Pride and Avarice: A Novel [Hardcover]

Nicholas Coleridge (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2, 2010

Hailed by The New Yorker as “wickedly enjoyable,” Nicholas Coleridge’s newest novel is a sharp comedy of manners about two powerful men engaged in a bitter rivalry. Their feud rages from the boardroom to the bedroom as old money takes on the new

Gazing from his magnificent Chawbury Manor, Miles Straker has it all. But when noveau riche Ross Clegg buys and builds on the land adjoining his country estate, ruining his perfect view, Miles is irate. Even worse, Ross is quickly taken up by the country gentry, who admire his success and his down-to-earth manners. But Miles is a dangerous enemy and he vows to take the Clegg empire apart piece by piece. A rich read full of wit, Pride and Avarice is sure to be Coleridge’s biggest selling book to date.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Coleridge's latest (after Godchildren) is a lengthy, elaborate skewering of contemporary Britain's wealthy movers and shakers that, while funny and smartly conceived, could stand to lose a good 150 pages. Miles Straker is handsome, wealthy and enormously connected as chairman and CEO of his own public relations firm. When on-the-rise grocery chain owner Ross Clegg secures a plot of land abutting Miles's country seat, Chawbury Manor, and erects a monstrosity of a home, the gauntlet is thrown. While Ross's company grows by leaps and bounds and begins to challenge Miles's top client's market share, the Clegg family worms its way into the Chawbury social scene. Such threats to the upper-crust status quo are not taken lightly, and all-out Straker-Clegg family entanglement ensues. The novel bears all the trappings of a well-crafted social satire—delightfully loathsome characters, romantic intrigue of the most sordid kind, a keen eye for the ever-important details of appearance—but as the narrative progresses, the ever-increasing chains of coincidences and shifts of allegiance begin to feel like a piling-on. Sometimes less is more. (Feb.)
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Review

“Coleridge dissects the social mores… with the precision of Tom Wolfe.” –The New Yorker on GODCHILDREN

"[A] sweeping drama... illicit passions and activities come to startling life....Coleridge’s latest family epic will hold readers spellbound." -Publishers Weekly, starred review of GODCHILDREN

"Wickedly funny and flawless in the details, Coleridge's portrayal of the British upper class is irresistible from the first page to the last."  -Tina Brown, author of The Diana Chronicles on GODCHILDREN

“Nicholas Coleridge makes a witty and acerbic guide to this arcane, and largely secret, world.”--Julian Fellowes, author of Snobs; Academy Award-wining writer of Gosford Park ON A MUCH MARRIED MAN

“A keen observer of class, manners, and sexual frisson, Coleridge is a master of the social romp.”--Graydon Carter, editor-in-chief, Vanity Fair on A MUCH MARRIED MAN

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books (February 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312382626
• ISBN-13: 978-0312382629
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #843,096 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:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pleasant prose, summer read, June 1, 2010

By 

PenQuiltPixel "PJ" (Cincinnati, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pride and Avarice: A Novel (Kindle Edition)

This is my first Nicholas Coleridge novel and I'm pleased enough to reserve a couple of his earlier works from the library. However, the novel is frustrating in its simplistic tone and ideas. About half way through I started getting edgy waiting for the comeuppance - or some arc, some transformation of someone. I had to put it down for this reason and return to it a few days later. Throughout, though, the good stay good and the bad unrelentingly bad. This made the book a mildly amusing summer fantasy read, with some charm, however.

I did enjoy his natural, easy hand on the characters themselves. The straightforward descriptive sentences lent a nice, pleasant humour to the book and I found I wanted to keep spending time even with people I didn't (and wasn't meant to) like. Which is why I did keep thinking about the story and the people even when I took a break from reading.

The end was mildly disappointing. It felt two abrupt in length, though everything got properly resolved. This happened in the last twenty or so pages of a nearly five hundred page book. I think more effort could have been put in this area.

Four stars because my walk-away feeling was of pleasant enjoyment.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars PR World Right On the Mark, February 2, 2011

By 

Julia A. Andrews (Peoria, Illinois) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pride and Avarice: A Novel (Hardcover)

My Brit husband has a formidable task of purchasing books for me for holiday or other special times that I have not read. Granted, he could check my Amazon Account but that would not include outside purchases, gifts from others or books borrowed from friends.

He knows I have an affinity for Julian Fellowes' Snobs and Past Imperfect: A Novel so, with fingers crossed, he gave this to me at Christmas. No, it did not have the gossipy style with strong, realistic characters of a Fellowes' multi-layered work. Still I found this to be an entertaining read especially with the lead character being in British PR as had my now retired husband. There were many PR people and instances that were right on the nose. My husband read the book after I finished it and could not believe its uncanny parallel to PR reality. Thank God my husband was no Milo!

This is a light, enjoyable read with the characters who never deviate from their good or bad personas. The storyline is predictable but likeable. The synopsis has been well detailed by other reviewers so I won't repeat it here.

I enjoyed his book enough to check out his older works and will look for newer novels on the Amazon UK site.

All in all a 3.5 Star experience.

Enjoy the read!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Morality play, May 2, 2010

By 

Malory Truman (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pride and Avarice: A Novel (Hardcover)

The book is funny in places, but it's far too black and white. With one exception, the characters are either entirely good or completely evil, with nothing to make them believable. Miles is despicable, Ross is noble, and that's really all you need to know. Ross's wife, Dawn, is a social climber with a good heart, and the only person in the book who comes off as human. Another problem is the sloppy writing. Two-thirds of the way through the book, the name of Miles's mistress's ineffectual husband inexplicably changes. Suddely, Robin is Nigel for 50 pages. Then it changes back. Was the editor asleep at the switch? This mistake made an already-annoying book even more so. I gave it 2 stars for its guilty-pleasure, beach-read fun qualities, but can't truly recommend Pride and Avarice.