Imagine a disaster of third-world proportions told through the lens of first-world white privilege, and you have the makings of this book. I picked this up while on vacation in New Orleans, thinking the premise (woman moves into a new home three weeks before Katrina struck) sounded like an interesting tale of personal and urban renewal. Instead, Reed knows her perspective is limited, but makes no bones about it. At one point, she gives the caveat that her editor at Vogue cut a fluffy reference from a post-Katrina article she was working on, claiming it was a "Marie Antoinette moment." Reed then goes on to say her whole perspective is essentially a Marie Antoinette one, and she knows she's incredibly lucky. So be it.

I found Reed to be incredibly materialistic, off-putting, and tone deaf to an astonishing degree. To start, the book opens with five chapters of how much Reed loathes her contractors working on the titular home and how many mistakes they make, or how their work is just not to her liking. Then, when the storm does finally loom on the horizon, she discusses at length her main concern before evacuating the night before it hit--whether or not to throw her champagne bottles and lobster shells outside in the trash, where the storm might deposit them elsewhere, such as a neighbor's yard, or to keep them in their house, where they might stink up the place. Or there's the reference to their actual departure (after being stuck in traffic, they knew of "secret" back roads and "flew" out of the city--how many could have been spared if this information had been shared earlier?), and Reed then spends some time detailing their first night out of NOLA post-Katrina's landfall, where she and her husband and parents feasted on steaks and wine while those left behind drowned. I don't doubt Reed tried to convey her gratitude in her good fortune and her genuine affection for New Orleans, she just comes off as a privileged rich girl who doesn't have much of substance to say. The editor who greenlit this book should be embarrassed.

The one silver lining of this book? It was purchased in New Orleans itself, and hopefully the transaction's sales tax will go toward rebuilding the city or similar worthy renewal programs. If you're interested in New Orleans, skip this book and make a donation instead--or better yet, go check the city out for yourself.