
      A woman struggles to find her place in a wealthy community full of social climbing and scandals. When Melody Howard's husband, Greg, is offered his dream job in Miami, they pack up their home in Wichita, Kansas, and move to a house zoned for "the best public elementary school in Florida." The book opens as the family attends back-to-school night at Sunset Academy, and Melody is shocked to discover how different their new community is from the one they've left. Their daughter, Lucy, will be entering a school where mothers and children dress in astoundingly expensive (and revealing) designer clothing. Drinking and drugs are rampant among parents, and popularity seems tied to the size of a family's donations. Initially intimidated by the fancy cars and tummy tucks, Melody is delighted when she makes friends with Darcy Resnick, who seems to share her down-to-earth sensibilities. It's not long, however, before Charlotte Giordani, one of the queen bees, takes an interest in the new mom, and Melody starts getting caught up in everything she thought she hated. Unfortunately, she makes a misstep and quickly alienates Charlotte. Rather than slink into obscurity, Melody decides to run against Charlotte for PTA president, which will be either her only chance at redemption or the ultimate social suicide. While the story is entertaining from the start, the first several chapters describe the materialism of this Miami community in a tone that's more angry than funny. The author devotes so much space to mocking the affluent Miamians that by the time the central conflict emerges, readers may have lost interest. Once the plot starts moving, though, the tensions between characters rise and the novel takes on a new heft. Deeper issues related to honesty, loyalty, parenting, and mental health emerge, each of which is examined with admirable grace and just the right touch of humor. An ultimately satisfying tale about adult mean girls.

      COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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