While spending the summer on Cape Cod working as a mother’s helper, fifteen-year-old Diana falls for an older boy. She innocently attends a party to meet up with this boy whose nickname is Poe. While at the party, Poe and his friends, recent graduates of an esteemed prep school, take advantage of her naivete. Diana’s life changes forever as she deals with many emotions after this disturbing rape.
The other protagonist is named Daisy, a nickname for Diana. This Diana is a homemaker and mother to fifteen-year-old Beatrice. Daisy is unhappy in her marriage to Hal and struggling with the death of a close friend and the teenaged angst of her daughter. Daisy is a relatable character who yearns for a friend she can trust. When she meets the other Diana, the plot starts to develop.
I picked this book to read since I’ve come to rely upon Weiner for an intelligently written, realistic beach read. I don’t mind social statements, but this book was neither enjoyable nor thought-provoking. I thought some plot points were contrived. The rape and all of the associated feelings were entirely plausible. Beatrice was a wonderfully developed, independently-minded character. However, the circumstances that bring the two Dianas together veered from the overall believability of the plot. I understood and appreciated the focus on the #MeToo movement. Yet, I thought it became a little didactic at times, and there was also a plot point that showed the victim having regrets about acknowledging the enormity of how rape affected her life. I was not comfortable with the way Diana confronted her assaulters.
