Book Reviews | Group 198 | MCU discussion

«Everything to gain» is Barbara Taylor Bradford’s bestselling novel published in 1994. The events of the book are set mainly in the Indian Meadows, a suburban area of New York, and in London. The main heroine of the book is Mallory Keswick, a young happily married woman, a mother of twins and a lucky owner of a joyful Bichon Frise.
Everything is just perfect in the life of the main character. She married the man she had fallen in love with madly, she has adorable kids and a cute dog, she has a best friend, Sash, who is always ready to help and support her. Even her relationship with mother-in-law Diana is amazing and loving.
Just when you think that it can’t possibly get better, our happy family of five luckily finds a lovely house in the Indian Meadows, a place near New York with stunning nature and fresh air. Mal, her husband Andrew, their twins Jamie and Lissa and their adorable dog Trixy move there together and start their happy family life.
After the celebration of the Fourth of July, Mal and Sash see strange black birds flying around the house, rising off the lawn with a flapping and whirring of wings. Sash says: «They look so strange, so… ominous». This fragment concludes the first part of the book, which is simply called «The Indian Meadows», and gives a rather obvious hint about the further development of the plot.

The second part of the book has no plot value at all and feels like filler. It tells about Mal flying out to London to see Andrew and Diana and some other minor details which have no important impact on the storyline.

The third part features a long-awaited climatic scene when suddenly Mal’s life is overshadowed by a horrible tragedy – all four of her most loved ones are shot in broad daylight, including the dog. The detective aspect of the story isn’t much discussed as well: police officers simply say that the shooter seems to have tried to commit carjacking but got scared and shot everyone to leave no eyewitnesses left.
The ending of the book quickly changes from Mal wanting to kill herself and having no internal point to live anymore to her being supported by everyone she knows and given everything on a silver platter. Her best friend Sash comes to see her every weekend and not only supports her, but also randomly suggests a perfect business plan for Mal to handle her finance problems. The plan later turns out to be successful. Moreover, Mal is lucky enough to meet another perfect man, as caring, kind, rich and handsome as her dead husband, if not more.
Nothing is relatable about this book. Mal’s life seems to have been mapped out; she is just like a puppet in the hands of the author, who gives her various circumstances to react to and no freedom to decide what to do. Everything she has, she has because of her unconditional luck which follows her throughout all her life except for that one and only exaggeratedly tragic event. Because of that, she arouses no sympathy from the reader.
This book overall feels like a complete fantasy. So, in my opinion, those who fortunately have never had such tragic losses in their life shouldn’t read this book as they may develop unrealistically high expectations from the people they’re surrounded by. And those who have shouldn’t read it because they know first-hand how lonely it gets after losing a loved one, even if you still have friends and family to seek support from.
All in all, the only realistic option for all of us is to seek help from our own selves. It is only in us to make our lives happier or bounce ourselves back to normal life after a tragic event. Most often there is no one to give us everything on a silver platter.