Zoe Whittall’s novel, “The Best Kind of People,” took me on a roller coaster ride. I experienced more ups and downs than are healthy for an old sedentary reader. Fortunately the ups were more prevalent making it a very intriguing book. The downs are probably picky on my part because I have a problem with the book’s predominately female slant towards an ugly contemporary problem.

The story is depressing. A respected teacher at a high school of mainly affluent students is accused of molesting several young girls at a camp. He is arrested and a sad story begins for a wife who develops conflicted feelings about his guilt, a seventeen-year-old daughter with troubling tendencies of her own, her brilliant and horny boyfriend, the writer brother of the boyfriend who enables the girl to feed her pot habit, the wife’s grating sister, the teacher and wife’s gay son who has a shaky relationship with his partner, a female school aide who vocalizes her support of the teacher with annoying zeal, and assorted other women who, as part of a husband-gone-bad support group, manage to severely dig at the wife’s already fragile mental state.

In a remarkable feat Whittall manages to probe deeply into the hidden fears, suspicions, support, and rumors of all these characters. But then she leaves out an important one. That would be the accused teacher, George, who cools his heels in jail awaiting trial. He only receives sporadic visits from members of his family as they unload their feelings, questions, and doubts on his fearful soul, while the reader gets no insight into his suspected misdeeds, his state of mind, or his treatment while being imprisoned.

The accusation of child abuse falls deeply within most men’s inner fear at being caught up in a no-win situation. There’s not a man of my acquaintance who doesn’t get queasy thinking about being accused in this manner. It’s a no-win situation. There’s so much public attention being directed at child abuse, so many accusations that turn out to be false, and such life-altering shame attached to these accusations that a real study of the impact on both the accused and the families should be addressed. Unfortunately this book does not go there, staying on one side of the issue.

The author’s treatment of the impact on the people left behind is very well done. It’s all there; the tension, doubt, behavior, questions, bonding, divisiveness, and grief. A little more on the agony suffered by the accused would have been appreciated, in my opinion, but the void is not a book breaker. Read it and be deeply moved.

I just couldn't get into this book. It could of by the hype about it. The story started out good but then about the 5th or 6th chapter I just lost interest. I did finish the book and I would classify it as a sleeper.

This book packs a quiet punch and a strong message that really has nothing to do with the salacious plot line. I finished it a few hours ago and I'm still ruminating on the characters and outcome. This is a character study, not a legal thriller yet it still makes for compelling reading. I received a free ebook from Netgalley but this had no influence on my opinion.

The Best Kind of People is a wonderful book about things that one never thinks happen to "the best kind of people."

When loving husband and schoolteacher George is accused, seemingly out of the blue and seemingly impossible, of sexually abusing some of his teenage girl students on a ski trip, the apparently wonderful life he and his family had is ripped apart at the seams. He is thrown in jail, and despite protestations of innocence, stays there for a long time awaiting trial. During this time, his family falls apart.

Without revealing much more, I'll just say that I was surprised by the ending.

Zoe Whittall does an admirable job of crafting this story and allowing it to play out. There are some surprises, in the form of dredged up ancient history, that had interesting twists to the tale. Highly recommended.

Review posted on Goodreads

The plot of this book could be taken from the headlines of any US newspaper. It's about white privilege, marriage, societal norms/taboos, bullying. A beloved husband/father/teacher is arrested for sexual contact with a minor/student. Chaos for his family and the town ensues. The book tells how the wife, adult son and teenage daughter deal with their anger and doubt.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. The story kept me turning the pages to see how it turned out, but it also left me unsatisfied. It wrapped up a little too neatly although there were plenty of unanswered questions. And you don't get much insight into the father. The end just leaves you guessing if it's really what it seems.

The Best Kind of People had such a strong start that I expected so much more out of it. By the second half of the story, I felt the story and the characters were dragging. I was disappointed the story didn't explore the fathers point of view, and the other characters fell flat at times.

You never know what you would feel unless you're in that situation. How many times have you heard that? Well, I'm saying it to you again. In a posh, elite town where everyone respects the accused, his family starts to fall apart. Expertly crafted and seemingly believable the family is divided with their loyalties on his innocence. We come to love each member for their own reasons yet wonder if George is right. Zoe Whittall has created a fabulous and fully dimensional look into an age old constant.

Sorry; I read over half of this book and it just wasn't for me. I am sure it will be a hit with others. Thank you for the opportunity.

Zoe Whittall's The Best Kind of People is a thought provoking book. George Woodbury is a very upstanding and well respected citizen. Years ago as an instructor at a prep school he tackles a would be gun man and prevents him from shooting his daughter and others. His family has donated money to the community as well as the school. One day his world and his family's world come crashing down. Students have accused George of inappropriate behavior. Read along as his family awaits the trial and as they try to understand what is happening. The raw emotions and coping skills that are portrayed here seem very real.

