Welcome to Maple Street - a picturesque corner of the suburbs of Long Island, whose inhabitants lead a measured and decent life, being convinced that it will always be so. Meanwhile, the world around is beginning to change rapidly. The threat literally lurks underground. After the Wild family moves to a respectable suburb, a real Brownian movement begins among the neighbors. It’s no wonder. The father of the family, Arlo, is a former rock star and drug addict. His wife Gertie has a thick Brooklyn accent and style issues. And the children even swear like sailors. Such people do not exactly fit the image of the pious residents of Maple Street. Despite the fact that the leader of the local community, college professor Rhea Schroeder, initially warmly greeted Gertie and her family, the relationship soured at one point, as soon as the new neighbors opened up too much over a glass of wine. Thus, the Wilds quickly became outcasts. As tensions rise on Maple Street, a sinkhole forms in a nearby park, into which Rhea's daughter Shelley falls. The search for the girl ends with accusations from one mother against another. Suddenly, the entire local community turns against the Wild family and threatens to kill them. A gripping and biting satire of the bourgeois denizens of an upscale American suburb, the novel is also about ostensible friendship and maternal solidarity, and the consequences that can await you when you don't fit in. into the social environment.