Synopsis
Fay Weldon was commissioned by Bulgari to write this novel featuring that company's jewelry. The story focuses on a woman named Grace Salt who tried to kill the man who stole her husband, then served time, and now has returned--only to find that life is even more complicated than before. And the jewelry shines out on every page.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 2002-10-01 | | Edition Description: | Reprint |
| Size | | Length: | 192 pages | | Height: | 8.5 in | | Width: | 5.8 in | | Thickness: | 0.5 in | | Weight: | 8.0 oz |
Publisher's Note
The eagerly awaited publication of The Bulgari Connection created a whirl of controversy when a front-page New York Times article revealed that Weldon received an undisclosed sum of money from the famous Italian jeweler for a prominent place in her latest novel. The debate about the legitimacy of commercially sponsored literature has been heating up ever since, polarizing such literary luminaries as Rick Moody and J. G. Ballard, Michael Chabon and Jeanette Winterson, into respectively opposing camps. The novel itself, however, has been gaining much praise, since "Weldon is at her wicked best in this crisp, hilarious page-turner about ambition and love" (Booklist). Once again the acclaimed British author of Rhode Island Blues and Big Girls Don't Cry draws us into an unmistakably wild, rollicking tale full of her trademark satirical wit and sharp observation. Grace McNab Salt is the recently divorced wife of the millionaire Barley Salt, who has married Doris Dubois, the sexy, young host of TV's Artsworld Extra. The novel opens with Grace emerging from jail where she was sent for trying to run Doris over with her Jaguar in a supermarket parking lot in an act of revenge. All three attend a London charity ball, and in typical Weldon fashion the meeting turns everyone's lives upside down. Weldon's world is one of relationships: torrid affairs, lovers' spite, and revenge. Full of clever women, breathless romance, insistent desires, and even a dose of the supernatural, The Bulgari Connection is a boisterously witty and stylish novel. "[A] piquant social comedy." -- Sherryl Connelly, The New York Daily News "Weldon's latest is a stylish tale of romance in London." -- Publishers Weekly "It is a classic Weldon creation: playful, sharp and funny." -- Merle Rubin, Los Angeles Times
Industry Reviews
"...THE BULGARI CONNECTION offers warm and lively company for a night or two. Like a hooker with a heart of gold (or rubies and emeralds), it'll show you a good time despite its questionable history."
Washington Post Book World - Jennifer Howard (11/04/2001)
"Subtlety has rarely been Weldon's game, but this swift and amusing novel lacks the finery that tends to make literary fiction 'literary.' Weldon sketches her characters quickly, giving them recognizable, cartoonish shapes, and her descriptions are often hasty....You can count on Weldon, however, for sharp, comical observations....It's safe to say the novel will survive the latest brush with commerce."
New York Times Book Review - Sylvia Brownrigg (11/04/2001)
"[I]t is not great literature--but then, neither are Weldon's other novels. The author...has forged yet another artful accessory studded with wicked wit. In fact, as entertainment and social commentary, THE BULGARI CONNECTION is no worse--and perhaps even a bit better--than her previous novels....As is clear from this corporate-funded satire about the chattering classes, Weldon relishes teetering on the fence between camp and crassness, and she doesn't care a whit about good taste."
Newsday (Long Island, N.Y.) - Heller McAlpin (11/04/2001)
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