Beautiful People [Paperback]

Wendy Holden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2010

"When she's good, she's very, very good, and Beautiful People finds Holden on steroids. Unmissable."
-Daily Mirror

A witty, utterly addictive novel from bestselling author Wendy Holden, Beautiful People is a tale wicked in its observations yet buoyant at its heart: an irresistible confection you'll want to devour immediately.

Darcy-a struggling English rose actress when The Call comes from L.A. An Oscar-tastic director. A movie to make her famous. The hunkiest costar in Hollywood. So why doesn't she want to go?

Belle-a size-zero film star but she's in big, fat trouble. Hotter than the earth's core a year ago, she's now Tinseltown toast after her last film bombed. Can she get back to the big time?

Emma-a down-to-earth, down-on-her-luck nanny trying to weather London's cutthroat childcare scene and celebrity mom whirlwinds. What will it take for her to get back in control of her own life?

Jet to London, Hollywood, and Italy; toss in a passionate star chef, a kindhearted paparazzo, and a reluctant male supermodel; and find Wendy Holden at her best-a smash international hit.

(20100226)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Holden’s novel is the literary equivalent of a big-budget romantic comedy with an all-star Hollywood cast in which everyone’s stories overlap. And it is equally as carefree and enjoyable. Holden’s characters, ranging from a young and troubled starlet to a well-respected English actress, male supermodel, struggling nanny, and celebrity chef, to name but a few, have two things in common: they are all beautiful, and Holden portrays each one with humor and honesty.Their separate stories are eventually entwined in the second half of the novel, once everyone ends up in a small town in Italy, a coincidence that is surprisingly fun and funny. With clever dialogue and a great spectrum of personalities, Holden’s big book of celebrity obsession and the price of beauty is fast-paced, realistic, and hugely entertaining. --Hilary Hatton

Review

With clever dialogue and a great spectrum of personalities, Holden's big book of celebrity obsession and the price of beauty is fast-paced, realistic, and hugely entertaining. (Hilary Hatton Booklist 20100408)

Holden's satirical humor and adept writing shine through. Glitzy fun with appeal for readers of Emma McLaughlin, Plum Sykes, or Lauren Weisberger. (Lisa Davis-Craig Library Journal 20100408)

You can tell that this is a Wendy Holden book - the characters are well drawn out and are fun to read - and the book is still loaded with great "chick lit" moments. (Tina Bookshipper 20100408)

Pure frothy fun! If you enjoy Sophie Kinsella or Helen Fielding, you will love this author. (Mary Book Hounds 20100408)

You'll be sitting there rooting for the underdogs and racing to the end. (Kris The Cajun Book Lady 20100408)

A fun sparkling jet set read! (Michelle Red Headed Book Child 20100408)

My goodness, does that Wendy Holden make me laugh or what! I gobbled up Beautiful People. (Elizabeth Bogardus Thoughts From and Evil Overlord 20100414)

Holden's wit is rapier sharp and her keen sense of observation of the comedic is spot on. (Kaye Pudgy Penguin Perusals 20100415)

Simply Divine... Beautiful People is the next Lipstick Jungle! (Cindy I Heart Book Gossip 20100421)

A funny, entertaining novel that will keep you turning the pages... you are in for a great escape. (Joan Burton BookLoons.com 20100421)

Light, frothy, and frenetic, this book was a fun read. (Ashley Bellas Novella 20100421)

A fun, witty, story about the trials and tribulations of the acting industry. (Mrs. Q Book Addict 20100426)

Fascinating... this novel has a story to tell for every reader. (CJ Harris Best Romance Stories 20100430)

It was fun to root for the good guys and wish terrible things on the bad and to see how the author tied all their stories together. (Steph Steph the Bookworm 20100518)

It is satisfying to finally read a book where the good people are rewarded and the ugly people are given their just deserts. (Alsion Alison's Bookmarks 20100518)

Holden's novels are great fun, and this one is no exception. (Maya Missani Apprentice Writer )

The perfect scandalous guilty pleasure. (Carrie In the Hammock )

An entertaining look at how life can chew us up and spit us out and yet, at the same time, we learn so much more of ourselves in the process. (Matilda Coffee Time Romance )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark; 1 edition (April 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402237154
• ISBN-13: 978-1402237157
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #212,342 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great New Voice for US Readers of Women's Fiction, April 6, 2010

By 

Elizabeth (New England, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beautiful People (Paperback)

