by Eric Puchner
First published 2010
The Ziller family appears to have everything when they settle into their new house in an affluent Southern California suburb. Warren Ziller sells model homes in the desert for a living, but his properties sit uncomfortably close to a large waste pond. When the family's finances collapse, Warren must relocate his wife and children to one of these desert houses and take work going door to door as a salesman. The Ziller children face their own struggles with adolescence while watching their parents' marriage disintegrate. One child suffers serious injuries in a house fire. As money grows scarce and their world becomes smaller, each family member fights to survive the breakdown of everything they once knew. The children desperately try to hold onto love and hope while their parents make increasingly poor decisions that push the family further toward ruin.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-drama, fish-out-of-water
Setting: California, Southern California
Period: 21st-century
360 pages · Hardcover · Scribner
Content warnings: depression, domestic-violence