THE GATECRASHER
Madeleine Wickham
St. Martin’s Griffin
Fiction
Hardcover: 0312361270
Paperback: 9780312381073

Fleur Daxeny is a con artist of the highest order. She has also figured out exactly how to meet her willing victims. With her stunning good looks and vibrant red hair, Fleur stands out in a crowd. When she shows up at a funeral, all she needs is a few well-chosen words --- and an eye-catching hat --- and she's bound to get the attention of any well-to-do widower.

Fast forward a couple of months, and Fleur has charmed her way into the widower's bed --- and into his bank account. A few judicious cash advances from the platinum card, and she's disappearing without a trace, leaving behind nothing but a man left to nurse his broken heart, his decimated bank account and his bruised pride.

That is, until Fleur meets Richard Favour. Richard's wife, Emily, was the love of his life, although after her death, he finds himself remembering more and more examples of his late wife's chilling, even cruel, demeanor. When Fleur shows up at Emily's memorial service, posing as an old friend of his wife's, Richard is instantly smitten. With her charming, warm and effervescent style, Fleur is everything that Emily wasn't. Almost before he knows it, a newly confident and spontaneous Richard is inviting Fleur to his country home, indulging her whims, introducing her to his (shocked) friends and wondering whether he might, finally, be finding out what love is all about.

As for Fleur, she finds herself feeling at home with Richard's family and circle of friends almost in spite of herself. Her enforced distance becomes increasingly difficult to maintain, though, when her 13-year-old daughter Zara shows up at Richard's door, threatening not only to expose Fleur's motivations but also to convince her that this place, these people, are the home Zara has always desperately wanted.

Under the pen name "Sophie Kinsella," Madeleine Wickham has published the highly successful Shopaholic series of books. Now her publisher is releasing, for the first time in the U.S., several chick-lit novels written under Wickham's real name. Even if they don't check the (1998) copyright date, readers will soon guess that this isn't exactly a new work --- cell phones are a novelty, and laserdiscs are the latest technology --- but probably won't care.

Wickham gets the country-house ambience and the golf club culture just right, and the satire of Fleur's character and of the family in which she finds herself is balanced perfectly with Zara's genuine longing for home and Richard's son's insecurities and desire for acceptance. Although the ending wraps up a little too quickly to be totally satisfying, Wickham also leaves some loose ends intentionally untied, keeping Fleur true to her character and keeping the novel from verging into fairy-tale territory. Those who prefer their chick-lit with some bite will sink their teeth into THE GATECRASHER's modern-day comedy of manners.

    --- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

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