Customer Reviews

The Gatecrasher

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

"The Gatecrasher" is an upper-class, refined, oh-so-British version of the con artist who falls in love with her prey. Fleur Daxeny (you have to love that name) attends the memorial services of wealthy wives so she can insinuate her way into the affections of their vulnerable widowers; as soon as she has a Gold Card in hand - conveniently billed to the widower, of course - she is outta there. But her latest target, Richard Favour, gives Fleur something of a crisis of confidence: he's so darn nice, and thoughtful, and sweet, and genuine, that she isn't sure she'll be able to go through with the scam after all. This isn't a new plot device (and so, to some extent, the story feels like it's been done before), but Madeleine Wickham works it with all she's got. It's great fun to peer into the lives of the wealthy, especially when they live in mansions in the English countryside and drink beverages like "buck's fizz" and wear couture hats. Fleur manages to be charming and likeable despite her ulterior motives. And because Wickham does a good job with characterization and plot, one can easily overlook the more predictable elements of the book. The result is a stylish and well-written story reminiscent of Brit writers like Joanna Trollope.

Social climbing and the lengths people will go to in order to make a better life for themselves can be fascinating. In The Gatecrasher we have one such anti-heroine, but thankfully, she is surrounded by some of the most interesting and likable characters I have met as of late.

Fleur Daxeny crashes funerals in order to meet rich, vulnerable men, and take as much as she can get from them before moving on. She's been doing this successfully for a while and has her routine down pat. When we meet her, she is in the process of getting ready for the new batch of funerals coming her way, charging her stylish new black outfits to her unsuspecting, soon-to-be-deserted, Greek lover.

Her target at Emily Valour's memorial service is, of course, Emily's bereaved husband Richard, a rich man who mourns the wife he's lost but at the same time realizes the he's never really known her. What Richard has never had is a passionate soul mate, a woman who can make each day come alive and instill in him the desire to truly live. Fleur is determined to be all that and more.

Little by little we see Fleur stealthily become an integral part of Richard's life. Damn his club and his gossipy acquaintances, Richard thinks. For the first time in his life he desires and is desired, although guilty thoughts of Emily do pop up whenever he's tempted to make love to Fleur, who knows that Richard must succumb physically in order to be completely hers.

Richard's children are, of course, dysfunctional. Young Antony lives in shame of the birthmark that made him imperfect to his mother and his social life is painfully awkward and nonexistent. Daughter Philippa is married to the odious and greedy Lambert, the man Emily said would be the only one to marry an such an undesirable package as she. Needless to say, Fleur soon realizes that Emily was far from a kind person, be it in the capacity of wife, mother, or sister, and is soon charming Richard, his children, and Emily's own sister, the initially reticent Gillian.

It is never part of Fleur's plan to linger so long at Richard's, but first the lack of sex, and then the fact that he hasn't yet given her a Gold Card (Fleur's preferred method of getting her hands on her target's money) serve to stall matters. Finally, Fleur's daughter Zara arrives, creating all sorts of complications with Antony as a triumphant Fleur, Gold Card finally in hand, gets ready to leave and move on to her next victim.

Richard is the most likable of men - a little clueless when it comes to his children, but he definitely means well. His feelings where Fleur is concerned are pure and tender, and I couldn't help but feel for him as Fleur became increasingly bored with him.

Much like Zara does when she finds herself up against her mother's machinations, I found myself losing patience with Fleur, and honestly wished that she'd gotten more of what she really deserved. The ending only works if one believes that the selfish, vain, greedy Fleur of 99% of the book has really changed.

The secondary characters, however, were priceless. Philippa's pathetic marriage to Lambert is truly sad and real, just as Antony's desire to belong is heartbreaking. Gillian, who at first so hated Fleur, made me smile as she succumbs to Fleur's charm and wears the blue scarf Fleur gives her - every single day.

This book will probably not be for everyone. Fleur is cold, ruthless, and calculating as she begins to ensnare Richard, who never has a clue about the captivating woman he's met. But if you're in the mood for a sort of Absolutely Fabulous storyline with a bit less comedy, then I recommend you try The Gatecrasher.

This book, like Wickham's other books, is so disappointing. I continue to buy them thinking that I'll eventually get a bit of her "Kinsella" persona in the writing. But, no. It's as though she ruthlessly buries any hint of the fun, hilarious, endearing characters she concocts as Kinsella in order to try out darker, more serious heroines. They just don't work. I read a lot of British chick lit, and there are loads of better books and authors out there who can write "edgy" (as the book jacket says) characters whom the reader will actually want to read about. I just didn't enjoy Fleur. There was nothing redeeming about her. It's difficult to stick with a story when you don't like the individual who's eyes you must see through in the book. As other reviewers have stated, the story itself drags on and on for pages with nothing interesting happening. My hope is that Wickham only tries out this kind of writing every few years because I love the way she writes as Kinsella. Here's hoping she puts out more and more "Kinsella" books and less "Wickham" books in the future.

I have just finished reading THE GATECRASHER at three o'clock this morning and I found it to be ever so entertaining with characters that made the book appealing for me.

Fleur Daxeny is a forty something year old sophisticated gatecrasher, who habitually attends funerals and memorial services of widows from very elite and wealthy backgrounds. Assisted by a male friend Johnny, they comb the obituaries with a fine tooth comb every day weeding out the millionaires from the rest of us. Then decked out in her wonderful black hats and fashionable outfits she puts herself in a position to meet the millionaire at the service of his dead wife, where she lances her charm on the poor unsuspecting vulnerable man, until she finally makes it to his wallet, into bank account......and enjoy all the niceties of a cushiony lifestyle.

But in THE GATECRASHER on this particular occasion, she will meet Richard Favour a, man with a family and who is different to those she has trodden on before. You'll meet Richard's son Antony, his daughter Philippa and her husband Lambert as well as Zara; Fleur's daughter who comes into the picture mid-way and causes a certain change in the tide. The characters are great and have made this book what it is........so entertaining.
Reviewed by Heather Marshall Negahdar (SUGAR-CANE 16/03/02)

After discovering that Sophie Kinsella is the pen name of Madeleine Wickham I could not wait for a little escapist reading along the SHOPAHOLIC lines. This was a surprising change from the Kinsella SHOPAHOLIC books. In GATECRASHER the leading character, Fleur is an intriguing woman who whiles her way into the lives of despondent wealthy widowers, becoming what they need and desire to continue their life. Her only goal is to live a life of ease, comfort and excess with no true ties to anyone. When she feels the tide turning in a relationship she just disappears and moves on to the next target. Wickham writes with an intriguing ability to create a story about an untenable situation where you can not sympathize with the main character and yet you are compelled to follow the story through to an ending that is not quite as predictable as one would anticipate. As in the SHOPAHOLIC series there is an emotional raw edginess that is uncomfortable and entertaining at the same time. Writing about people who try to blur the lines of what is acceptable behavior, those who flaunt societal norms, in order to justify their personal desires is fraught with pitfalls, but this author does it with a delightful ability that is fun to read.

I am a huge fan of sophie kinsella's novels. This is the first have i have read under her other name "Madeleine Wickham" and it was quite disappointing. If you are looking for a fun read like the Shopaholic series this book is not it. the books plods along very slowly and there is no humor whatsoever. The characters themselves are unlikable,especially the main character. the ending was very open ended, the main character didn't seem to change at all or learn anything. there were also too many subplots and almost none of them were interesting.

I am giving this book 2 stars because the character Gillian had an interesting substory and her part was enjoyable.

Fleur Daxeny is a gold digger, though I'm sure she'd abhor my use of the term. Fleur has had one goal in life--and one goal only--to become rich. To that end, she stakes out rich men at memorial services, grieving widowers, brothers of deceased society women, and uses her beauty, wit, and charm to get them to fall for her. Months later, she leaves them with lighter pockets and nothing but a memory. That is, until Fleur meets Richard Favour, a golf enthusiast whose deceased wife seems to be, at first glance, a pillar of virtue. When Fleur snakes her way into Richard's home, she finds herself losing sight of her original goal and simply enjoying her rustic country life. Soon, she begins to wonder if Richard might just be the man who can make her settle down... or should she start reading the obituaries to find her next conquest...

The Gatecrasher is nothing at all like a Sophie Kinsella novel. Sophie Kinsella is Madeleine Wickham's alias for her more lighthearted, flighty chick lit titles. So if you pick this book up expecting the same sort of breezy, amusing chick lit as you'd get from a Becky Bloomwood story, you're going to be in for a shocker. First of all, this book isn't funny. That isn't to say it's not enjoyable or entertaining in its own right, but Fleur Daxeny has none of the gregarious qualities that make Becky Bloomwood such a hit and this story is not nearly as lighthearted as the Shopaholic stories. That distinction being made, The Gatecrasher was kind of slow moving, which was my main problem with it. The story never really picked up and took me with it on a journey, it was just sort of there. I finished it, which means it was well written, but I never really fell in love with the story. I don't know. It could be that the story was originally published in 1998 and so it isn't as new and fresh as a lot of the other fiction I've been reading lately. But if you're a fan of slow moving, drawn out stories, this one might be for you. In my case, I think I'll wait for the next Kinsella novel.

Madeline Wickham's (aka Sophie Kindella) novels are pure froth. From Cocktails For Three, to the best-selling Shopaholic novels (written as Kinsella) we seek these novels out for an escape. The characters are zany, sometimes silly but always likeable and good hearted. Until now. Even at their most duplicitous we still root for Becky Bloomwood (our favorite Shopaholic) or Samantha Sweeting (The Undomestic Goddess) them because we know that their intentions are good. Yes they make mistakes, but we all do so we can forgive them. Because we like them we feel they deserve their happy ending.

Unfortunately the same can't be said for the heroine of The Gatecrasher. Fleur Daxney is a professional "gatecrasher", attending the funerals of wealthy women and seducing the grieving (but rich) widower. After a few months of being wined and dined and kept in the best accommodations money can buy she takes off, and when the money runs out she starts again. Of course it's hard to sympathize with a woman who takes advantage of men's grief, but it gets worse: Fleur brings her thirteen year old daughter Zara along for the ride, keeping her hidden away at boarding school when she can and making her play along with the charade when she can't. Fleur's latest conquest is Richard Favour, kind hearted spouse of the recently deceased Emily Favour. Fleur allows him a shoulder to cry on and within a few months she's in his house and his bank account. But this time things are different: responsibility comes calling in the form of Phillipa, Richard's needy emotionally vulnerable daughter. Because one gold digger can spot another Fleur is quick to note that Phillipa's husband, Lambert, is after Richard's money. Meanwhile Zara is on summer vacation and has had to track her mother to the Favour estate (Fleur forgot to mention where she'd be). She's developed a fondness for the Favours, and wants to stay with them. If we root for Fleur to marry Richard and get away with her charade it is not because of any fondness for Fleur as a character, but rather a desire to see Richard and Zara spared any additional pain.

There are some interesting characterizations here, but they're all secondary characters. Richard is a man who made his fortune the old fashioned way: he worked hard for it. He put his late wife Emily on a pedestal, and after her death he begins to learn that she wasn't the wonderful woman he'd built her up to be. In fact she used her husband's money as a weapon, even against her own children. Now Richard is putting Fleur on the pedestal that Emily once occupied. Can he realize his mistake or will it crush him? Zara also has some nice moments. All her life her mother has taught her that "money is security". Now as she enters adolescence feeling anything but secure she latches onto the Favour family for affection and guidance. These are the people who we care for and we don't want them to be hurt by Fleur's manipulations. So when Fleur gets her happy ending we are content because it means that Richard and Zara get theirs as well, not because we think she deserves it.

Fleur Daxeny is a funeral crasher - she's a con artist who preys on recent wealthy widowers and makes off with some of their money. Her most recent victim is Richard Favour whose wife Emily has just died. However, what she doesn't count on is that Richard and his family may change her just as much as she changes them.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and the just over 300 pages seemed to turn themselves. While I felt that Fleur's past was perhaps a little glossed over and could have been brought out more and that there was some foreshadowing that's denouement fell a bit flat, I felt that overall this was a great read. I will definitely be reading more of Ms. Wickham's work!

It would have been a great shame if I had not bought this book based on the reviews. Honestly, we all love the Kinsella writing style. At some point however, it's good to read something with a little more substance. I liked the way that Madeleine addressed many serious issues but still in a light way. The main subject matter, while quite dark (gold-digging with regretful widowers with an innocent child caught flowing along in the schemes), she still manages to bring some lightness to the situation, while still allowing the reader a glimpse into the darkness of all the characters' perspectives. I thought this book deserves credit on many different levels - not everyone takes into consideration so many different perspectives at once. I'd say it was well done and look forward to reading more.