Sunday, April 4, 2010

The Overnight Socialite-Bridie Clark

The Overnight Socialite
Bridie Clark
Weinstein Books, Dec 2009, $23.95
http://www.weinsteinbooks.com
ISBN: 9781602860827

Thirtyish billionaire Manhattanite Wyatt Hayes IV has everything going for him, but is bored with those he considers his social, economic and educational equals. He breaks off with his latest girlfriend Cornelia Rockman and wonders what next.

Leaving Dayville, Minnesota Lucy Jo Ellis hopes to take Manhattan by storm with her designs. She attends a gala in which she thought she was a guest, but ends up serving food. Later that night, a soaked to the bones Lucy heads home disappointed. Wyatt and his posse see her and he bets them he can turn her into the in person as he believes he can change chicken sh*t into a gourmet meal. He explains to Lucy the wager and she reluctantly agrees to his make over of her. As she proves she can, outraged Cornelia blames her replacement and undertakes a vendetta while Wyatt becomes jealous of those male socialites sniffing at his creation.

This is an interesting retelling of Pygmalion with a hyperbolized cast stereotyping various roles especially of the ultra rich and the deer in the headlight innocent coming to take the city by storm. The story is fun to follows as Lucy Jo of Middle American becomes cosmopolitan Lucy of Manhattan. Although the ending can be seen on a clear day all the way to Newark, readers will enjoy the modernization of My Fair Lady into The Overnight Socialite.

Harriet Klausner

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