The Ex-Mrs. Hedgefund
by Jill Kargman
available April 16, 2009
Open The Ex-Mrs. Hedgefund and it’s like walking into Dante’s inferno. And just as hot. Which is, you will surmise correctly, not exactly a good thing.
But then again…? Keep reading.
If you like feeling not rich enough, not thin enough, not blond enough, be my guest — start reading this novel.
The over-forty divorced brunette that I am, I felt like putting sheets over all my mirrors. The Ex-Mrs. Hedgefund herself — aka Holly — is self-deprecating enough to be a sympathetic character, but this becomes troublesome when you factor in the rarified atmosphere that being married to a multi-millionaire at 34 gets her. Luncheons, for example, are so-named because they are lunches that take eons.
I don’t attach to Holly right away. I nearly drop the book off in the locker room at the gym for someone else to claim, because I can’t handle the vitriole that spills among the rich girls in the beginning. However, I am blessed with this issue — if I begin a book, I have to finish it. This is a good thing — partly because I have an intuitive knack of choosing rewarding books. Even if I don’t think so at first!
Forgive the married Holly, and plunge in anyway — it’s worth the ride even through the discomfort of her marriage and her life unraveling. She becomes a lovable character and her pal Kiki is kickass great. The book caresses best girlfriends and bad dates, nasty ex-mother-in-laws and new loves. Jill Kargman’s The Ex-Mrs. Hedgefund is witty and loud, deliciously fun. And, yes, rewarding.
As a divorced woman who is still single after five-and-a-half years, I find it tremendously inspiring to see that after the free-fall, love provides a parachute.
Although, it would have been nice to have received half-a-million bucks in a pre-nup like Holly did.
