Starting with the title, Imbolo Mbue invites the reader to explore the idea of the American Dream, the long-standing premise that through hard work, anyone can achieve the trappings of the good life—upward class mobility, a home, an education, and a future in which children can expect to exceed the gains of their parents. Cindy and Clark’s origin stories and the repercussions of the recession on them reveal the hollowness at the center of this myth of American identity.

To all appearances, the Edwards family is the fulfillment of the American Dream. Clark has exceeded the class status of his professor father by becoming an executive at a finance company. His work at Lehman Brothers means that he can ensure even greater things for the future of his two sons. Cindy, the product of rape and poverty, has become a professional nutritionist and vacations at the Hamptons, things she believes she achieved through her hard work in college. A closer look at how the Edwards family benefits from privilege, and what it does with their gains, undercuts the ideals upon which the myth is built.

Clark’s origins as the child of a professor is hardly a rags-to-riches story. The cultural capital—all the knowledge, networks, and resources that accrue to people as a result of class position—that comes with such a background gave Clark the chance to vault into the realm of affluence, something most poor or even middle-class people could never hope to achieve.