"The Gifted School," by Bruce Holsinger

If there was ever a fictional indictment of overly-invested, status-conscious, out-of-control middle-to-upper-middle-class parents, it is “The Gifted School” (Riverhead, 2019), by Bruce Holsinger. This novel tells the story of the fierce competition for spots at a newly-opening public magnet school for “gifted” children, and the lengths to which ambitious parents go to make their children stand out among the thousands of applicants for places in the school. The setting is an affluent suburb of Denver. The main characters are members of five families. Four of the families are connected by close friendships among the four mothers; the fifth family is from Mexico and does housecleaning for some of the other families. The novel, indirectly and sometimes directly, addresses themes of class, race, gender and privilege. The parents’ hopes and struggles for their children’s achievements and “leg up” in the world are evident even outside of the school competition. One family’s twin sons, for example, are soccer players, and due to their father’s ambitions, they are pushed into competing in ever bigger and more prestigious soccer leagues, no matter what the cost -- financial, physical, and otherwise. There are many twists and turns to this novel’s plot, and it is hard to look away. The characters are drawn well, whether they be female or male, children or teenagers or adults. Holsinger is sharply observant, and makes good use of telling details. A compelling aspect of the novel is the four-way friendship among the main characters, the moms. The author shows how important the friendships are to each woman, and the many ways in which they support each other; he also shows the complexities of the friendships and even betrayals among the friends. “The Gifted School” is horrifying in some ways, taking a hard look at human weaknesses and at issues of privilege, yet very believable, and at its heart, humane in its recognition that we are all complicated, with both problematic and redeeming qualities.