Quite the thought provoking book. A story of a well respected teacher and pillar of the community arrested and accused of crimes with underage student girls while on a school ski trip. We get to explore how family and neighbors react to him and his family. Over time some family secrets surface with varied effects and subsequent behavior by all.
Thoroughly enjoyable and provocative. Hopefully another book comes soon.

I cannot imagine how this sensationalist book was nominated for a Giller Prize. I felt completely manipulated while reading it. In the novel George Woodbury, a science teacher at a private school, is arrested for sexual misconduct with students on a ski trip.

The town is instantly divided between those who support him, mostly wing nuts, members of men’s rights organizations but also the mayor and other prominent citizens. After all, George Woodbury was the son of a very wealthy man who was the founder of the school.

His daughter, having doubts as to his guilt, immediately retreats and moves to her boyfriend’s house. There is no explanation for her doubts as years before her father had saved her life when tackling a man who was pointing a gun at her. They had had a wonderful relationship. I understand why as the book went on she could have begun to question her father, but from the first her best friend Amanda, whose sister was one of the accusers, had made disparaging remarks about her sister. As the bullying and accusations flood into the Woodbury home, as she is taunted at school, Sadie begins to fall apart. Yet her behavior, getting drunk and high, skipping classes and never studying make me wonder how she ever got into Columbia even if she was supposed to be brilliant. Colleges do look at students’ senior years, but maybe her family connections got her in.

I would have liked the book more George’s perspective had been included. His voice is silent, though he writes a book during his year in prison.

" The Best Kind of People" by Zoe Whittall
This was an intense read, at least for me. There were a few, very few characters that were not damaged or injured by the shrapnel released through the accusations, arrest, and indictment of George. I had never really thought about how friends and communities treat the family of a person accused and indicted of a crime, nor what the family does to itself. The family that is just as shocked and surprised as the community not only needs to deal with their new reality, but are also punished unmercifully by a community that just a 'blink of the eye' before held them in high esteem. I give the book 5-stars for the depiction of the trauma that impacts a family when horrendous knowledge is thrust upon them. Once the fabric of a family has been be so torn asunder.. well there is only going forward. There are lots of points for discussion by a book group.

Title: The Best Kind of People
Author: Zoe Whittall
Rating: 3.5/5
Description from Goodreads: “What if someone you trusted was accused of the unthinkable?

George Woodbury, an affable teacher and beloved husband and father, is arrested for sexual impropriety at a prestigious prep school. His wife, Joan, vaults between denial and rage as the community she loved turns on her. Their daughter, Sadie, a popular over-achieving high school senior, becomes a social pariah. Their son, Andrew, assists in his father’s defense, while wrestling with his own unhappy memories of his teen years. A local author tries to exploit their story, while an unlikely men’s rights activist attempts to get Sadie onside their cause. With George locked up, how do the members of his family pick up the pieces and keep living their lives? How do they defend someone they love while wrestling with the possibility of his guilt?

With exquisite emotional precision, award-winning author Zoe Whittall explores issues of loyalty, truth, and the meaning of happiness through the lens of an all-American family on the brink of collapse.”

Review: This book drew me in right away. I was intrigued by the plot and kept trying to figure out if George was guilty or not. I would think that I knew, and then there would be something new that would come up and it would make me rethink it.
I loved how this book focused on the family and what they endured. Often times we think about the people who are accused and go to prison, but I don’t see as much about their families, and what they go through. The blame that often gets put onto the family is both unfair and hurtful. This book showed just how much these things matter.
This was well written; the writing was vivid and very detailed. I felt as though I was there, with this family through the worst moments of their lives. I could picture their beautiful home, the prison, the courthouse, everything. I got lost in this story and it was hard to pull myself out of it when it was over.
I felt as though the story was realistic and relevant to our society today. It really makes you wonder if you truly know anyone. If someone you loved was accused of something horrible, could you say without a doubt, that you knew they were innocent? We all want to think that we would, but could we?


*I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher. A positive review was not required. All opinions are my own.*

A very different kind of story that leaves you with lots of questions!

I couldn't put this book down and have been sad since it ended because I enjoyed it so much. Completely addictive story and the way it's told unfolds perfectly. Five stars and two thumbs up!

I was intrigued by the plot of The Best Kind of People. This book was looking at the aftermath of when a teacher is accused of sexual assault on a student. When I mean aftermath, I mean how the family is affected by everything that happened and how they cope with it. So, I was a little disappointed when the book didn’t live up to my internal hype of it.

I could not connect with any of the characters after my initial feeling bad for them. There was a disconnect with Sadie, Andrew, and Joan with me. They didn’t seem to ring true as I read the book. Sadie’s descent into smoking pot and stealing drugs was a little too much for me. What also was a little too much was Andrew’s reactions to his hometown. To sum it up: He loved to hate the town and the people in it. And then there is Joan. For someone who kept saying that she didn’t look down on people, she sure looked down on everyone in the book. She was very judgy and she drove me nuts. Her reactions to different relationships nailed it for me.

