I am a big Laura Lippman fan, so was excited to try this. What did I think of this book? Very interesting. Check out my review of Prom Mom!
Written and edited by Jen Ryland. Last updated on:
Prom Mom by Laura Lippman
To be released on July 25, 2023 by William Morrow. Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I read this book in July 2023
Plot Summary of Prom Mom
Amber Glass has spent her entire adult life putting as much distance as possible between her and her hometown of Baltimore, where she fears she will forever be known as “Prom Mom”–the girl who allegedly killed her baby on the night of the prom after her date, Joe Simpson, abandoned her to pursue the girl he really liked.
But when circumstances bring Amber back to the city, she realizes she can have a second chance–as long as she stays away from Joe, now a successful commercial real estate developer, married to a plastic surgeon, Meredith, to whom he is devoted.
The problem is, Amber can’t stay away from Joe.
And Joe finds that it’s increasingly hard for him to ignore Amber, if only because she remembers the boy he was and the man he said he was going to be.
Against the surreal backdrop of 2020 and early 2021, the two are slowly drawn to each other and eventually cross the line they’ve been trying not to cross.
Review of Prom Mom
In addition to being yet ANOTHER book with a pandemic sub-plot, Prom Mom is the slowest of the slow burn books I’ve read recently.
I’m not sure I’ve talked about my review process, but I like to go into books with as few preconceived ideas as possible. I typically request review books six months in advance and then read them months later. I don’t look at other reviews ahead of time.
By the time I was halfway through Prom Mom, I decided Laura Lippman had NOT written a mystery, a thriller, or even a suspenseful book this time around.
Would I even call Prom Mom suspense? Things did pick up at the end. A little. But not much. There was a twist of sorts, but it really felt a bit beside the point.
And yet, I did like the book in the end.
The premise is an interesting one: two people, linked by a traumatic event, meet up again years later. I also didn’t know that Prom Mom is loosely based on a real case from 1997.
Prom Mom spends a LOT of time on how these two people have moved forward (or not) after this event. The two main female characters are each fascinating in their own way, and the character development is thorough (though I’d argue that Joe could have been a much more interesting character than a Trump-supporting commercial real estate investor. But maybe that was the point.)
The issues raised are really interesting (to me, at least): after being convicted by the court of public opinion and even possibly serving time, does a person move forward? What are the reasons for matricide? (I’d argue a combination of hormonally triggered mental illness and a pathological need for perfection.)
If you don’t mind a very, very slow burn and like a book that gives you a bunch of time to contemplate the issues it raises (maybe a bit like this also very slow paced book), I’d definitely try Prom Mom.
Other Laura Lippman books I’ve reviewed: Dream Girl.
I’d love to see a spoiler discussion on this one!
Thanks, I will put it on the list!
I agree too slow moving for me and anticlimactic.I was disappointed.
Sad to read about 3 smart and successful women willing to risk and lose so much for the attention of this soulless character. Are some women this desperate? To find out that Joe had killed the baby doesn’t surprise me because he was a mama’s boy, an athlete, and was given a job by his uncle which enabled him to not mature and to avoid the real consequences of his actions. All of the characters in this book are unlikable and the main character initially garners some degree of sympathy which she rapidly loses through her behavior cheating her clients and cow towing to Joe.