Melanie Summers | Updates

Why We Love Rich People Suffering Stories (Beyond the Obvious Reasons)

Melanie Summers — Sun, 11 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Dear Reader,

I'm in the countdown to the launch of The Awful Truth, a dramatic yet amusing domestic suspense about three disgustingly rich couples who all get on a yacht expecting their wealth and privilege to accompany them when they get off.

Honestly, this book was a pleasure to write in a way that my other books haven't been. And it's because lately (and I don't think I'm alone in this), I've been craving stories where rich people get what's coming. I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that you've also noticed how, as of late, the rich are getting a whole lot richer while turning a blind eye to the struggles of the regular folks. It's been a real affront to my desire to live in a just world.

I suppose that need is one of the biggest reasons we turn to fiction: for a satisfying, just ending that we're not getting in real life.

But, Mel, lots of rich people are really good humans who do so much for charity and actively work to make the world a better place.

Okay, well MacKenzie Scott aside, there's an elite class building bunkers, buying up islands (or, ahem, visiting certain islands), and putting up data centers wherever they can. And again, I'm going to assume I'm not the only one who is thoroughly disgusted.

Besides, we don't really want to see vulnerable people who have less than we do get hurt. There's nothing better than rooting for the underdog and enjoying their win. Unless it's rooting for the downfall of someone who has more than we do. And by more, I mean prettier, wealthier, smarter, and more successful.

So, yes, on this very base level (I'll allow that I can be petty and envious), it can be delicious to see someone who moves through the world with such entitlement and ease get their comeuppance.

But if I dig a little deeper, it's about more than that. As my Grandpa Archie (who I never met because he was born in 1885 and I was born in 1974) used to say, "Anytime you have ten people in a room, one of them is going to be an asshole." Which is to say, poor people can be awful too. As can middle-class folks (like the type to wear in-your-face political sweatshirts about lake-renamings to Nova Scotia, where the world's most welcoming, kind people reside).

So why is it EXTRA fun to watch rich people go through it? Oh, lots of reasons beyond them often being greedy and willfully ignorant (because we all can be those things too).

It's also because when you take away the desperation that one lives with when poor, you take away a massive excuse for behaving badly. A starving child steals an apple at the market, and who could want to punish them? But a tech company steals (and torrents) millions of books from poor authors (including 26 of mine), and it's time to grab our pitchforks.

But the reality is that rich people are still...just people. They eat, they shit, they sleep, just like the rest of us. Only they eat the best food, shit in really gorgeous, airy bathrooms that someone else cleans, and sleep in oceanview bedrooms. They get jealous and feel insecure and have their hopes dashed on occasion. They lie and hide that of which they are ashamed. They can feel lonely and bored (likely more bored than the rest of us who exist in survival mode). Their marriages fall apart at roughly the same rate as the very poor (who often divorce because nothing kills romance like crippling debt).

It's also because deep down, most of us know we will never be rich. Not even close. Most of the population will struggle financially their entire lives. (And I say this with the acknowledgement that I was extremely fortunate to have been born in the country where I was and to have been given the opportunities I've had.) But the fact is, the life we were all sold on Freedom 55 commercials when I was growing up isn't for most people. It's for the few. The ones who inherited it (who, let's face it, are THE WORST) and the ones who made it on their own (with the help of luck or timing or lucky timing that they rarely acknowledge). So we envy their freedom to travel the world in style, their freedom from the stress of not having enough (and their freedom from having to clean their own shitty toilets).

Envy comes from the fear that you will never have what someone else does. Sometimes that fear is reality. I'll never be a 5' 10" model with thin thighs and willowy arms. I'll never be the number one tennis player in the world. I'll never have a book made into a Netflix series or a feature film that people can't get enough of. But sometimes the fear is just some awful shit we make up in our minds to stop ourselves from having too much hope (which can nearly kill a person when it gets crushed). (I feel the Netflix one in my soul because I was once offered the chance at that, only to have it disappear into the ether with no explanation.) But since it sucks to feel envious (and we're usually too ashamed to admit that's what we're feeling), we turn it into hatred or indignant rage. This too, is part of the human experience - replacing an awful feeling with an easier one. We all do it. We just don't think about it.

