It's September 1899 and the Manhattan season is starting off with a bang. Elizabeth Holland, the darling of the high society set, has returned from her year in Paris in time for the first ball of the season, held at her best friend Penelope Hayes' newly finished and incredibly vulgar mansion. Penelope is all about showing herself to the best advantage, and has her sights set on young rake Henry Schoonmaker - but his father has other ideas. Intending to run for mayor the following year, he wants his only son to shape up and marry a good girl from a good family: Elizabeth. The day after the ball, he proposes to Elizabeth and is accepted (even though her heart belongs to the young coachman, Will, whom her maid, Lina, also loves), because Henry's family has money and the Holland family now has none - which no one know about except them. You have to keep up appearances, after all. This is the day he also meets Elizabeth's younger sister, Diana, and there's something about her that captivates him like no other girl ever has. It's a tangled mess and it's about to get a whole lot messier as Penelope schemes to break up the engagement.Okay, I'll admit that despite being rather anti-girly, I've always had a thing for dresses and period costumes, and the big poofy thing on the cover certainly fascinated me. But it also repelled me: it's just so HUGE and PINK and PUFFY! The descriptions of this novel/series that I came across said it was like Gossip Girls and that it was about New York High Society girls at the turn of the century - well it all put me off. Until a friend recommended it, and I'm glad she did, for as ridiculous as the dress is, the book is really very good.I don't watch Gossip Girls, so I can't speak to any similarities there - what I was reminded of, though, was Edith Wharton's The Buccaneers. Admittedly, I have read very few books set in 19th century Manhattan, so Wharton's book was the only one I could think of, mostly because it's about four girls from "new money" making their way in the world amongst the British upper class. I highly recommend it, or the TV mini-series based on it.Anyway, I completely expected to be utterly bored by this book, but instead I was vastly entertained and gripped by the unfolding mystery and tension, and even though the prologue tells you the ending, it doesn't tell you anything, and you're never sure what's going to happen next or how it all worked out. I did suspect from the very beginning the truth about Elizabeth, though.There was plenty to love and enjoy here, despite the somewhat clichéd characters. The setting is vividly brought to life, though I would imagine some people wouldn't care for the little asides about dress fabrics and ormulu (gilt-bronze) inlaid chairs, but to me it added some necessary and authentic detail, as well as showing (without actually telling) the disparity between classes and "breeding": the gaudy over-the-top grandeur of the Hayes' new mansion; the stately but stuffy Schoonmaker home; and the refined, old-world elegance of the Hollands' - all highlighting the still-pervasive class clash between old money and new, inherited from the British. The period is also supported by little clippings from newspapers, journals and those books on the proper deportment of a lady at the beginnings of the chapters, which help remind you of the world outside and surrounding these preoccupied young women, and how everyone is watching them. There is some thought given to class consciousness, the social expectations, pretensions and manoeuvring of the rich, but I was pleased to see it didn't suffer from too much "presentism". It was also good to have one of the protagonists be a lady's maid who ends up on the street - you get to see the less glamorous, more hard-working "trade" side of the city.Of the four protagonists: Elizabeth, Diana, Penelope and Lina, I liked Diana the most. Probably because she was the most honest, direct and least girly, she had spunk and flair and was the least superficial. Elizabeth was handled well: a goody-goody, demure and seemingly innocent girl in public, sharp and uncomfortable with her maid Lina in private, and relaxed and true to herself with Will - a realistic portrait of how most of us present different sides to different people, sometimes what is expected of us, or what creates armour for us, or what enables us to get along with people the best. Elizabeth wasn't all that likeable because she didn't stand up for herself as much as you'd want, but she was definitely sympathetic.The bitch of the book is Penelope, of course - and she's marvellous at it. She's the character you "love to hate". She's the most straight-forward of all the characters, and spiteful, and duplicitous, and you have to admire her tenacity.Godbersen's prose helps lift the novel above the usual fare - it's nothing fancy, but it is solid, capable, unpretentious, and confident. I thought it started a little slowly, but once I became interested in the characters the pacing really picked up and held me. The author doesn't have any annoying ticks or over-used favourite words, so it flows well and smoothly. For a debut novel, it is remarkably polished, free of typos and other poor editing glitches (though I doubt "gotten" is as old as 1899). There are four books in the series: The Luxe, Rumors, Envy and Splendor. I had to look up what "Luxe" means because I had no idea: it's a noun meaning "luxury" or "abundance". Fitting.
