The Bulgari Connection (Weldon, Fay) [Paperback]

Fay Weldon (Author)

Book Description

Series: Weldon, Fay | Publication Date: September 12, 2002

Once again the acclaimed British author ofRhode Island BluesandBig Girls Don't Crydraws us into an unmistakably wild, rollicking tale full of her trademark satirical wit and sharp observation. Grace McNab Salt is the recently divorced wife of the millionaire Barley Salt, who has married Doris Dubois, the sexy, young host of TV's Artsworld Extra. The novel opens with Grace emerging from jail where she was sent for trying to run Doris over with her Jaguar in a supermarket parking lot in an act of revenge. All three attend a London charity ball, and in typical Weldon fashion the meeting turns everyone's lives upside down. Weldon's world is one of relationships: torrid affairs, lovers' spite, and revenge. Full of clever women, breathless romance, insistent desires, and even a dose of the supernatural,The Bulgari Connectionis a boisterously witty and stylish novel.

The publication ofThe Bulgari Connectioncreated a whirl of controversy when a front-page New York Times article revealed that Weldon received an undisclosed sum of money from the famous Italian jeweler for a prominent place in her novel. The debate about the legitimacy of commercially sponsored literature has been heating up ever since.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Bulgari Connection finds Fay Weldon on familiar ground, chronicling the pains and pleasures of the battle of the sexes, in this enjoyably funny novel. Set in glamorous contemporary London, Weldon's story begins with the proverbial love triangle. Wealthy, dissatisfied, self-made businessman Barley Salt leaves his frumpy wife, Grace, for the glamorous TV host Doris Dubois. Grace concedes that her husband "has aged better than I have," and that Doris "is 23 years younger than I am. She is slimmer than I am, and more clever." Grace tries but fails to run Doris over, and for her pains is sentenced to three years in jail. However, when she meets the struggling young artist Walter Wells, with his preference for "the blown rose not the bud," Grace literally has a new lease of life. As her life takes on new meaning, Barley and Doris start to lose control of their own self-centered lives.

The Bulgari Connection is a fast-moving, highly readable novel of greed, middle-aged deceit, and love, but feels like it was written in the 1980s, not the early 21st century. This is effortless Weldon, although many of her fans will feel that it is marking time rather than breaking new ground. --Jerry Brotton, Amazon.co.uk --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Weldon is at her wicked best in this crisp, hilarious page-turner about ambition and love. Barley Salt (a millionaire, not a condiment) is one of those silver-haired, square-jawed gentlemen born to wear expensive suits, get rich, and fall for younger women, but he seriously miscalculated when he took up with Doris Dubois. Host of a hip but fatuous TV arts program, Doris is a delectably evil femme fatale, and Barley's first wife, Grace, was right to try to run her over. Just out of prison, Grace runs into the glamorous couple at a charity function where a portrait of the hostess wearing a fabulous Bulgari necklace that Doris covets is auctioned off. The young and handsome painter falls instantly in love with the much older ex-con, and soon Grace grows more lithe and youthful while Walter thickens up and slows down. Meanwhile, Doris and Barley are finally seeing each other clearly, to their mutual dismay. Weldon's diabolically clever satire of greed, fashion, sex, and age is smart entertainment of the highest order. In a curious twist, it turns out that Weldon accepted money from Bulgari for product placement. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press (September 12, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802139302
• ISBN-13: 978-0802139306
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,224,815 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars She's no one's commodity, December 17, 2001

By 

Marcia Mardis (Ann Arbor, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bulgari Connection (Hardcover)

Despite its corporate underwriting, Fay Weldon's The Bulgari Connection is certainly not evidence of a sellout. After all, Bulgari's funding is undoubtedly a one time deal--c'mon Weldon fans, can you really see Fay writing about jewelry from now on? Her structure is unmatched and her vocabulary is robust; Fay Weldon's work, regardless of financial backing, is not factory-farmed like so much popular literature.

The plot is tight, typical, and right on. Stupid men fare badly in Weldon's world--but not as badly as annoying women! This book was a breeze to read and as enjoyable as a gorgeous little custom-designed bauble.

After all, isn't it kind of exciting to see if there's another underwriter in the wings? At least she's up front about where the money comes from.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars For Weldon fans., October 2, 2003

By 

algo41 "algo41" (philadelphia, pa United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bulgari Connection (Weldon, Fay) (Paperback)

This is typical of Weldon's less important books. It is a light, but biting comedy, with an insensitive husband, a scorned wife who ends up on top, and a little bit of magic. It is "current" with an older woman-younger man romance. I believe Weldon was too heavy handed with the husband's new wife even for this type of book. At the same time, Bulgari Connection is quite readable, and possibly cathartic for some readers. It captures the emotions and motivations of the husband very well. For a better, more complete novel, I would recommend Worst Fears by Weldon. If you are very interested in the husband's character , and have the time, you might consider Tom Wolfe's "A Man in Full".

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A funny, relevant and entertaining read, August 31, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Bulgari Connection (Weldon, Fay) (Paperback)

Forget the controversy surrounding corporate sponsorship and how Fay Weldon might have surrendered her integrity when she allowed the world-renowned jeweller to grace the title of her latest fictional work. The truth is that Weldon didn't have to make any concessions, let alone pander to the demands of advertising for she had written a winner and nothing should detract from the fact that "The Bulgari Connection" stands head and shoulders above most other titles in the same genre. It is a contemporary, thought provoking and thoroughly entertaining book and one that I would recommend without hesitation to anyone.

Weldon knows how to tell a story. She understands humour and how to find that elusive funny bone in readers that shuns mediocrity and the common attempts by many inferior novelists to try and pass off vulgarity and cheap nasty jokes as humour. It is a rare craft that Weldon has mastered and one that she wields with confidence and authority, considering how the story of Grace and Barley and Doris and Walter might in lesser hands have degenerated into farce. She manages to avoid all the pitfalls by making her characters and their feelings real and recognisable. How many readers out there wouldn't identify with the spurned and outgrown older wife or the insecure businessman finding success late in life who think that a trophy wife is all he needs to enter the portals of the rich and successful? Even Doris Dubois, the modern career woman, a guttersnipe and a bitch without scruples or redeeming qualities is a misshapen product of our society. When we laugh and cry at the antics and manoeuvres of these four characters, we're not unaware or unconscious of Weldon's social commentary on life in our modern times.

Don't let anyone persuade you that "The Bulgari Connection" is frothy and lightweight. It isn't. It is funny, relevant and entertaining and frankly you can do a lot worse than that.