Hedge Fund Wives

This was ok as a sort of chic lit novel. It wasn't badly written and I made it to the end. It seemed to start off with more ambition than was delivered in the end. About two thirds of the way through the author seemed to have found she had gone too slowly to that point and instead of paring back what was there (and there was room for that), she crammed tying up the loose ends into the last third and even took a jump of four years to say in a few final pages this is how it all turned out. Not very convincing when for most of the novel the protagonist had been desperate to have a child and two of them were delivered in just this final round up. The balance of where the author's attention goes is very odd in this last section too; there's a complete guide to being interviewed by the resident's group of a posh New York apartment block the protagonist is buying. Then there are oddly chosen details of setting up a firm where we get specifics on exams sat actual trades made, but a leap from no staff to 30 in not much more than a paragraph. You won't learn a lot about hedge fund wives either, except they have oodles to spend, that it goes in the main on furnishings, eating, baby showers and clothes, and the names of a few of the brands they might prefer. The characters seemed all too frilly to be hedge fund wives and there's so little view into that world in the book she should possibly have made them wives of some other category of wealthy businessmen, but then it wouldn't have had the same appeal in the recently post crash era when it was published.

Having read a few books about the bank collapses that have covered the more serious economic side of the fallout, I decided to take this more frivolous account for a test drive, and was not disappointed! Marcy, the heroine of the story, gives up her own promising career to move to New York with her husband to support his career as a trader. Marcy sticks out like a sore thumb but soon makes friends with a like minded HFW who has her own career. The horrors are all there though - the botoxed, size zero, plucked to perfection gold diggers but the author makes them more then one dimensional, and there are one or two that you even get to like a little more by the end. I enjoyed every minute of it - the shopping, the politics, the backstabbing, the outrageous shows of wealth at a time when everyone else was losing the shirt of their backs. Marcy, however, is someone you get to seriosuly admire, and her true personality and drive finally emerge as the story progresses. I could not put this book down and if you want to be seriously entertained give it a go.

Good start but ultimately disappointing. Over all I felt it was simply a vehicle for the author to show off her knowledge of various topics, for example private banking, US real estate and the economic climate of 2009. I felt the plot was loosely woven around this. The ending was lame and lazy as if author had got bored and just wanted to wrap it up quickly. The `good' characters get all the success and happiness they want and the `bad' ones get their comeuppance. I wouldn't even recommend this as beach read, stick with Jackie Collins.

Bought this book because it was cheap and fancied a light read. Sadly, the only thing this novel is `light' on is any type of writing skill.I am not a reader of the insultingly titled `chick lit' but if this is a good example of it then I won't be sampling any more: the heroine was annoying, the story was predictable (with a ridiculously sickly happy-ending), and the writing was just plain rubbish. The narrative includes loads of explanatory details which are superfluous, clunky, and don't add to the story. Plus, the pace of the story is completely off. It's clear from the book description that the main character's husband is going to leave her but this doesn't actually happen until halfway through which means there is very little space left in the novel for anything the reader is unaware of. The split should definitely come in earlier and then more time can be given towards making the ending even slightly believable.If all you want is a hearts-and-flowers ending with very little decent story-telling then this is the book for you. If you want more than that then avoid at all costs.

This novel was a great read. Probably the best chick lit book I've read - ever.It's a notch above say, Kinsella, in terms of depth and credibility in the details. As a professional working in finance, I found the details about the hedge fund world, and the wider economy very accurate, relevant. The scenario might not be the most subtle one, but some of the dialogues are excellent. The author has done a very good work researching the subject.Regarding some reviews about this book being anti-feminist, I don't think they are deserved. The book's main message is precisely that women should not be too reliant on their partner, neither financially nor emotionally. This is done in a less cliché way than a Kinsella's shopoholic or the Devil wears Prada workoholic.I am looking forward to reading other books by the same author.