“A nuanced and complex look at the long-standing consequences of privilege and toxic masculinity . . . . Compulsively readable!” —Kate Moretti, New York Times–bestselling author of The Vanishing Year
Megan Mazeros and Lauren Mabrey are complete opposites on paper. Megan is a girl from a modest Midwest background, and Lauren is the daughter of a senator from an esteemed New England family. When they become roommates at a private women’s college, they forge a strong, albeit unlikely, friendship, sharing clothes, advice and their most intimate secrets.
The summer before senior year, Megan joins Lauren and her family on their private island off the coast of Maine. It should be a summer of relaxation, a last hurrah before graduation and the pressures of post-college life. Then one night, something unspeakable happens, searing through the framework of their friendship and tearing them apart. Many years later, Megan publicly comes forward about what happened that fateful night, revealing a horrible truth and threatening to expose long-buried secrets.
“DeBoard does a wonderful job creating her realistic and flawed characters . . . . This story particularly resonates now, in the throes of the #MeToo movement.” —Booklist
“A wrenching tale of broken friendship and shattered dreams.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Suspenseful and evocative . . . . An engrossing read.” —Kimberly Belle, national bestselling author of The Marriage Lie
“An absorbing exploration of how we attain personal power and the consequences of wielding it.” —Kathryn Craft, author of The Far End of Happy
“Observant, devastating, and thoroughly satisfying.” —Emily Carpenter, author of The Weight of Lies
“Powerful.” —Publishers Weekly

The Fragile World