A dark debut

Novel explores marriage and parenting

You Were Made for This Michelle Sacks Little, Brown Appearances sometimes are not just deceiving but can hide fissures so deep and fractured that tragedy can seem a surprise when it occurs.

Michelle Sacks richly explores marriage and parenting — and the illusions that some couples present to the world — in a riveting debut.

To outsiders, Merry and Sam Hurley seem to have settled into an idyllic life in rural Sweden. The Hurleys thrive on being together almost constantly — “an island of three” — doting on their eightmonth-old baby, Conor. Merry has embraced cooking, canning and spending precious time with Conor.

Sam has regenerated his career filming documentaries and commercials. They insist they don’t miss the chaos of New York City, where he was an anthropology professor at Columbia University and Merry was a sought-after set designer.

But all that is a charade, like one of Merry’s intricate sets.

Sam forced Merry to move to Sweden, where he had inherited a neardilapidated house from his stepmother. Merry doesn’t know that Sam was fired from his job, nor that his work in Sweden is nonexistent.

In private, Sam doesn’t miss a chance to deride his wife, her former career or her appearance.

Worst of all, Merry cares nothing for Conor, will let him cry for hours and stay in a dirty diaper.

Then Frank, Merry’s best friend and also worst enemy, comes for a prolonged visit, upsetting the house of cards. The tragedy that follows is devastating and unpredictable.

Each character proves to be an unreliable narrator in You Were Made for This, and Sacks excels at making the trio both the heroes and the villains. Each alternately elicits sympathy from the reader and then disgust.