She Regrets Nothing

In the uneven latest from Dunlop (Losing the Light), 23-year-old Midwesterner Laila Lawrence, whose father died years ago, is orphaned when her mother, Betsy, dies in a car crash. At the funeral, the sudden appearance of her wealthy paternal New York cousins, twins Nora and Leo, and their older sister, former model Liberty, kicks off a defining and eventually tragic chain of events. Two years after the funeral, the newly divorced Laila is living with Nora and Leo in their adjoining New York penthouses and working as an intern at Liberty’s literary agency. She’s restless and determined to claw her way to the top. Shopping sprees (at Nora’s expense), nightclubs, a disastrous affair with a much older billionaire—Liberty’s would-be love—and more are only the tip of the iceberg for Laila, whose sociopathic tendencies are obvious. The kind-hearted Liberty is the strongest character and stands out among her wealthy peers; the feckless, insipid Nora and the puckish Leo are little more than caricatures. In spite of a certain salacious appeal, Dunlop’s melodramatic novel is a shallow exploration of privilege and bad behavior that doesn’t have much to say. (Feb.)