Changes

It is often suggested that one of the differences between the US and the UK is that there is far less of a class structure in the USA. However, the New England set of 'old money' and social -climbing make the Home Counties seem like North Korea by comparison. Winn's devotion is more towards which social clubs he can enroll enrol in and which golf courses he is a member of than he is to his family. To a large extent, Shipstead is sending this value system up. There's little of the glamour of the Gatsby era left here and what's left is a world of keeping up with the Joneses. Although in New England there would probably be a better family name to it. Certainly , there's hardly a normal first name amongst this set. We get a Mopsy, a Biddy, a Maude and even an Oatsie. You don't get a lot of Oatsies on this side of the pond.

Part of the problem is that they are just not very nice people and while the characters are well -drawn, you kind of want them all to fall into the surrounding ocean rather than reproduce. Only Daphne's Egyptian friend, Dominique is in any way likablelikeable. While Shipstead does her best to place them in bizare bizarre situations, the sparky humour only comes through in places and her tone is often quite serious. Often nasty characters make for the best stories but they are a pretty charmless bunch and perhaps because they are all almost as bad as each other, I found it hard to root for any of them. You certainly wouldn't want to be sitting next to any of this lot.

The result is that the book balances precariously between a literary novel that has too simple a storyline, and a good yarn that at first seems a little over-written. Partly this is because, while her pretentious characters get themselves into almost farcical situations but they all just take them selves themselves way to too seriously. She just about pulls it off, but it does wobble from time to time.