Just finished reading this nonfiction piece for book club - could not put it down. I fully expected to not like it because I was so skeptical of Stephanie Madoff Mack's story. I'm still kind of skeptical, but now I also just feel bad about the whole thing.
This goes through Stephanie meeting her husband, Mark Madoff, falling in love, having a family, being rich and peaceful - and then having the bottom drop out. Mark, upon finding out about his father's business wrongdoings, turns him over to the authorities. From there, their lives are put on hold as things are sorted out. They have to deal with public fall out, anger, media, lawsuits. Stephanie points out that her husband ran the legitimate end of the Madoff business and had no idea about Bernie's ponzi scheme. However, I'm still not sure about all of that.
About 70% of the way through the book, Mark, no longer able to deal with the pressure, commits suicide, leaving Stephanie and two very young children to cope with what is left.
The family dynamics throughout are rocky and uncomfortable (though Stephanie and Mark seem normal enough). Once the Madoff scheme is unveiled, it goes to drama town quickly. And there are a lot of relationships to deal with in this book - none of them are easy. Makes me happy for my own family and our non-scandalous savings accounts/investments.
I started this book around 12am while Jason was traveling and finished it around 2:30. It's a quick read. I kept saying - I'll stop at the next chapter - but the chapters were so interesting I didn't want to put it down. Truthfully, I had no interest in the family before reading this, I still don't; it's a riveting look at sociology. Read it!
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