At this point in her career, Jane Green has been able to explore plenty of different genres. Her 2022 novel, SISTER STARDUST, was set in a glamorous 1960s milieu. Her new book, THE MANY PRIVATE LIVES OF MISSY COOKE, also possesses no shortage of glamour. But this time, Green has returned to contemporary fiction, set in the world of Silicon Valley's ultra-wealthy tech entrepreneurs. 

The title protagonist and narrator is the daughter of one of those tech billionaires, Marty Clarke, whose company, ipryy, has revolutionized online privacy. Now in her late 20s, Missy also works at ipryy, rotating through various departments as she learns the business from the ground up. She is often seen at her father's side, along with his second-in-command, Clara (who has been a sort of second mother to Missy), and his protégé, Jerome (who is also Missy's boyfriend). 

"Although the plot accelerates in the second half, the novel is at its heart a character study, focused in large part on Missy's personal and family history."

But it hasn't always been that way. Growing up, Missy lived most of the time with her mom, whose marriage to Marty ended when Missy was very young. Throughout Missy's childhood, her mom suffered from debilitating depression. Marty was at best an inconsistent presence in Missy's life, and at worst used child support as a way to exert control. Missy wore hand-me-down clothes that were too small and got free school lunches. Meanwhile, her father was busy running one of the world's richest tech companies. But when Marty was on the scene, he made Missy feel special: taking her for ice cream, picking her up from school in his fancy cars, lavishing her with his charismatic attention. Even though she lived with her mom, Missy has always been her father's daughter. 

Now, at ipryy, Missy is able to gain more access to her father than ever before, even though she is still sometimes at the wrong end of his mercurial temperament, especially when she proposes philanthropic initiatives that are most dear to her heart. So she's both stunned and scared when Marty informs her that he's been diagnosed with cancer. He is departing for Europe to undergo experimental therapies --- and leaving her in charge as acting CEO in his absence. Missy steps into the role at a pivotal moment for ipryy, as they launch a new home hardware product while also exploring additional global expansion opportunities. Is she up for the challenge?

Although the plot accelerates in the second half, the novel is at its heart a character study, focused in large part on Missy's personal and family history. Her motivations might seem mystifying to some readers --- Why does she remain so dedicated to a father whose affections have been so transactional at times? Why does she maintain her relationship with Jerome despite the lack of any real spark? Why has she lost so much respect for her mother? --- but that also might make THE MANY PRIVATE LIVES OF MISSY CLARKE a solid book club pick, ripe as it is for debate on many of these questions.