Dirty Laundry

By: Disha Bose

Narrator: Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan

Random House Audio

ISBN: 9780593497388

Publisher: Random House | Ballantine Books

Publication Date: 04/04/2023

Format: Other

My Rating: 3.5 Stars (ARC)

APRIL 2023 MUST-READ BOOKS

DEBUT AUTHOR

A twisty, domestic suspense debut about a clique of mothers that shatters when one of their own is murdered, bringing chaos to their curated lives.

She was the perfect wife, with the perfect life. You would kill to have it.

Ciara Dunphy has it all—a loving husband, well-behaved children, and a beautiful home. Her circle of friends in their small Irish village go to her for tips about mothering, style, and influencer success—a picture-perfect life is easy money on Instagram. But behind the filters, reality is less polished.

Enter Mishti Guha: Ciara’s best friend. Ciara welcomed Mishti into her inner circle for being . . . unlike the other mothers in the group. Discontent in a marriage arranged for her by her parents back in Calcutta, Mishti now raises her young daughter in a country that is too cold, among children who look nothing like her. She wants what Ciara has—the ease with which she moves through the world—and, in that sense, Mishti might be exactly like the other mothers.

And there’s earth mother Lauren Doyle: born, bred, and the butt of jokes in their village. With her disheveled partner and children who run naked in the yard, they’re mostly a happy lot, though ostracized for being the singular dysfunction in Ciara’s immaculate world. When Lauren finds an unlikely ally in Mishti, she decides that her days of ridicule are over.

Then Ciara is found murdered in her own pristine home, and the house of cards she’d worked so hard to build comes crumbling down. Everyone seems to have something to gain from Ciara’s death, so if they don’t want the blame, it may be the perfect time to air their enemies’ dirty laundry.

In this dazzling debut novel, Disha Bose revolutionizes age-old ideas of love and deceit. What ensues is the delicious unspooling of a group of women desperate to preserve themselves.

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My Review

In this crazy wild debut domestic suspense, DIRTY LAUNDRY —Disha Bose revolutionizes age-old ideas of love and deceit. Ciara Dunphy was the perfect wife with the ideal life. You would KILL to have it …

The novel is a dangerously accurate portrayal of new motherhood, secrets, and desires. A fitting title, as the characters' DIRTY LAUNDRY is EXPOSED. Can they wash it away?

When complex female friendships are dysfunctional —they appear to look perfect on the outside, mainly—on social media.

We meet three different women in the same small Irish village (Dublin, Ireland) in this drama-filled soap opera that turns deadly.

An Irish woman and social media influencer with a perfect life (on the outside), and two other mothers in her town: Mishti Guha, an Indian woman trapped in an arranged marriage, and Lauren Doyle, made fun of for her hippie lifestyle.

CIARA: Influencer Ciara appears to have it all — immaculate home, handsome and wealthy husband, well-behaved (in public) children — but below the surface, she's struggling to maintain the facade. A year ago, she video-blogged about her six-step skin-care regimen, not expecting much, and it had gone viral. Ciara turned into an overnight sensation. Now she had everything a woman could desire—children and skin-care expertise. She needed to show she was in control even though she wasn't.

MISHTI: Mishti, Ciara's best friend (only friend)— moved to Ireland from Calcutta after an arranged marriage. She has a daughter, Maya. She is afraid to rock the boat and risk losing her new place in the inner circle. She feels so isolated, even in her own home, that she repeatedly washed dishes to find a sense of purpose and somewhere to stand.

LAUREN: Lauren is the outsider who has yet to fit in, even though she grew up in the area. She looks at the other side, where the grass is greener. Their perfect life, and she catches herself staring through the window in the middle of the night.

Now the friendship between Ciara and Mishti was near collapse because of Lauren. Both women think they know Ciara's secrets. There is always an outsider with three.

Then Ciara is found DEAD.

The author digs deep into the darker nature of the character's relationships with friends, lovers, spouses, children, and family in this whydunit domestic suspense. The author uses a lot of social media, especially Instagram and WhatsApp groups.

Told from different women's POVs (then and now).

We find out early in the book the murder, and the remainder is more focused on the women. The plot examines her relationships with various people, some of whom did not have her best interests at heart.

It appears everyone has something to gain from Ciara's murder. Friends turn to foes and air each other's dirty laundry to avoid blame.

Nothing is ever as it seems.

My favorite part of the book was the character, Mishti, an immigrant, and how she experienced life as a parent, wife, and friend —in a different country.

GMA co-host Eva Pilgrim announced the selection of Bose's novel on the morning show, calling it "a dazzling debut that's like Big Little Lies meets Desperate Housewives."

Thank you to #RandomHouse via #NetGalley for a special invitation to read an ARC for review.

@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks

Pub Date: April 4, 2023

My Rating: 3.5 Stars

April 2023 Must-Read Books

Praise

GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK

“A twisty tale of murder and love gone wrong, rife with bone-chilling revelations . . . This is a riveting debut, and Disha Bose is a writer to watch.”

—Joshilyn Jackson, New York Times bestselling author of Mother May I

“A wonderfully dark and entertaining novel about neighboring friends and enemies. Disha Bose weaves a clever web between three completely original characters, and gives us intimate details of marriage and motherhood that make this read as juicy as it is riveting.”

—Ashley Audrain, New York Times bestselling author of The Push

“Disha Bose’s Dirty Laundry is not only a propulsive page-turner but also an intimate exploration of love, race, immigration, and class. . . . Twisty, smart, and moving: a wonderful read.”

—Jean Kwok, New York Times bestselling author of Searching for Sylvie Lee

“Bose masterfully creates deeply drawn and utterly human characters in this powerful suspense debut.”

—Liv Constantine, author of The Last Mrs. Parrish

“Dirty Laundry is a spider’s web of secrets and betrayals, each one more shocking than the last. The characters are fascinating, sometimes horrible, and always irresistible. Disha Bose has written a tremendous debut novel.”

—Samantha Downing, author of My Lovely Wife

“Dirty Laundry is a delicious take on people behaving badly. . . . Lethal, entertaining, and filled with characters you’ll love to hate and won’t soon forget.”

—Darby Kane, author of Pretty Little Wife

“Rendered in skillful prose and animated by the author’s keen eye for psychological detail, Disha Bose charts a bracing, unconventional path through the familiar landscape of domestic suspense. . . . A captivating debut by an enormously talented author.”

—Elizabeth Little, author of Dear Daughter

“An extraordinary book! . . . Dirty Laundry is an absolutely compelling, original, and intriguing example of domestic suspense at its very finest.”

—Liz Nugent, author of Unraveling Oliver

“Everything I want in a book—Desperate Housewives in a small-town setting, each one up to no good and each turn in the story even better than the last.”

—Andrea Mara, author of All Her Fault

“Disha writes stunning prose and her characters jump off the page. Dirty Laundry is a devastating examination of what lies beneath the surface of three suburban marriages, and how we can never truly leave our past behind.”

—Nikki Smith, author of Look What You Made Me Do

About the Author

Disha Bose received a master’s in creative writing at University College Dublin, where she was mentored by Booker Prize winner Anne Enright. She has been shortlisted for the DNA Short Story Prize, and her poetry and short stories have appeared in The Incubator Journal, The Galway Review, Cultured Vultures, and Headstuff. Her travel pieces have appeared in The Economic Times of India and Coldnoon. Bose was born and raised in India and now lives in Ireland with her husband and daughter.

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