Trading Up [Hardcover]

Janey Wilcox is an MAW (that's Model/Actress/Whatever to the uninitiated). The problem with Janey, the protagonist of Trading Up, the new novel from Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell, is not the M or the A part. It's the W. Here is a rare alphabetical anomaly: in Janey's case, W stands for "prostitute". Janey never crosses the line into actual hookerdom, but she does sleep with extremely wealthy men in the hopes they'll improve her status, her financial situation, or her lifestyle.

When we first met Janey in Bushnell's novella collection 4 Blondes, she was up to her usual tricks (so to speak)--scamming a guy for a Hamptons vacation rental. At the opening of Trading Up her fortunes have improved. She's now the star of a Victoria's Secret ad campaign and as such she's found access to undreamed-of echelons of New York society. She makes friends with Mimi Kilroy, a senator's daughter "at the very top of the social heap in New York." She gets invited to all the best parties. And she finally finds a wealthy man who will actually marry her: Seldon Rose, a powerful entertainment industry executive. Of course, Janey's social ambitions are not hampered by her marriage to Seldon and the clash between her expectations (more parties) and his (normal life) send Janey into a tailspin that leads to heartbreak. Bushnell is clearly trying to channel Edith Wharton (The Custom of the Country is even invoked by Janey as a screenplay idea), but ends up sounding a lot more like a cross between Tama Janowitz and Judith Krantz. This is a novel about shopping and sex, and while it's fizzy enough, it's not Cristal. --Claire Dederer, Amazon.com

Judging from the first swathe of manuscript available of Bushnell's first full-length novel, it is a divinely delicious and wicked satire on New York society. The author of Four Blondes and Sex and the City, (which both sold 150,000 copies for Abacus) is mistress of the cutting remark, and makes a great play of two glamorous, silly, superficial women flinging false compliments at each other while they manoeuvre around the men at exclusive parties and the polo field. Waspishly fine writing lies at the core of this comedy of manners as Janey Wilcox, suddenly fashionable as a supermodel photographed in her underwear for half of America, plays her rise into society circles for all she can, while what she really wants is a successful man, despite her chequered past. Exceedingly droll, eminently readable.

‘The pace never flags and the plot twists remain compelling . . . The minutiae has rarely glittered so brightly’

‘There’s no doubt Trading Up is a page turner. Shrewd and witty’

A sharply observed, keenly funny, wildly entertaining latter-day comedy of manners from the ultimate insider, the author of SEX AND THE CITY and FOUR BLONDES. Classic Candace Bushnell: wickedly funny social satire at its most sassy and entertaining. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

When Janey Wilcox makes it big as a Victoria's Secret model, she finally gets the celebrity status she has always craved. Suddenly the car of her dreams is hers, and even better, so is that house in New York's exclusive Hamptons. No longer will she have to choose her boyfriends according to who has a house she can summer in. At the most exclusive of Hampton parties, Janey finds herself mingling with Hollywood celebrities and the cream of New York society. But all this is secondary when she is charmed and captivated by a handsome, successful man, a man who quickly becomes her new beau. Janey, though, is not the type to live happily ever after, especially with her chequered past of far from good behaviour. By the author of SEX AND THE CITY and FOUR BLONDES, TRADING UP is classic Candace Bushnell: wickedly funny social satire at its most sassy and entertaining.

Candace Bushnell is the creator of SEX AND THE CITY and has been described by the EVENING STANDARD as a 'genius'. The OBSERVER compared her to Nancy Mitford and the SUNDAY TELEGRAPH to 'Jane Austen with a Martini.'