A collision of political ambition and secrets of the heart.

Tiny Little Thing by Beatriz Williams

About this book: In the summer of 1966, Christina Hardcastle—“Tiny” to her illustrious family—stands on the brink of a breathtaking future. Of the three Schuyler sisters, she’s the one raised to marry a man destined for leadership, and with her elegance and impeccable style, she presents a perfect camera-ready image in the dawning age of television politics. Together she and her husband, Frank, make the ultimate power couple: intelligent, rich, and impossibly attractive. It seems nothing can stop Frank from rising to national office, and he’s got his sights set on a senate seat in November.

But as the season gets underway at the family estate on Cape Cod, three unwelcome visitors appear in Tiny’s perfect life: her volatile sister Pepper, an envelope containing incriminating photograph, and the intimidating figure of Frank’s cousin Vietnam-war hero Caspian, who knows more about Tiny’s rich inner life than anyone else. As she struggles to maintain the glossy façade on which the Hardcastle family’s ambitions are built, Tiny begins to suspect that Frank is hiding a reckless entanglement of his own…one that may unravel both her own ordered life and her husband’s promising career.

About the author: Beatriz Williams is the New York Times-bestselling author of The Secret Life of Violet Grant, A Hundred Summers, and Overseas. She lives with her husband and children in Connecticut.

Genre: Fiction/General

First impressions: The elegant cover provides the perfect teaser for this sophisticated tale. And first pages? Hook, line, and sinker.

If this book were a movie, I would rate it: R for profanity and mature content

Reminds me of…The Widow Waltz

Will especially appeal to… fans of Elin Hilderbrand

This story matters because…it reminds us that sometimes the price is not worth paying…no matter what the prize.

My take: It may say tiny in the title, but there’s nothing small about this book. Quite to the contrary, it’s bursting with big personalities, big secrets, big twists, and one big, fat, whopper of an ending.

I was grabbed from the start by the author’s whip-smart voice and her deft hand at narration. Williams proves herself to be a master storyteller who knows how to structure a story to wring maximum tension from every page. Each scene raised fresh questions I could hardly wait to see answered. And some of those answers I never saw coming.

Reading a Beatriz Williams novel, I’ve discovered, is like watching a movie in 3-D. Each carefully chosen detail, every impeccably crafted phrase combines to elicit the utmost pop from every scene.

From start to finish, Tiny Little Thing is a terribly sophisticated (read also: very worldly) novel brimming with fascinating, multifaceted characters, whether you choose to love ’em or hate ’em–or sometimes both. The plot twists kept me riveted to the end, and I turned the last page satisfied, yet longing for more.

[Tweet “As smart & sophisticated as they come, a riveting summer read. #TinyLittleThing @BCWilliamsBooks”]

Thanks to Penguin Random House for providing me a free copy to review. All opinions are mine.

After words: This novel surprised me in so many ways, from unexpected word choices to emotional impact. What novel have you read recently that took you by surprise?