The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall

*Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own.

About the book-

Shortlisted for the Giller Prize • A local schoolteacher is arrested for a heinous crime, leaving his family to wrestle with the possibility of his guilt in this exquisite novel about loyalty, truth, and happiness.
The Woodburys cherish life in the affluent, bucolic suburb of Avalon Hills, Connecticut. George is a beloved science teacher at the local prep school, a hero who once thwarted a gunman, and his wife, Joan, is a hardworking ER nurse. They have brought up their children in this thriving town of wooded yards and sprawling lakes.

Then one night a police car pulls up to the Woodbury home and George is charged with sexual misconduct—with students from his daughter’s school. As he sits in prison awaiting trial and claiming innocence—is it possible?—Joan vaults between denial and rage as friends and neighbors turn cold. Their daughter, seventeen-year-old Sadie, is a popular high school senior who becomes a social outcast—and finds refuge in an unexpected place. Her brother, Andrew, a lawyer in New York, returns home to support the family, only to confront unhappy memories from his past. A writer tries to exploit their story, while an unlikely men’s rights activist group attempts to recruit Sadie for their cause.

Provocative and unforgettable, The Best Kind of People reveals the cracks along the seams of even the most perfect lives and the unraveling of an American family.

My thoughts-

I thought the premise behind this book sounded interesting, a hero or a villain? Can one be both? That said, the book did not at all flow at all the way I imagined it would. I thought it would be more about the charges against George, and his impending trial. I did think it was an interesting look into the behind the scenes of what a family goes through when their loved one is accused of a heinous crime that becomes high profile. I didn't at all mind the insight into the family's struggle, I was just disappointed to not get the trial or thoughts of George, it seemed almost like an afterthought. If you go into reading the book realizing it is more about the family than about the crime and procedure, then you will probably enjoy the book.