A story of American suburbia through the lives and experiences of three families – an upwardly mobile Jewish one, a Christian one and a black woman, Lulu, cleaner for the wealthier white families. Set mainly in the Five Towns, an area of Long Island, NY, from just after the Second World War to the 1970s, the book felt more like a sociological study than a cohesive and compelling novel, with each and every character there merely to exemplify a different experience, outlook, mind-set, reaction and so on, but nevertheless I did enjoy it and even if the characters didn’t always engage me, lacking depth as they often did, the narrative kept me reading to find out how it all worked out for them.