Regrets Only

Single mom Paige Lancaster, the protagonist of this razor-sharp novel from Scott (Wish You Were Gone), returns to her hometown of Piermont, Conn., with her eight-year-old daughter, Izzy, after being fired from her lucrative screenwriting job in L.A. and a spectacularly violent breakup with her boyfriend. Settling in with her widowed mother, Paige enrolls Izzy in the elementary school she attended and discovers that the cliquish Parent Booster Association runs the school and sometimes its members’ lives. PBA president Ainsley Anderson and her three board members rule the PBA with an iron hand, demanding “100 percent membership enrollment” from the parents. Ainsley and her crew annoy Paige, demanding that she join committees and attend parties—so many parties. The women close ranks on her, especially when they learn that Ainsley’s husband was once Paige’s high school boyfriend. Then a death brings embezzlement, bribery, and adultery to the forefront. The stark contrast between the women’s perfect public personas and their messy private lives enhances the clever, brisk plot. Fans of Liane Moriarty, Mean Girls, and the Real Housewives franchise won’t want to miss this one. Agent: Holly Root, Root Literary. (Jan.)