About ELIZA STARTS A RUMOR by Jane L. Rosen
Eliza Hunt is the creator of the Hudson Valley Ladies’ Bulletin Board, a local social media group for the mothers of her community just north of New York City that she started when her twins were barely out of diapers. Fifteen years later, with an empty nest and a crippling secret affliction—agoraphobia—it’s brought to her attention that the younger moms in her town no longer have any use for the group she prides herself in running. Instead, there’s a new group online—and this one is populated with comments airing the salacious and personal details of her neighbors’ lives. The group is lively and has so much activity, and in a moment of jealousy and boredom, Eliza attempts to rile up her own community by starting a tiny rumor in a post on the Hudson Valley Ladies’ Bulletin Board. But you know what they say about rumors: they often contain a nugget of truth.
The rumor—an anonymous comment about an alleged affair—spreads like wildfire and affects Eliza’s closest real life friends. New mom Olivia York is convinced the rumor is about her husband. Allison Le, a single mom and new to the Hudson Valley, channels the New York City lawyer she used to be and attempts to investigate Olivia’s fears—but even she is not immune to deception via the Bulletin Board by a new friend she meets there. And Amanda Cole, Eliza’s childhood best friend, has reentered the community following years of abuse from her Hollywood husband—but she also might hold the key to why Eliza’s agoraphobia has reared its ugly head and led to this mess.
In ELIZA STARTS A RUMOR, Rosen explores female friendships and the power of community—both online and in real life.