The Golden Couple

by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkannen

The authors say the idea for this book started with the title, which was suggested by their editor. This title sparked their imagination: a couple may appear to outsiders to be “golden”—but what secrets and tensions might be hidden inside that golden façade?

Marissa and Matthew Bishop are successful, well-off, good-looking and stylish. They live in a beautiful house in an upscale neighborhood with their young son, Bennett.

Avery is a therapist who’s developed a ten-session method for solving clients’ problems. Marissa has booked a session with Avery for herself and Matthew, ostensibly to discuss their son, but really because she wants to make a confession: she’s been unfaithful. Matthew doesn’t take this well, but agrees to sign up for an additional nine sessions with Avery to work on their marriage.

Avery is sure more is at issue than infidelity, and begins to investigate her new clients. Her intrusive methods have gotten her into trouble before, and have actually resulted in her losing her license as a therapist. But she considers that this frees her to proceed with her method, without the constraints of professional regulations.

Avery’s own personal life is complicated. Her husband died of a brain tumour, and she’s recently been sleeping with Derrick, the man who came to install a new security system at her house. She  needed the security system because she’s being harassed by a large pharmaceutical corporation. Execs at the corporation demand to know who told her that one of their new medications has dangerous side effects. Avery reported this to a regulatory body; she thought that her report was anonymous, but someone has breached her privacy.

This story continues with many complications: full of tension, red herrings, and stunning twists. This is a thoroughly enjoyable read, with reveals that will take your breath away.

Sarah Pekannen’s first novel, The Opposite of Me, was published in 2010, and she published seven more (one a year) between then and 2017.  Her working relationship with Greer Hendricks, then her editor at Simon & Schuster, quickly developed into a firm friendship and a recognition that they had similar narrative instincts.  When Greer decided to leave S&S and commented that she would like to write a novel, Sarah suggested they write one together.  That first novel, The Wife Between Us, generated a bidding war and was published in 2018 to great acclaim. Since then they have published three more books as a duo: An Anonymous Girl (2019), You Are Not Alone (2020) and now The Golden Couple which came out in March 2022. 

Sarah and Greer have a lot in common: they are the same age (56), they both studied journalism and psychology in college, and both are now married with two children. Sarah was a journalist and feature writer before launching her fiction writing career; she and her family live in a Washington DC suburb. Greer was an editor at Simon & Schuster for 20 years, and lives in Manhattan with her family.

Though they live in separate cities, they write “every word” together, using Google Docs and Google Hangouts as their collaboration tools. This served them well for writing a novel during the pandemic. They also like to get together in person once a month for a working weekend, plastering their hotel room walls with post-it-notes as they plan characters and plot twists (and “walking and talking” in between, an idea I love.)  

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