dramastef's Full Review: Anna Godbersen - Rumors: A Luxe Novel
Sometime in the last year I read Anna Godbersen's debut novel The Luxe, a story about juicy scandals and happenings of New York City's elite set in 1899. In that review I mentioned that I enjoyed the guilty pleasure feeling of the book but I wouldn't read the sequel unless I happened to stumble across it. Fast forward a few months. I was returning my own library books when I happened to notice that someone in front of me had just returned the two sequels to The Luxe, Rumors and Envy. Yes, I rented both.
***Spoilers ahead for The Luxe*** Rumors takes place in the two months after The Luxe ended. Elizabeth Holland of the famous Holland family has faked her death to avoid marrying Henry Schoonmaker and to begin a new life out west with the love of her life, poor Will Keller. Only her younger sister Diana, who is in love with Henry, and her conniving ‘friend' Penelope Hayes (of decidedly looked down upon new money) know that she is alive and well.
Like its predecessor, Rumors begins sometime in the future. In this case, it opens at the wedding of Henry Schoonmaker to a bride described only as wearing her mother's wedding dress on New Year's Eve.
Looping back a couple months, the book travels from coast to coast, checking in on Will and Elizabeth in California, happy but poor and with the East Coast elite. Diana is still in love with Henry, waiting for his mourning period to end so they can declare their love. Penelope is still trying to find a way to marry Henry, in order to catapult her social status.
This book also adds a new angle as it follows Elizabeth's ex maid, Lina Broud, who had sold Elizabeth's secrets to Penelope for five hundred dollars in the last book. Now that Elizabeth is gone, Lina (now Carolina Broad) is portraying herself as an orphaned heiress and trying to break into high society.
When Carolina's sister, still employed by the Hollands, bears witness to Henry and Diana's single night of physical love, and goes to Carolina out of concern, Carolina immediately sees how she can once again sell the Holland family secrets for her own gain.
With four books published in under two years, it's hardly a surprise that Godbersen would stick to a formula that worked the first time, but as I reread my review of The Luxe I was amazed at just how little she deviated. Besides the fact that the book starts two months in the future with a tiny teaser, leaving you wondering who Henry's bride will be, but everything else I said about The Luxe can be applied to Rumors as well.
Even at 448 pages, it reads quickly. Like a celebrity rag that you don't want to read but sometimes just can't help reading. The writing is solid, the details numerous and intriguing. Each of the short chapters is preceded by a snippet from either a fictitious gossip column or a (fictitious?) etiquette book. The character development, however, once again falls flat. The characters are all one-dimensional. No growth occurs. No surprises. Penelope is a conniving wretch. Diana is a spirited, good hearted girl. Carolina lacks intelligence and cunning but uses what she can to claw her way into society. Just as expected.
I didn't hate Rumors. In fact, I find myself liking it a little more than I did The Luxe. I already have the next book, Envy, at home in my to-read stack and I'm interested enough to keep reading the series. Consider my rating 3.5 stars and read at your own risk.
In this second installment of the hot new Luxe series, Penelope takes Elizabeth s tragic absence as an opportunity to remake her image, Lina continues...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.