Christina McDowell

"A compulsively readable novel in the vein of The Bonfire of the Vanities-by way of The Nest-about what Washington, DC's high society members do away from the Capitol building and behind the closed doors of their suburban mansions"--

The Cave Dwellers

Think it was trying to be a satire but wasn’t really hitting the mark. Fun recognizing all the DC references though. 

Cheri McElroy

This is one part Lives of the Rich and Famous and one part Desperate Housewives. It’s about the rich white powerbrokers i. Washington D.C. It’s full of scandal, murder, oppression, racism and classism. The plot itself is propulsive, and the themes made me think deeply.

This “delicious take on the one percent in our nation’s capital” (Town & Country) and clever combination of The Bonfire of the Vanities and The Nest explores what Washington, DC’s high society members do behind the closed doors of their stately homes. They are the families considered worthy of a listing in the exclusive Green Book—a discriminative diary created by the niece of Edith Roosevelt’s social secretary. Their aristocratic bloodlines are woven into the very fabric of Washington—generation after generation. Their old money and manner lurk through the cobblestone streets of Georgetown, Kalorama, and Capitol Hill. They only socialize within their inner circle, turning a blind eye to those who come and go on the political merry-go-round. These parents and their children live in gilded existences of power and privilege. But what they have failed to understand is that the world is changing. And when the family of one of their own is held hostage and brutally murdered, everything about their legacy is called into question in this unputdownable novel that “combines social satire with moral outrage to offer a masterfully crafted, absorbing read that can simply entertain on one level and provoke reasoned discourse on another” (Booklist, starred review).

This book is a reflection on class/race from a variety of some of Washingtons most elite. This book follows 4 families as they maneuver through their society obligations in the rise of power/gossip and the tragic murder in a white/wealthy neighborhood. 

Aleia Brook Jennings

Madison Pangburn

A Washington DC drama beginning with a murder in a wealthy, white neighborhood. This book offers a reflection on  race and class from a variety of perspectives. 

The Cave Dwellers

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