Kevin Kwan

Fiction 2024 | 467 pages

I loved this book from page one.  I don't know why books about superbly rich people keep showing up on my bookshelf these days but Lies and Weddings just seems to have none of the ostentatious excess of The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post.

The super-rich characters in Lies and Weddings have depth, unique characteristics, well-developed roles, and Kevin Kwan has subtle, wry humor, and a marvelous way with story.

The gargantuan Gresham legacy is flat broke, though the (not very likable) matriarch Arabella does not know this and spends millions and millions in the 437 pages of this book.  Nevertheless, she wants to marry off her daughters to men with titles and significant fortunes themselves, and she especially wants to marry her (gorgeous) son Rufus into money.  To that end, she keeps fixing him up with entirely inappropriate partners.  He is a man with a kind heart and generous soul and the facade of these heiresses do not begin to interest him.  And then there is “the girl next door” … a physician, Eden, whom Rufus asked to marry him when they were fourteen.

Because the characters are Chinese, or half-Chinese, or in some way connected to international Chinese culture, each new character is introduced to us with their educational pedigree: (pg 71) for example, “Laurel (Balboa/Thacher/Cornell/MIT) …”. This is delightful!  It made me smile every time, though I didn’t know more than a third of the institutions.  The introduction of the filthy rich addict Luis Felipe will touch your funny bone!

The fashion, the designer names, the costs of the dresses the women wear to various weddings and pre-and post-wedding events are not even comprehensible in my mind, as I sit here in J. Jill jeans and a long-sleeve t-shirt that is no less than 30 years old!

Yes, enjoy this novel!  I started it Tuesday morning at camp and finished it Wednesday afternoon.

Another summertime read recommended by The Week.

August 2024