I gobbled up Beautiful People, a fun story of the acting industry on both sides of the pond, Hollywood and the London stage. Darcy, a young British actress is the daughter of an acting family where the stage is the ultimate form of their craft and film is a lower form of the art. Belle is a young Hollywood actress desperate for a come-back after her recent meteoric rise and then sudden crash-and-burn. The lives of these two extremely different young actresses intersect in Southern Italy, along with former boyfriends and lovers, and potential new lovers and friends in a hysterical series of almost improbably coincidences and run-ins. The novel is peppered with secondary characters that are no less interesting than our heroine and antagonist. Emma, the conscientious Nanny who falls in love with her charges; Orlando, the extraordinarily beautiful, shy young man bullied by a social climbing mother, who is unsure of his future path, and Marco the amazing chef/owner of a wonderful local bistro are all people I would want to sit and have coffee with, or a glass of wine at Marco's restaurant. Not so much though for Christian, the opportunistic Hollywood heart-throb or Niall the pretentious wanna-be London stage actor, both of whom use women shamelessly, Christian at least admitting to everyone about his intentions.
Not only did Beautiful People have me laughing, I was entranced enough to not put the book down, hoping that certain characters would succeed and prosper and others would get a good comeuppance or smack in the face. Light-hearted women's fiction can sometimes be predictable, which is definitely not the case with Beautiful People.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful people, ugly souls!, April 21, 2011

By 

Leah Graham "Chick Lit Reviews and News" (Tenerife) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beautiful People (Paperback)

Belle Murphy was supposed to be Hollywood's hottest young star, but it all fell apart when her latest movie flopped spectacularly. To try and get herself back into the media's good books, Belle heads off to London, via an African adoption agency, to star in Shakespeare. Can she claw her way back to the top of the Hollywood pile again? Darcy Prince is a beautiful English rose, who has her heart set on being a "proper" actress, when the call comes from Hollywood - LA's hottest director wants her in his new movie. A movie that will rival Star Wars. It's everything an actress should ever want, so why is Darcy so reluctant to go? Via a lot of mix-ups, the two girls eventually lock horns over men, dieting and just which one of them is the bigger star. Throw in a nanny, a chef, and a boy so beautiful he could be a model, and you have a fiery encounter just waiting to happen.

Although my synopsis above mentions Darcy and Belle, they don't even appear at the beginning of the book. Belle comes in around about 20 pages in, whilst Darcy doesn't arrive until maybe 100-ish pages. I found that peculiar, but not off-putting. The book actually starts by introducing us to Sam Wild, who runs Wild, a modelling agency. After scouring the streets for any talent, she bumps into a bollard and comes face-to-face with the beautiful Orlando. After asking him if he would like to be a model, he scarpers, leaving Sam feeling frustrated. We then meet Emma, who it turns out, is a nanny, who has just left her parents' home up North and is looking for a job in London. We then go on to meet a whole array of characters throughout the book, who all seem to lead separate lives to each other. And for near-on 500 pages, that's the way it stays. Sure, a few of their lives intertwine but to all intents and purposes they're all leading their own life with no connection to anyone else we read about. It took a long long time for Belle and Darcy to lock horns and even then, it wasn't as if they were clawing each others eyes' out.

Coming it at under 700 pages, you're in for a long slog of reading to really get anywhere in the book. For the first 500 pages, the book is all about the separate lives of all of these characters. There's little action yet I still found myself reading away, eager to know which stupid thing would happen next. All of the major action begins when all of the characters leave, en masse, for Italy. You could say it was convenient they all, near enough, ended up in the same place but it all made perfect sense when we learnt why they were all there. As I mentioned above, Darcy and Belle barely lock horns, and I think the synopsis on the back of the book wildly exaggerated that fact.

Beautiful People is well worth reading, and I found it hugely enjoyable, and I know I'll definitely be looking out for more books by Wendy Holden. Her take on the celebrity lifestyle is refreshing and it's hugely exaggerated but it's also hilarious and enjoyable. It's as if she's taken all of the recent celebrity headlines - ie. adopting a child from Africa - and has put them all together into one huge melting pot of a novel and let the chips fall where they may. Very clever and I truly recommend it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Reminds me of "Love Actually", December 14, 2011

By 

J. Tennant - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beautiful People (Kindle Edition)

I really enjoyed this book. You follow a number of different characters, whose stories eventually come together, just like in Love Actually. This is a really fun and enjoyable book.