Perfect Little World

A Novel

By: Kevin Wilson

Narrated by: Therese Plummer

Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

When Isabelle Poole meets Dr. Preston Grind, she's just about out of options. She recently graduated from high school and is pregnant with her art teacher's baby. Her mother is dead, and her father is a drunk. The art teacher is too much of a head case to help raise the child. Izzy knows she can be a good mother, but without any money or prospects she's left searching.

So when Dr. Grind offers her a space in The Infinite Family Project, she accepts. Housed in a spacious compound in Tennessee, she joins nine other couples, all with children the same age as her newborn son, to raise their children as one extended family. Grind's theory is that the more parental love children receive, the better off they are.

This attempt at a utopian ideal - funded by an eccentric billionaire - starts off promising: Izzy enjoys the kids, reading to them, and teaching them to cook. She even forms a bond with her son more meaningful than she ever expected. But soon, the gentle equilibrium among the families is upset, and it all starts to disintegrate: Unspoken resentments between the couples begin to fester; the project's funding becomes tenuous; and Izzy's feelings for Dr. Grind, who is looking to expunge his own painful childhood, make her question her participation in this strange experiment in the first place.

Written with the same compassionate voice, disarming sense of humor, and quirky charm that made The Family Fang such a success, Perfect Little World is a poignant look at how the best families are the ones we make for ourselves.

©2017 Kevin Wilson (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

Delightful and long awaited

I’ve been waiting for Mr. Wilson to publish something-Anything- since I read The Family Fang. Perfect Little World isn’t as transporting or wonderfully weird as Family Fang but it’s a fun little field trip nonetheless. The performance is fantastic.

Warning:spoilers

A unique and complex story and impressive narration, but somehow the way the ending was so neatly tied up felt a bit too perfect. But I enjoyed it all the same! Sometimes when kids are featured prominently, I find the narration of their voices (by an adult narrator) to be a little grating. It’s unavoidable in this book but it was handled well.

Beautiful and complex

Kevin Wilson writes honest, quirky, creative fiction. I love everything he writes! He sometimes has me laughing, sometimes crying. Read his books! They are all fantastic.

A Different Kevin Wilson

I love all Kevin Wilson's books because they are creative, unique and profound. This one is different in that while his usual quirkiness I love so much is non-existent, it's still very good. Fans of Wilson's more extreme style might be disappointed with this shift to more normalcy, so be advised that this book is not intended for wild entertainment with a deep underlying message like the others, it is much more straightforward.

Infinitely awesome

Can’t wait to share this book with my Book Club! I think it was an excellent read I would highly recommend it. Definitely give it a shot if you’re on a the fence about it. The characters were well-developed as is the storyline and every turn and every twist made it was perfect.

Plummer made me keep hoping

This plot kept me hoping. It was highlighted in a podcast as a “best of 2017”. I love the cut-edged plot. It never made me feel as if it truly begun. Had a five-star potential.

Very good but strange ending.

I really loved this book. It was captivating and enjoyable. The characters were easy to like. The only thing is the ending was strange and abrupt. Without giving it away, I felt there was much left to be desired about the main character’s thing with older men.

epilogue missing!

the book is great but the ending feeling lacking. . . Probably because the epilogue that ties everything up is missing.

great story

Is a great book easy to listen to and you fall in love with the characters

Narrator is the best

Great story. Therese Plummer is my Favorite Narrator. She is spot on on every book she narrates.