"The Shakers had indeed left the land that would become Shaker Heights" an affluent suburb of Cleveland, Ohio that "had been founded, if not on Shaker principles, with the same idea of creating a utopia." Elena Richardson grew up with this sense of order and regulation being the "key to harmony." She planned her life of marriage and motherhood "with a propensity to overachieve and a deep intolerance for flaws."
Mia Warren grew up in a middle-class home and left for New York to attend art school. She believed that "anything had the potential to transform, and this to her, seemed the true meaning art." Living in a variety of cities, she created her art and moved on. She and her daughter Pearl came to Shaker Heights and rented an apartment from Elena.
Mia's daughter Pearl made friends with the four Richardson teenagers and began to admire their lifestyle, seeing all the material things she had missed out on. Elena's youngest daughter Izzy felt out of place in her own family and began to admire Mia, her choice of lifestyle, her personality, and her art. "Something inside Izzy reached out to something in her and caught fire."
Other families, other mothers in Shaker Heights, tried to make the right decisions, but often made their own mistakes. "What made someone a mother? Was it biology alone or was it love?"
Mia said to Izzy that "sometimes you have to scorch everything to the ground and start over." "Sometimes you need to start over from scratch." She was referring to why she and Pearl had to move away. Izzy took her words to heart.
The novel and the TV series differ in some respects, but both tell a compelling story. I recommend both.
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