And for me, that's why I have taken great pleasure in putting all these powerful, privileged people on a yacht off the coast of Croatia, only to kill the air conditioning system and wreak havoc on them. (We writers must be a little evil if we're to do our jobs.)

So, if you, like me, would enjoy such a story, then I invite you to check out The Awful Truth. It might be your cup of tea.

Until next time,

mel

P.S. The most awful character in the book may or may not have the same name as a boy I grew up with who used to tell me I was fat. But I assure you, it's purely coincidental.

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If You Love Big Little Lies and The White Lotus, Try These 7 Novels about Wealthy Couples with Messy Marriages (and Huge Secrets)

Melanie Summers — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Wealth. Marriages teetering on the edge. And desperate decisions.

There's something uniquely satisfying about watching people who have it all discover that money can't save them from themselves.

Give me a gorgeous setting, seemingly happy couples, and the potential to ruin each other, and I'm in.

It's why I fell madly in love with books like Big Little Lies and TV shows like The White Lotus. Beneath the privilege and gorgeous scenery are people dealing with the same problems the rest of us have: jealousy, marriage troubles, ambition, resentment, betrayal, and fear.

They just get to fall apart somewhere regular people can only dream of seeing.

If that's your particular reading weakness too, here are some books to try.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Obviously, this is the book to start with, since it's the book that started the domestic thriller genre. Nobody can do little social observations that make you laugh and cringe at the same time like Ms. Moriarty.

Big Little Lies gives us women-centered stories about motherhood, marriages, friendship, status, secrets, and a death hanging over everything—and makes us desperate to find out who dies.

The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine

If envy, wealth, and social climbing are on your list of must-haves, The Last Mrs. Parrish is for you.

The glamorous marriage at the centre of the story looks very different depending on who is looking at it—and, as with most good domestic suspense, knowing more doesn't necessarily mean understanding everything.

The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth

Sally Hepworth is particularly good at taking ordinary domestic relationships and turning the pressure up until you're desperate to know what these people aren't saying.

The Soulmate begins with a marriage, a beautiful home and a death, then gradually makes you reconsider what you thought you understood about all three.

Hepworth's emotional storytelling, complicated women, and suspense make her one of my favourite authors to recommend.

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

Remote island wedding? Check.

Loads of glamor? Check.

Ensemble cast of characters with old resentments and dangerous secrets? Obviously.

The Guest List is perfect for those who love the closed-circle mysteries in places you'd be dying to visit.

The Club by Ellery Lloyd

The Club takes us inside an elite members-only world populated by the rich and famous, where ambition, status, and secrecy don't exactly mix.

It's the perfect reminder that the more carefully controlled an image appears to be, the more delicious it is when the truth starts to show through.

The Awful Truth by Melanie Summers

Okay, I had to do it. (You know...since it's my blog and all.)

Three sinfully rich couples board a luxury yacht for a week on the Adriatic during a heat wave. They're the kind of rich where the rules don't apply and problems tend to magically disappear.

Antonia and Ted, who have built a global brand around their supposedly perfect relationship, can barely stand one another. Mercy has spent years saving her powerful husband from the consequences of his behaviour. Winslow is hiding something that could destroy his career, while his husband, Miguel, has news of his own that could end their marriage.

The first night, juicy gossip flows as quickly as the drinks.

When they wake, they realize the problem with saying too much on a yacht is that you can't escape each other in the morning.

By the third day, one marriage is as good as over. One guest is desperate enough to do something irreversible. And Mercy is realizing the man she loved was all for show—and the man she fears is who he really is.

Before any of them set foot on solid ground again, one of them will be dead in the water.

Privilege has protected them from consequences for years. But desperation can make even very comfortable people do terrible things.

The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand

A spectacular wedding on Nantucket, a powerful, wealthy family, and a body discovered just when the celebration is about to begin.

Elin Hilderbrand's murder mystery is full of family secrets and people desperately attempting to maintain appearances. Because people who have a lot, also have a lot to lose.

Check out these great titles, and my first book in the Glass Houses Collection, Until the Truth Comes Out. It's a story about the rise and fall of one of the biggest rock bands in history. It's also about the women who loved them, who fell and then rose.

Until next time, I wish you all the best,

mel

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