What I did like, and I wish more emphasis was put on it, was George and what he did. The author did a great job keeping you on your toes. Did George do it or was he being set up? There wasn’t a concrete answer. You were forced to make your own decision based on the facts that the author let leak during the story. It was great.

The author also did a great job portraying a family that was blindsided by what happened. The effect of George and his arrest almost dismantled his family. Sadie got the worst of it…seeing that she was in the same school as her accusers. She went from being a popular well-liked girl to a social pariah within a day. Andrew, whose relationship was already on shaky ground, started developing awful anger and relationship issues. Joan was having issues coming to term with what George did and had no clue how to act or what to do. The author also did a great job of showing how they recovered or didn’t recover, from what happened.

The end of the book was not a happy one which was ok with me. Not all endings have to be happy. There were still issues that needed to be resolved and you are left wondering “Did he do it?”

My Summary of The Best Kind of People: 3 stars

The Best Kind of People started off with a bang and then stalled out before ending on a weak note. While I liked that I was kept on my toes about George, I felt that there was a disconnect with his family and that is what brought the book down a star for me.

Will I reread: Maybe

Will I recommend to family and friends: Maybe

Age range: Adult

Why: Sexual situations, drug use

I would like to thank Zoe Whittall, NetGalley, Random House and Ballantine Books for allowing me to review The Best Kind of People

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy for free from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Sadie, a senior in high school, is on the fast track to the college of her choice and has a boyfriend that she adores. Her life has not been perfect, but the trauma of a childhood event that could have ended in her life is now a memory, like a bad dream. But it really happened, and her father became the hero, saving her life and undoubtedly many others in the process.

She has a great family. Her mom, Joan, is an ER nurse. Her dad, George, is a beloved teacher at the school she attends. Her brother, Andrew, is older, has moved away from their hometown and is in the process of finding happiness away from the ghosts of his past. Unfortunately, the entire family’s almost perfect life is about to come unraveled at the seams.

George and Joan Woodbury have a nice home in a gated community. Unfortunately, the fences are not high enough to keep the lions from the gates once George is arrested. He tells his wife there is a group of girls lying about him. They say he sexually assaulted them on a field trip. When the police unexpectedly arrive at their doorstep, handcuff George and execute a search warrant on their home, his family is devastated. He assures them it is only a formality and he will be home as soon as his lawyer clears up this misunderstanding. Unfortunately for George, he is seen as a flight risk due to his family’s money and bail is denied.

Joan is trying hard to hold things together. The press won’t leave them alone and almost all of her friends have abandoned her. Her sister is there to support her and her son Andrew is coming back on weekends to do what he can. But sometimes you need someone you are not related to in order to share what you are thinking and how you really feel. So even before the trial, she decides she needs to go to a support group for families of people who commit crimes like those George has been accused of.

Sadie can’t go to school because of the comments, stares and numbness inside of her. All of the sudden her life is no longer what she ever imagined and honestly is having trouble coping. Is her father guilty? Are the girls lying or telling the truth? Either way, will her family survive intact?

This novel is so real it is frightening. Sometimes monsters are ordinary people living ordinary lives. Lies are told, crimes are committed and they could be the next door neighbor that you invite over for a BBQ – until their secrets are exposed. Whittall’s characters come alive on the pages through little things that made them seem like people you work with, live by or live with. Conversations subtly demonstrated the growth and pain of each, drawing the reader into their thoughts and confusion.

This is the first novel I have read my Zoe .53Whittall; it will not be my last. She is the author of Bottle Rocket Hearts and Holding Still for as Long as Possible. It is no surprise that Ms. Whittall is a national bestselling author in Canada or that The Best Kind of People was a finalist for the 2016 Giller Prize. If you are a fan of Jodi Picoult – you will love The Best Kind of People.

Copyright © 2017 Laura Hartman

I had a hard time connecting with this book. It never grabbed me. I think there were issues with the plot and the writing - several things were summarized that I, as a reader, wanted to "see" through the characters; often the characters' actions and decision didn't make sense; and overall the characters just weren't believable. I skimmed the last 25% or so, not because I cared or wanted to know what happened, but because I wanted to be able to say I finished.

A well written book that dives into the complex topic of how well we really know the people we love and trust. Pieces of the story were unveiled at just the right pace to keep me very engaged. It is a fast read while still giving you plenty to think about. At times it reminded me a bit of the book Defending Jacob. The characters are well crafted and multi-dimensional and there is a very interesting interplay between two characters that helps to drive home the message that not everything is what it appears to be. I will definitely be checking out the author's earlier books.