Griftopia

Tradwife scams, pickleball craze, pimping kids for social media content … the Freischins never met a cultural moment they didn’t exploit. Orphaned and separated as young children, the Freischin sisters are nothing if not survivors. Now, in middle age, Pearl is blindsided by a sexual harassment allegation at the school where she’s taught for decades, while her sister Scarlett is left penniless after her husband is imprisoned for embezzling. Meanwhile, Pearl’s son Declan, a college student and track star struggling with anxiety, quits school when he becomes entangled with a young con-artist. Scarlett’s daughter, former tennis phenom Helena, needs help as well. Helena’s six-year-old daughter Burkleigh, who achieved meteoric social media fame for her ability to sing like Billie Holiday, has been canceled for appropriation, while Helena, who can’t seem to find a job that pays a living wage, turns to pickleball coaching in order to put food on the table. Close to destitute, the Freischin clan is in danger of homelessness unless they can make some quick cash. Leveraging Burkleigh’s talent, they arrive at a series of progressively dubious internet scams. Griftopia explores the gritty heart of grifting for survival.

Author Biography

Although Suzy Vitello’s first novel, A Plot to Kill a King, never made it out of her sixth-grade classroom, writing it fueled her interest in themes of justice sprinkled with humor. In one form or another, she’s been writing about power imbalance ever since. Her notable novels include Bitterroot (Sibylline Press), The Bequest (Running Wild Press), and Faultland (Ooligan Press). As the Managing Editor of Sibylline Press, Suzy enjoys deep-diving into the minds and hearts of other writers. She lives and writes in Portland, Oregon with her husband and an elderly Rottweiler.