The Note: A Novel, Alafair Burke, author: Kathryn Ho, narrator
When three old friends escape to the Hamptons, the northeast summer playground for the rich and famous, for a long-overdue reunion, they get far more than they bargained for. Planning to dine in a lovely South Fork restaurant, in Sag Harbor, they are flummoxed when while they are patiently and politely waiting for a parking spot, a rude couple sneaks in and steals it. What should have been laughed off and ignored, because some “elitist” people simply take advantage of others, and it is best to turn the other cheek, is instead ruminated over at dinner, They drink heavily and plot their “pretend” revenge. Unfortunately, one member of the group takes their imagined prank too far. Why was this couple so important to them? What did this prank have to do with the past of these three best friends?
The three were very loyal friends, though they engaged mostly online. They did not live near each other, so email and texts were a convenient method of communication. They texted each other all day long. Kelsey Ellis, Lauren Berry, and May Hanover had become fast friends when they were much younger and in camp, as campers and counselors. Kelsey and May were schoolmates. Lauren was about a decade older than both of them, but their friendship grew the year they were all working at the camp together. Then tragedy struck and they were separated.
Each of these women, had unfortunately, experienced shameful publicity on social media that had mortified them and almost ruined their career paths. Their back stories, interspersed with several unfortunate and unexplained deaths, unfolds in mystery and suspense. Lauren had been involved with Thomas Welliver, a married man, for years. His wife Jessica created a scandal about the relationship and tried to get Lauren fired from her job. Lauren, was a brilliant musician who was the first Black Director of the Houston Symphony. When the affair between Lauren and Tom became public, social media exploded with gossip about her, especially since she was a person of color. Tom and his wife were very wealthy and very involved in the social scene. Jessica did not want to lose her social status, so eventually, she remained married to Tom, accepting his infidelity, and Lauren’s life proceeded, as before.
In the subway, during the time of the pandemic, May spiraled out of control and falsely accused someone of attacking her there, jumping to conclusions because of his race. He was black, and she believed he was threatening her. Social media loved the race-baiting of this “Karen”, though she was half Asian. Overthinking seems to be May’s go-to response. She is engaged to Josh, a guy who calms her, and she seems to be recovering from her overreactions with the help of therapy. She was a former prosecutor and is now a professor. At one time she dated Nate, Kelsey's brother.
Kelsey was accused of murdering her own husband, Lucas Freedman. She is the daughter of William Ellis, a rich real estate mogul in the wealthy enclave of the Hamptons and is the quintessential “white Karen”. She seems flighty and entitled. Her brother Nate was pretty much disowned by her father when he divorced Nate’s mother. In the middle of the divorce proceedings, for Luke and Kelsey, Luke was brutally murdered. The case remains unsolved, and she is still the subject of harassment on social media. Kelsey is, therefore, camera shy and tries to keep a low-profile.
While at their last summer camp together, there was another musical talent there. Lauren had been helping to mentor Marnie Mann. When she was found drowned, with a head injury, Lauren was fired, although she had nothing to do with Marnie's "accidental" death. The parents of the campers needed a sacrificial lamb, however, and her race made her the convenient choice. The young girl who had drowned was suspected of having witnessed Tom and Lauren together and of creating the scandal that resulted when it had been revealed. What, if anything, did Marnie really reveal? Was there another secret? This innocuous seeming event served as the seed that caused many of the later problems that the three women faced.
The novel encompasses many themes: social media abuse and abusers, incest, infidelity, secrets, lies, murder, helicopter parenting, elitism, racism, independence, emotional turmoil, friendship, love and loyalty, law enforcement, the justice system, and a social scene that is out of control. As it moves slowly into the future, twisting and turning in so many directions, I often felt that my head was on a swivel. In the beginning of the book there is a Walter Winchell quote: “A real friend is one who walks in, when the rest of the world walks out. That, in a nutshell, is the essence of this book. How many readers will feel that they have, or are, “a real friend”?