Synopses & Reviews
It's the day after Labor Day, 2008, and the elite universe of New York's Upper East Side is about to unravel along with the economy. Socialite Grigsby Somerset is barely aware of her changing world and has no idea her investment banker husband, Blake, is about to enter into a devil's bargain with hedge fund owner John Cutter.
As autumn unfolds, Grigsby's fairytale life starts to unwind. Street-smart Renee Parker has been hired as John's executive assistant and is convinced that something is amiss with her new boss. Renee enlists her friend Sasha Silver, CEO of Silver Partners, to help her decipher what is happening. They soon discover that John is nearly ruined, except for the assets he is hiding in the Cayman Islands from his wife, Mimi, and has concocted with Blake a scheme to redeem himself. This tale of expulsion from a modern-day Garden of Eden captures what happens when economic decline spells ruin for Manhattan's pampered elite.
Review
"This fun and sassy novel delivers satisfying poetic justice in its depiction of the hubris and sense of entitlement that led to the economic downfall of many wealthy New Yorkers." ---Library Journal
Synopsis
In a tale ripped from the headlines, a group of rich and powerful New Yorkers suddenly discover that not even they are recession-proof when their perfect Upper East Side lives get turned upside down by the economic collapse.
About the Author
Alexandra Lebenthal is the president and CEO of Lebenthal and Co. and its wealth management division, Alexandra and James, Inc. Her father is Jim Lebenthal, who made his name in municipal bonds. She also serves as a board member of the School of American Ballet and is involved with several other leading New York cultural institutions, including the Business Council of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Capital Campaign for the Museum of the City of New York, the American Museum of Natural History, and the New York Botanical Garden. Renee Raudman is a multi-award-winning audiobook narrator. A multiple Audie Award nominee, she has earned a number of AudioFile Earphones Awards, including for The Last Secret by Mary McGarry Morris and Wesley the Owl by Stacey O'Brien, as well as a Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Award for Joe Schreiber's Chasing the Dead. She has also performed on film, TV, radio, and stage, including the recurring roles of Jordon on ABC's One Life To Live, Phyllis on NBC's Passions, and guest-starring roles on prime-time TV. She has been heard in cartoons (The Simpsons, Billy and Mandy), videogames, and on the E! channel. Her narration of Homer's Odyssey by Gwen Cooper was selected by Library Journal as one of the best audiobooks of 2009, and her reading of Marthe Jocelyn's Would You was selected by the ALA as one of the best young adult audiobooks of 2009.