Monday 7 January 2008

Book ~ "The Gatecrasher" - Madeleine Wickham (2007)

From Amazon.com ~ Armed with a closet full of designer black suits, the daily obituaries and a face that never betrays her 40 years, Fleur invades the funerals of the wealthy, enchantingly rich, grieving new widowers in need of a shoulder to cry on. She attends the memorial service of Emily Favour, whom she pretends was a long-lost acquaintance, and promptly lures the good-hearted Richard Favour into her web. Although his troubled daughter, Phillipa, and her crafty husband, Lambert, suspect serious gold digging, Fleur's beauty and charm dazzle them, and soon she's invited to live at the family estate in Surrey. What Fleur finds there is a gate-crasher's dream ... a welcoming family, an accessible Gold Card and, after some snooping, a bank account worth millions. Even when Fleur's daughter, Zara, whom Fleur has neglected to mention, arrives unexpectedly from boarding school, the Favours make no fuss, welcoming the teen into the fold. As Fleur and Zara become comfortable with country club life, Fleur learns that she's not the only one scheming for Richard's money, and that Richard might not be as gullible as she thinks. But with Zara finally enjoying the stability of a real home, can Fleur leave so easily this time? Wickham creates memorable characters who are as unpredictable and multifaceted as they are stylish. While the quick wrapup misses a cue, this novel is still jolly fun.

A positively horrible story! I hated all the characters except the kids, Antony and Zara.

As if Fleur could get away with robbing these men and none of them come looking for her. And Richard is the biggest sap ever ... he deserves to get robbed!

The ending sucked!

Hard to believe that this author and Sophie Kinsella are one and the same.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Fleur? How dare she disgrace the name! ;-)

Jay said...

Ick, sorry you were disappointed.

I hate that!

Teena in Toronto said...

I know, Lisa! How care she!!! This character was soooooooooo not likeable!

Teena in Toronto said...

Jay: I hate that too ... putting that much time into a book and hating it.