The Holland sisters, Elizabeth and Diana, are at the top of the social ladder. When their father dies, the girls move away to get educated about being a proper lady and when they come back, they find out that things don’t look too good for the Holland family. They’re broke. But if Mrs. Holland has anything to say about it, they won’t be, not for long. If Elizabeth can marry Henry Schoonmaker—a man who’s so handsome he has the hearts of all eligible females—their family name won’t be smeared. But Elizabeth already has her heart set on Will, who is just a mere stable boy, and Penelope, Liz’s supposed best friend, wants Henry. And where’s Diana all this time? Falling in love with Henry, of course. Rich girls always get what they want, but there’s just one Henry to go around. Plenty of reviews I’ve read had it labeled as a cross between Pride & Prejudice and Gossip Girl. I think not. The concept about rich girls leading scandalous lives in Manhattan, though set in 1899 for The Luxe, and how marriage was just beneficial for status upholding, is the same. Everything else, not really. I think this is even worse than Gossip Girl. Just like I didn’t see the point in the latter, I failed to see this book as none other than a boring read with underdeveloped characters who basically whine and never take control. Take Elizabeth, for instance. Right from the beginning she’s introduced as this beautiful and proper young lady who’s involved with a servant but is engaged to the most set-forth bachelor, Henry. The parts written about her fall bland shortly after she’s engaged. She does absolutely nothing except to look blank and regretful. I find it very hard to reach some level of sympathy for a character that’s mostly just a background face because the author failed to incorporate some kind of human being qualities to her. It’s like this: Anna Godbersen wanted to portray a perfect girl that didn’t have a perfect life after all (the most common storyline ever beside the love-hate relationships type) and rather than making Elizabeth her main character, she made her into a depressed girl. Everything that happens in the novel surrounds Elizabeth’s life and her actions, but I just don’t see her as a focus. Sure, she finally finds the strength to do something towards the end of the book, but that’s because Penelope was there to help her. Can’t she do anything by herself? She’s just a horrible protagonist and if that’s the message—get your own independence—then the author’s done a poor job of relaying that. Take notice that this book has 433 pages. 433 pages of slow action and mindless characters that just appear and disappear so they can serve in certain parts of the story. A story isn’t supposed to be like that—everything has to connect somehow. And the most unflattering character is Diana. From the start, I never saw that kind of bond between her and Elizabeth that’s made Diana so sobby at the last minute. She’s been portrayed as this whinny, kind of unusual sister. But later, she does all sorts of things that contradict the personality she’s been given, which I find very inconsistent. If there’s character development involved, there has to be a turning point for that to happen, but I didn’t see it. All in all, not something I would ever pick up again. I thought GG had been a reminder that I should stay away from stories about rich girls with nothing to do but have sex and steal other people’s boyfriends. I like books with some kind of message, with development, with strong-willed protagonists that makes everything better, but I found nothing of the requirements here. I’m just glad I gave up halfway but decided to read the ending chapters anyway. Two words: so predictable. But if you actually like the endless, unrealistic love triangles (why would anyone like Henry, anyway? He’s such an arrogant ass) between Elizabeth-Will-Lina and Diana-Henry-Penelope, or the fact that the girls wear gowns and everyone rides horses, then this probably is the book for you. I mean, at least some of the history was nailed pretty accurately, thought most facts were just mentioned in passing.
What do You think about The Luxe (2007)?
Well this was annoying from start to finish.Every female character spends their time mentally trashing the other female characters, calling them names and being completely disdainful. They also stab each other in the back because God forbid girls should be friends.The result is that Elizabeth is pressured into marriage by her mom (to save the family from poverty) and is hated both by her sister (who think being poor is going to be so romantic, and later ends up hooking up with E's fiancé) and her so-called best friend, who was looking to get that man for herself.The entire book is pretty much just that (and hating. so much hating and being despicable.) until Elizabeth (view spoiler)[fakes her death (hide spoiler)]
—Terresdebrume
This isn't great literature, by any means, but it's good for what it is: light, fluffy, diversionary reading. It's just fun. It was fun reading about New York high society during 1899. I enjoyed reading about the clothes and the balls and the love triangles. I started reading it while my hubby was out of town on a business trip and it served its purpose of keeping me entertained with all its juicy gossip. There's a twist in the book, which I had figured out fairly early but it was still an enjoyable read.
—Beth Knight
The Luxe is about turn of the century New York socialites falling in love and misbehaving. New York's darling debutant, Elizabeth Holland is poised to marry one of the most eligible (and debaucherous) bachelors in the city, but her perfect life is not what it seems. The Luxe reads like Gossip Girl meets Edith Wharton. Sadly, it has all of the shallowness and poor writing of the former, with little of the intelligence and power of the latter. For realsies. Read the rest of my thoughts on The Luxe HERE.
—Misty
