Simply Divine [Paperback]

Wendy Holden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 3, 2000

A national bestseller in England, this delightful new novel has been called "Frothy, frivolous, and fun." (Harpers & Queen)

Jane, a struggling, twenty-something writer for a glossy women's magazine, has inadvertently just landed her worst nightmare of an assignment. Not only does she have a less-than-satisfying relationship with her boring and cantankerous boyfriend, who has a host of other insecurities, but now her eccentric magazine editor has made her the personal ghostwriter for the town's latest bedazzling, blonde, and busty socialite: Champagne D'Vyne. While Jane reels from the annoying and distasteful business of investigating, and then glamorizing, the vacuous details of Champagne's life, her new assignment suddenly becomes intertwined with her personal life in surprising ways. Will her own romantic prospects broaden? Will she be able to help save her best friend's dilapidated country manor with a matchmaking scheme? At once whimsical and satirical, Simply Divine is already a smash hit in England, and will undoubtedly be a crowd-pleaser for American readers.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Twentysomething magazine journalist Jane has enough stress--between breaking up with her boyfriend, falling in love with a man who leaves the country the next morning, and being generally bemused by her weight. The last thing Wendy Holden's heroine needs is glamorous socialite Champagne D'Vyne, who pops effervescently and annoyingly into her life. "Champagne's combination of stunning beauty and astounding vacuousness seemed to have struck some kind of chord with public and media alike. The Lost Chord, a despairing Jane supposed." Meanwhile, her best friend Tally's crumbling ancestral manse in Lower Bulge is about to be sold off unless Jane can find a rich knight to come to the rescue and, while she's at it, nab one for herself. Simply Divine sparkles with sharp, acerbic wit as the author pierces high society's extravagant pretensions and leaves the reader choking with laughter.

Tally always had had superior eyesight. This honing of the optics came, Jane imagined, courtesy of the genetic inheritance of generations of Venerys scanning the horizons of their vast acreage. Being grand, however, had its downside too. Like the girls at Fabulous, Tally had always suffered the most agonizing of periods. Blue blood was evidently more painful.

Holden launches the reader into a world of double-barreled socialites (including Pandora Smellie-Lewes, Princess Loulou Fischtitz, and Fluffy Fronte-Bottom) and the offices of the Gorgeous and Fabulous magazines where only girls with slim calves and tinted bikini lines get onto the front covers and, for that matter, through the front door. In her first satire Wendy Holden proves her superior social optics. --Nicola Perry

From Publishers Weekly

Witty puns, glittery silliness and a down-to-earth heroine provide both style and substance in British journalist Holden's clever debut, a rollicking sendup of London's glam-mag industry. By day, plain Jane Bentley, 24, is a writer for a fashion glossy; by night, she's the sexually unfulfilled live-in love of Nick, a boring and boorish political climber. But things could be worse, as Jane soon finds out when her boss gives her a nightmare assignment: to ghostwrite a column ostensibly penned by Champagne D'Vyne, an impossibly annoying celebrity socialite. The scantily clad blonde Champagne is totally over-the-top: too dumb to notice her own malapropisms, puns and blunders, too rich and glamorous to care. As Jane grumpily endeavors to spin the minutiae of Champagne's shallow existence--her spoiled dog "Gucci," her sexual exploits, her racy designer ensembles--into a popular column, she must also contend with her own problems, including new romantic prospects. Another distraction is her best friend, Tally, who is on a mission to save her family's crumbling country estate from being bulldozed. Holden, a former deputy editor of Tatler, has the inside scoop on the lifestyle she lampoons so well, and though her humorous depiction of Champagne's insane excesses grows tired, her emphasis on Jane's career is refreshing. Already a bestseller in England, this contemporary exploration of "having it all" should be popular here as well. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Plume; 3rd edition (April 3, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452281679
• ISBN-13: 978-0452281677
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,131,104 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The first of several Holden charmers, May 13, 2003

By 

Wendy-Marie Chabot "The Bad Gwen" (Central CT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Simply Divine (Paperback)

Pity Evergirl Jane. Her soon to be ex-boyfriend is vile. Her job does not exactly require life or death decisions. Her best friend Tally is stuck in the back of beyond trying to hold together the family manor with stacks of books and sheer will. What could add to Jane's fun?

Try ghostwriting a magazine column for London It girl of the moment, Champagne D'Vyne. Oh no, that name was not a typo. Champagne D'Vyne is a lean, long-legged, drop dead blonde stunner with breasts that would make Pamela Anderson and Jayne Mansfield look flat-chested. Champagne comes complete with a huge trust fund and demon doggie named Gucci.

Before Jane can throw herself onto her editing pencil, Champagne invades her life. Poor Tally isn't any help, having to deal with the return of her New Age mum and missing brother. Not even a romp with the stud upstairs can lift Jane's spirits.

Champagne's column is a stunning success and Jane escapes from her magazine to one with better circulation. And guess who re-enters her life?

It's doesn't take a brain surgeon to work out the plot twists but getting to the end is a blast.

Anyone who snaps up Marian Keyes and Sophie Kinsella should give Wendy Holden a try!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I liked it..., July 2, 2002

By 

shopper "lizir" (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Simply Divine (Paperback)

Wendy Holden's writing kept my attention throughout every bit of Simply Divine. For a quick and easy read thats a lot of fun, try this book. The book flows very smoothly with it's plot, introdcing several aspects (professional, realationship, friendship, etc..) of the main character, Jane's, twenty-something semi-chaotic life. Throughout the entire read, Holden has you rooting for all of the right characters and she never side-tracks or goes in circles around the main plot. It stays right on line, is full of humor and has a perfect ending... though you wouldn't imagine this ending until maybe the last ten pages. If you like the twenty-something single girl books, then you need to read this one.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quite clever, an easy read, May 24, 2000

By 

Laura (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Simply Divine (Paperback)

For her first novel I thought that Wendy Holden did an absolutely wonderful job writing Simply Divine. It is an extremely clever book. She had such great characters. Each character supported a different element of the novel. I found that the main character, Jane, was easy to relate to. She was going through many common issues, like boyfriend troubles, weight and job issues,which are things lots of people deal with. Then there was Champagne, the snotty superstar, Jane is hired to follow around. Champagne had so many different elements to her. She has a new boyfriend each week, a dog named Gucci, and very little intelligence, which makes for very interesting situations. Then there is Tally, Jane's bestfriend. Tally is extremely vulnerable and is willing to trust anyone, which makes her an easy target. There are many more incredibly unbelievable characters in this novel. I highly recommend it. It has a different tone to it than a lot of the novels that are out these days. Simply Divine is a comedic romance. The comedy lies within the ironic situations that arise throughout the story. It's not depressing, it's actually very uplifting and enjoyable to read.