This Beautiful Life

by Helen Schulman

First published 2011

Jake Bergamot is fifteen when an eighth grader sends him a sexually explicit video. He forwards it to a friend without thinking twice. Within hours, the video spreads across his school and beyond. What started as a thoughtless click becomes a viral scandal that exposes his family to public judgment and scrutiny. His parents watch helplessly as their comfortable world crumbles. The incident forces them to confront uncomfortable questions about their son, their values, and their place in their community. As the fallout intensifies, the Bergamot family must navigate the wreckage of their reputation while trying to hold themselves together. The crisis tests every relationship and assumption they once took for granted. Helen Schulman examines how a single moment of poor judgment can unravel an entire family's foundation.

Genres: fiction, contemporary, social-issues, family-drama

Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking

Tropes: family-drama, social-consequences

225 pages · Hardcover · Harper

Content warnings: explicit-sexual-content

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