Finding Mrs. Ford

by Deborah Goodrich Royce, Saskia Maarleveld (Read by)

Overview

On a sunny summer morning by the sea in New England, Susan Ford's cocoon of privilege is threatened when an Iraqi man from her distant past boards a plane in Baghdad to come find her.

Mrs. Ford leads a privileged life. From her Blenheim spaniels to her cottage on the coast of Watch Hill, Rhode Island, she carefully curates her world. Hair in place, house in place, life in place, Susan Ford keeps it under control.

Early one morning in the summer of 2014, the past pays a call to collect. The FBI arrives to question her about a man from Iraq-a Chaldean Christian from Mosul-where ISIS has just seized control. Sammy Fakhouri, they say, is his name and they have taken him into custody, picked up on his way to her house.

Back in the summer of 1979, on the outskirts of a declining Detroit, college coed Susan meets charismatic and reckless Annie. They are an unlikely pair of friends, but they each see something in the other-something they'd like to possess. Studious Susan is a moth to the flame that is Annie. Yet, it is dazzling Annie who senses that Susan will be the one who makes it out of Detroit.

Together, the girls navigate the minefields of a down-market disco where they work their summer jobs. It's a world filled with pretty girls and powerful men, some of whom-like Sammy Fakhouri-happen to be Iraqi Chaldeans.

What happened in that summer of 1979 when Susan and Annie met? Why is Sammy looking for Susan all these years later? And why is Mrs. Ford lying?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781094008769
Publisher:	Blackstone Publishing
Publication date:	06/25/2019
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Deborah Goodrich Royce’s thrillers examine puzzles of identity. Reef Road hit Publishers Weekly’s Bestseller list, Good Morning America’s Top 15 list, and was an Indie Next pick by the American Booksellers Association for January 2023. Ruby Falls won the Zibby Award for Best Plot Twist in 2021 and Finding Mrs. Ford was hailed by Forbes, Book Riot, and Good Morning America’s “best of” lists in 2019.

She began as an actress on All My Children and in multiple films, before transitioning to the role of story editor at Miramax Films, developing Emma and early versions of Chicago and A Wrinkle in Time.

With her husband, Chuck, Deborah restored the Avon Theatre, Ocean House Hotel, Deer Mountain Inn, United Theatre, Savoy Bookstore, and numerous Main Street revitalization projects in Rhode Island and the Catskills.

She serves on the governing and advisory boards of the American Film Institute, Greenwich International Film Festival, New York Botanical Garden, Greenwich Historical Society, and the PRASAD Project.

Deborah holds a bachelor’s degree in modern foreign languages and an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Lake Erie College.

Editorial Reviews

…the story is a fun one, with a nifty twist midway. It's also a resounding object lesson on why cocktail waitressing at a mob joint does not necessarily make a great summer job.

The New York Times Book Review - Marilyn Stasio

"In her literary debut, Deborah Goodrich Royce has given us the sort of thriller that wants to be devoured in one sitting. Written from start to finish with crisp and poignant prose, compelling characters and setting, Finding Mrs. Ford entertains as much with imagery as with its masterful plot twists. I couldn't put it down."

Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg

"Juicy and suspenseful"

People Magazine

"Royce draws you into her plot via her dazzling treatment of this setting, and other equally well-drawn locales, including disco-era suburban Detroit, which figures heavily in the plot as well. This novel, which is Royce's first, features equally three-dimensional characters and plot twists that are engaging and original as well. Once you've enjoyed Finding Mrs. Ford, you'll find yourself expecting more great things from this author, as am I."

Forbes.com

"Something about the flashbacks—from staid, starchy Watch Hill, RI, in 2014, to big, bad Detroit in 1979—made it feel sexy and a little dangerous...the story is a fun one, with a nifty twist midway."

The New York Times

"Royce has done a sterling job of incorporating all the things our mothers warned us about...Which is where the title of the book comes in. Don't think you know who's at the door, what's in the envelope, or who's been sleeping with whom until all the players have been accounted for."

BookTrib.com

"The plot propels forward in unexpected ways—connecting the past and present with an ending that I didn't see coming. If you are seeking a beach read that is impossible to put down, look no further than Finding Mrs. Ford. I was hooked from the very first page."

Sarah Vickers

"Deborah Royce's first novel, Finding Mrs. Ford is a treat—an exquisitely written literary thriller that compels the reader forward right to the last page and makes one hope she is writing a second and third novel."

Patricia Chadwick

"I tore right through the early galley of Finding Mrs. Ford by Deborah Goodrich Royce this past weekend. This is a thriller set in wealthy Watch Hill, RI and blighted suburbs of Detroit, MI, alternating between the late 1970s and present day, with an incredible twist in the middle that will take your breath away. Written with such self-control and calculating precision, Royce has done an excellent job of keeping us glued to the pages as the characters expose themselves in their intricate lives, and lies. A superb debut!"

Annie Philbrick

"In this absorbing debut, Deborah Goodrich Royce takes readers on a twisty, mesmerizing journey between the rarefied world of Watch Hill, Rhode Island and the warring of gangsters of 1970s suburban Detroit, as a grieving widow is forced to confront the consequences of a fateful summer thirty-five years earlier. Brimming with vivid characters and emotional insight, Finding Mrs. Ford tackles big themes of identity, friendship, and loss, spinning out the suspense to the last page. A total triumph."

Beatriz Williams

"An impressively original, immediately engaging and thoroughly entertaining novel by an author with a distinctive narrative storytelling style."

Midwest Book Review

"Deborah Goodrich Royce's gripping and relatable literary suspense novel Finding Mrs. Ford unravels the decades-old secret behind an otherwise perfect life... The novel's payoff is a thrilling twist that comes late in the book. As Susan accepts that the truth will cost her everything's she's known, her memories of 1979 become more vibrant, violent, and graphic. The real thrill of Finding Mrs. Ford comes from reconciling the person Susan says she is with the girl she used to be."

Foreword Reviews

"Something about the flashbacks—from staid, starchy Watch Hill, RI, in 2014, to big, bad Detroit in 1979—made it feel sexy and a little dangerous...the story is a fun one, with a nifty twist midway."

The New York Times

"Juicy and suspenseful"

People Magazine

Narrator Saskia Maarleveld is outstanding in this absorbing, multilayered listen. The audiobook begins as the FBI arrives at the Watch Hill home of Susan Ford, asking about a man named Sammy Fakhouri. Susan has a carefully curated life—everything is under control. What follows is an expertly written story unfolding in two parts—the current investigation and the summer of 1979 in Detroit, when Susan met the impulsive and captivating Annie. Together, they take summer jobs at a disco with Mob connections and encounter Fakhouri. Maarleveld seamlessly transitions between time periods and points of view, voicing the focused Susan and the reckless Annie with clear distinctions and nuances that perfectly match their personalities. The audiobook begins slowly but as the story unfolds, one can’t stop listening. K.S.M. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

JULY 2021 - AudioFile