The Darlings by Christina Alger
Sunday, May 5, 2013 at 2:13PM 
Published by Viking Penguin - Pamela Dorman Books on February 16, 2012
Carter Darling is a principle in a money management firm called Delphic. His daughter Merrill is married to Paul, recently hired as Delphic's general counsel. One of Delphic's hedge funds is heavily invested in an outside fund managed by Carter's friend, Morty Reis. When Reis apparently commits suicide, Paul's ex-girlfriend, an SEC lawyer, warns him that Reis' fund is under investigation. Delphic's future may depend upon a power struggle at the SEC between an idealistic enforcement lawyer named David Levin and his ambitious boss, Jane Hewitt. Events reach a climax in a whirlwind of activity during a Thanksgiving weekend.
Intrigue abounds in The Darlings, from office politics in the SEC to divided loyalties in Carter's family to the inevitable clash between the press and everyone else. At times the novel's dramatic tension and brisk pace give it the feel of a thriller (albeit without the action and violence that thrillers provide). The response of Carter and his lawyer to the threat of criminal prosecution is deliciously Machiavellian. Paul eventually faces a moral crisis that provides the novel's most interesting moments, one that forces him to choose between self-interest and the interests of the Darling family.
Carter's wife, Ines, is a model of repressed efficiency. She is at the center of a perfect storm as her long-standing (and long-ignored) grievances against Carter merge with the financial crisis that threatens to destroy the family. Her daughter Merrill is a securities lawyer who is painted just a little too brightly. She's ultra-competent, friendly, likeable, always willing to pitch in and help others during late night hours despite her own overwhelming workload. (One wonders whether the author modeled Merrill upon an idealized version of herself.) On the other hand, Merrill isn't perfect: she recognizes and regrets her attempts to turn her husband Paul into her father. Some of the novel's best drama arises when Merrill must choose between them.
The Darlings (at least the older ones) value illusion over reality, appearance over substance. They don't talk about their family problems because that would require acknowledging that the family has problems. The social lives of New Yorkers with old and new money (and, more often, their hangers-on) fill out the novel. This is usually a subject matter that tempts me to start skimming, but Cristina Alger is equally adept at portraying the declining expectations of investors and of New York's single women. Her grasp of the novel's subject matter is masterful, and the story she tells is often unexpectedly moving. The Darlings is a novel that should appeal equally to fans of financial thrillers and family dramas. For that matter, it should appeal to any fan of strong, sensitive writing.
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