This debut novel by Molly Ringwald, of The Breakfast Club fame, is a cleverly executed rendition of love on the rocks in LA. At its heart is the disintegration of Phillip and Greta Parris's 18-year marriage and the impact this has on their young daughter, Charlotte. The novel is compiled of eight stories, half of which are told from the perspectives of characters that, at first, seem unrelated to Greta and Phillip's situation (a bereaved, elderly woman; the single mother of Charlotte's friend). As each one develops, however, it becomes apparent that everyone is connected to the Parris family in some way, and the stories become interwoven to construct a multi-layered narrative that illustrates the many guises betrayal can take.

Although some of the most interesting characters appear in one story and never again (a cross-dressing six-year-old; a once-famous children's TV actor), it is Ringwald's candid rendering of Phillip and Greta as a hyper-ordinary couple that lends the novel a poignant universality. As its title suggests, Ringwald's book is a deft exploration of the human capacity to rediscover oneself when faced with betrayal ("when it happens to you, you will be surprised").