Lies&Weddings by Kevin Kwan

´Rich, entitled and clueless - it´s a lethal combination´.

The advantage of fighting hard a nasty flu that stayed with me way too long was spending more time reading big books that were waiting for too long my kind attention. Funily enough, my mind was not too much able to focus on literature but was rather keen to absorb a lot of nonfictional facts. Thus, I am feeling less guilty to ignore my academic pursues. 

One of my achievements during those sick days was finishing Kevin Kwan´s latest: Lies&Weddings. Kwan is an author I religiously followed in the last years, as I always find his hilarious explorations of class, money and power within Asian families inspiring for a certain social dynamic which is not always so transparent to outsiders but worth understanding for a better image of the social mobility within the Asian families on the continent and abroad.

The characters in Lies&Weddings are not always easy to cope with. They are either the poster of a despicable parvenue - like Lady Arabella who married into a noble family, unaware that her excesses bankrupted his family. And there is Thomas Tong ´a great doctor, and an even greater keeper of secrets´. All of them are running fast in a race of accumulating wealth, paying debts and keeping their secrets.

Arabella´s attempts to marry her children into European noble families, are faced by the realities of those families, carrying titles with no value and most importantly, no assets. This lady is a despicable character in her hunger to completely obliterate her modest origins and in her ridiculous matchmaking efforts. After bullying her neighbour Esther, who was living in the cottage nearby with her father, a friend of her husband, she completely changed her mind when it proved that Esther may be of a higher social status.

Lies&Weddings can be read in many ways - including as a financial advice, and some fashion tips as well, but honestly I had to search out some brand names - but besides the network of circumstances, there is also a good story ongoing, even though the change of situation may look and feel unlikely, But not everyone is privy to rich people habits, so maybe it really happens like this, It has a very international cast - always introduced by their education track record - and entertains, but sometimes you may just feel overwhelmed - and outraged - by the luxury and financial debacle.

I am not ashamed to confess that I really spend some time reading about royalties and other gossips about rich people, so this book is a literary rendition of such hobbies. If you are like me, you may enjoy this book as well.

Rating: 3.5 stars