City People: five women take a hard look at themselves and their lives after the sudden death of a friend

City People by Elizabeth Topp is a story about a band of mothers who are forced to reevaluate their lives as they deal with the aftermath of the sudden loss of one of their friends. Susan Harris was beautiful and successful, so when she jumps from the roof of her apartment building, her New York City mothers’ group of five friends are left in shock, disbelief and with the question:. how did they not see it? Vic is a single mom with literary aspirations and a bad case of writer’s block. Bhavna is a makeup executive, focusing on her son’s future. Kara has experience dealing with suicide. Penelope and Amy in the middle of a business deal but is the toll worth it for their families? And Chandice is dealing with her own morality as she battles cancer. Between dealing with their friend’s death and their busy lives, they are desperate to get their children into a prestigious private school.

I haven’t read Elizabeth Topp before and City People is contemporary fiction story of five women who are forced to take a hard look at their lives in the wake of their friend’s suicide. The story reminded me of the 1996 movie The First Wives’ Club starring Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton and Bette Milder. Unfortunately, I found it hard to get through this story and it wasn’t the heavy topic of suicide and mental health. I think there were way too many POVs which changed every chapter. The parts of the book which were really heartbreaking for me were the ones from Susan’s POV. I didn’t care for any of the other women and I could easily see how these women missed the subtle signs. Overall, I did not enjoy this story. However, I do appreciate that the author included a note at the end about suicide and including a suicide hotline. I do not recommend City People. 

City People is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook