Handbags & Gladrags [Paperback]

Maggie Alderson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 11, 2004

Emily Pointer would rather jog naked through Harvey Nichols' beauty hall than be seen with last season's handbag. A fashion stylist with "Chic" magazine, Emily is a natural blonde, a effortless size 10, travels the world for work and gets 30 per cent discount at Prada. As far as she's concerned, life is perfect. So surely a night of wild sex with a hunky Australian photographer during the fashion show season in Milan will be just another fabulous experience to add to the package. Instead, Emily starts to discover that life can be messy- and the designer clothes in your closet can be squeezed out by the skeletons lurking in there too. From the bestselling author of "Pants on Fire" and a former magazine editor herself, comes the delicious tale of a woman who was kidding herself that another Birkin bag was all she needed to achieve fulfilment.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Emily Pointer seemingly has it all--a job as a stylist for the hot British magazine Chic, a killer wardrobe, trips to glamorous locales, and a cosmopolitan husband. So why is she jeopardizing it all for an affair with a roguish Australian photographer? Perhaps because everything's not as it seems on the surface. Emily and her husband have a relationship based more on how they look together than how they feel about each other. Emily's superficiality and her ambivalence about her infidelity initially make her a very unsympathetic character. But, after a somewhat inauspicious introduction, she begins to change--coming to terms with her tumultuous childhood and reexamining her shallow lifestyle. Alderson, a former editor for British Elle, has a lighthearted, engaging style. Her descriptions of Fashion Week--all wild parties, gossip, and thrilling shows--will draw in wannabe fashionistas, but her often flippant attitude toward relationships may alienate more conservative readers. Aleksandra Kostovski
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

About the Author

Maggie Alderson has worked on nine magazines and currently has a weekly column in The Times. She lived in Australia for 8 years, returning here in 2001. Her first novel Pants on Fire was a UK bestseller, and she was a co-editor of the charity anthology Big Night Out. Her most recent novel Mad About the Boy is published by Penguin. She is married with a baby daughter and moves a lot.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books (November 11, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141009047
• ISBN-13: 978-0141009049
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,822,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The title says it all, January 4, 2006

By 

Book Maven - See all my reviews

This review is from: Handbags and Gladrags (Mass Market Paperback)

I love fashion. I have a huge wardrobe and collect handbags. I can be superficial. STILL this novel bored me to tears until about halfway through. In short, it is the story of a fashion editor who revels in the Fashion Weeks of various cities, meets a cute and down to earth fashion photographer and has an extra-marital affair. The first half of the novel talks endlessly about fashion shows, shopping and...shopping. How many times can one really enjoy reading about the joys of Prada boots?

The second half starts to get deeper into the characters' lives and explores their motivations, which is quite enjoyable. Even though I only gave this book three stars, it does end up being a decent, light book. I think the author was trying to pull some "Princess de Cleves" style: focusing on triviality at first to show a contrast later on. However, like Madame de Lafayette, she should've kept it more in the twenty page range rather than the hundred+ page range.

I highly suggest Pants on Fire, another M. Alderson book that handles the trivial with a lot more excitement for the reader.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AMAZING......, July 22, 2005

By 

Sheila Shoop "Amy" (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Handbags and Gladrags (Mass Market Paperback)

I normally read novels that are very deep and heavy. I enjoy John Grisham and C.S. Lewis. This summer I was looking for a quick, light, "girly" read and I bought this book on a whim. I absolutely LOVED it. I could not put it down. Despite some parts being very crude (for my taste), I still found it to be incredible. Even though I am not into the fashion world, I could still follow and really understand what was going on. It is well written and fast-paced. Parts of the novel had me rolling with laughter while others had me shocked. If you are looking for a quick, fun, light read, this is the book for you!!!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars droll sexy story, June 7, 2005

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Handbags and Gladrags (Mass Market Paperback)

Chic Magazine fashion expert Emily Pointer would rather shop till she drops instead of dining on food or men though she makes an exception with Australian photographer Miles McCrae, who scores more often with her than her spouse sees her. Of course Miles has more opportunities as both attend the same international shows.

Still Emily wonders about all the one night stands in Milan, Paris, New York, London and Plant Tharg, etc that she has with sexy Miles. Even more so she begins to panic as she starts questioning her clothing theory of women that the garb makes the female so nothing is worn that is between the age of six months to a couple of decades; older that that might start a fad while younger is the hip chic chick trend. As Emily ponders is that all there is, she also dissects her non-relationship with Miles and that guy she is married to, what's his name?

Though the audience might consider Emily as a shallow clothing hound, she is much deeper as she struggles with her lifestyle feeling more inadequate daily. The story line focuses on her in a chick lit style, but also provides insight into the fashion world from design to runway to the fantastically dressed rich and famous. Maggie Alderson writes a droll sexy story starring a superb spirited soul struggling with HANDBAGS & GLADRAGS as the meaning of life.

Harriet Klausner