Malibu is a place of scenic beauty but a magnet for natural disasters – floods, hurricanes and fire. Jenkins Reid describes this landscape ravaged by fire with sensual imagery. I can feel the destruction and the renewal. It’s also a place where surfers flocked to on their longboards in the ’70s and ’80s.

We follow the lives of four famous siblings whose father, Mick Riva, is a celebrated singer but a womaniser. They grow up in a shabby beach bungalow built out over the water. The sun and surfing mould them into fame but the sex and the secrets try to destroy them.

Nina becomes a talented surfer and supermodel, annoyed by the glorification of her body instead of her talent in the waves, but needing the money to support her siblings. She now unhappily lives in a concrete and glass mansion on a cliff provided by her tennis pro husband before he runs off with another tennis pro. She cares for her three siblings: Jay becomes a champion surfer and Hud a renowned photographer; Kit, the youngest strives to be as talented and sexy as her siblings.

In flashbacks from 1956, we follow the history of the Riva family – the love and betrayals, the anger morphing into sorrow, and the effects on their offspring.

Throughout all this, suspense and mystery intensify over the impending party that Nina throws every year. We know it will be catastrophic … but how? All the beautiful people will make sure they attend as a wild time is always guaranteed. Relationships become twisted and interesting enough to become an obsessive read, with a highly unpredictable conclusion.

Just as we would have to do in a fire, the characters struggle to decide what is important to keep and what they can leave behind. Younger and older readers alike will appreciate the wisdom and courage shared by the Riva family in their dramatic, challenging relationships.

Reviewed by Judith Grace