In brief: The Greshambury family may be one of the most glamourous in England, but they are also verging on being penniless. After a society wedding turns to disaster, oldest son Rufus is told to go find a rich wife.
The good: Over the top decadent fun.
The not-so-good: I’ve overdosed on the very rich for now.
Why I chose it: Kevin Kwan’s books are always a riot of fun.
Year: 2024
Pages: 437
Publisher: Hutchinson Heinemann (Penguin)
Setting: England, USA, Europe, Asia…nearly everywhere!
Rating: 9 out of 10
A Kevin Kwan novel is a recipe for a guaranteed good time, full of decadence, gossip and wealth. Lies and Weddings sees him take on a fabulously wealthy titled English-Asian family and their complex world that sits on the verge of bankruptcy.
The Greshams have a fabulous ancestral house in the English countryside, made all the more glamourous by the interior decorating by the Countess Arabella, a former model from Hong Kong. Arabella is a social climber, and she wants nothing more than the richest and best for her three children. Augusta is towing the line by marrying royalty but heir Rufus is stubborn in her eyes, living in Hawaii as an artist and his best friend being a (relatively) poor doctor, Eden. But then things take a turn for the worse for the Greshams when both the wedding of Augusta and Arabella’s latest report are damaged by a hot mic and river of lava. The Greshams have lost face and Rufus needs to marry someone crazily rich. Scheming mothers and aunts send Rufus around the world to find suitable love interests (although being hijacked by private jet has never seemed so fun). Meanwhile, Eden and her oncologist father get caught up with separately wealthy families, one who wants to ruin the Greshams forever.
As always, the novel is over the top fun and satire. Arabella is the perfect matriarch, exerting a multitude of (often fake) emotions and scheming to get what she wants. There are also the frugally rich who prefer to shop at Accessorize for their jewels and eat at muffin chains over the Ritz. Catching a private jet is seen as perfectly ordinary and deals are in the millions. I do also really enjoy Kwan’s footnotes which add a joking insider’s view to the whole novel. In between the caricatures of characters, real ones sit such as Rufus, Eden and her father. They haven’t lost sight of the real world and what it’s like to not eat at 5-star restaurants constantly. Eden in particular gives a fish out of water perspective of the novel as well as acting as a target for Arabella’s wrath.
The plot is Lies and Weddings just doesn’t stop. There’s a mystery, a couple of lavish weddings and a ton of lies as nearly everyone has their own agenda. Still, it’s easy to follow and a juicy story that is enjoyable to the very end. Very satisfying and very enjoyable. Will it be a literary classic in a century? Unlikely, but you won’t regret the entertainment value of this novel.
Sam Still Reading 
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