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Title: Social Crimes : A Novel by Jane Stanton Hitchcock ISBN: 0-7868-8848-2 Publisher: Miramax Pub. Date: 02 July, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.88 (43 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Good to the last page
Comment: In SOCIAL CRIMES, author Jane Stanton Hitchcock has crafted a page-turner that will fascinate her fans right up to the final sentence.
Her story is clever, and the detail she offers about upper class life, its affectations and its hypocrisy, alone is worth the book's price. Hitchcock writes about what passes for high society in modern-day New York. Knowledgable readers will have a lot of fun identifying all of the mimimally disguised characters and places in this book.
Hitchcock pokes fun at many of this society's pretensions, such as when she uses the heroine's fascination with Marie Antoinette as a counterpoint for the basic plot. Wait! Wasn't it Mrs. G, the former stewardess, who went French on "tout New York" exactly as the heroine, a former restaurant hostess, herself does in SOCIAL CRIMES?
This story is stunning in its cleverness, and it is a credit to Ms. Hitchcock's fertile imagination. She hangs this entire novel on the one loophole under New York estate law that obviates a spouse's absolute right to claim a share of inheritance under the will of the deceased husband or wife, and she uses this loophole with brilliance. Hitchcock's storytelling skills are wonderful.
SOCIAL CRIMES is a fun read that leaves one thinking after the book concludes.
Rating: 4
Summary: Life Among the Rich and Famous Can Be Deadly!
Comment: In the tradition of Edith Wharton, and with a clever and witty look at New York society, Jane Stanton Hitchcock presents a fast paced read with her newest book, Social Crimes.
This is the third book I've read by Ms. Hitchcock and this is her best book so far. With an almost tongue in cheek approach, the author presents less than sterling characters in a plot readers will long remember.
Jo Slater is living a life beyond her wildest dreams. A former restaurant hostess from the Midwest, Jo is now married to an enormously wealthy older man. She has become a true society lady owning an estate in the Hamptons, a fabulous apartment in Manhattan and a collection of priceless art and antiques, which includes a necklace owned by Josephine Bonaparte. But Jo is about to suffer a fall from grace when she befriends a French Countess whose background is quite mysterious. When Countess Monique has nowhere to stay for the remainder of the summer, Jo graciously offers her their guesthouse. And while Jo and Monique become fast friends, and Jo reveals a bit too much about herself, Monique is soon to prove to be quite the manipulator at Jo's expense.
All too soon, Jo is living on the other side of great wealth and society life, while Monique is now one of New York society's latest society ladies. After a period of disbelief as to what has happened to her, Jo moves into high gear and learns that revenge can have a higher price than she thought possible.
Like The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe, Ms. Hitchcock has a fine eye and ear for depicting life among the very wealthy. One reads this book with a chuckle and realizes at the end that position and wealth can be fleeting at the best of times.
Rating: 4
Summary: Revenge is always bittersweet
Comment: This novel is typical of high society and the backstabbing and hardships that come along with the riches and power. The downfall of one grand woman amidst New York City's social elite was the plot to this riveting tale of lies and deception. I was constantly rooting for her to succeed at whatever costs. She was a great lead character, and a great example of a strong-willed woman. One no doubt that deserved her claim to fame and money. You could tell that the rich are rich for a reason; they know how to use their cunningness to achieve high set goals. She truly encompasses the cliche "you don't know what you have until it is gone".
There was one small detail that I didn't particularly buy into while reading this novel. I couldn't help but think that it took place in the middle of the 20th century, circa 1940's, when it in actuality was set in almost the 21st century. I, for one, growing up in the New York modern atmosphere was not aware of the customs that one of such wealth was "supposed" to display. I believe that maybe this would be true for the older generation of wealth, but it's too vague details concerning style and modernimity was lost on me. Not including the single reference to MTV, there was no other sign that we lived in more of a modern era. No cell phones, computers, hell, even people under the age of forty. It was all too old world for me.
Nevertheless, for being a murder mystery, that it was. It definitely didn't lack in the suspense department and it had a delightful ending. It was bittersweet to say the least, but a delight nonetheless. It leaves the reader hanging, but gripped until the last word. I recommend this to any reader looking for a light read with an edge. Definitely of the high class chick lit genre. It was much more well-written then the average chick lit book, though, and the author knew her art and history very well. As a true lover of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I was ecstatic to read about Marie Antoinette, who plays a large part in this novel as well. I consider reading this author in the near future.
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Title: Trick of the Eye by Jane Stanton Hitchcock ISBN: 0786888474 Publisher: Miramax Pub. Date: 02 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Cranberry Queen by Kathleen DeMarco ISBN: 0786890371 Publisher: Miramax Pub. Date: 17 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: If Looks Could Kill by Kate White ISBN: 044661257X Publisher: Warner Books Pub. Date: 01 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Sunday Wife by Cassandra King ISBN: 0786890444 Publisher: Hyperion Pub. Date: 02 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Women About Town by Laura Jacobs ISBN: B00008MNVL Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: May, 2002 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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