This Vacant Paradise: A Novel [Hardcover]

Victoria Patterson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2011

The 1990s—Newport Beach, California. Money is God. A man’s worth is judged by the size of his boat, the make of his car. A woman’s value is assessed by the blank perfection of her quantifiable desirability: dress size, cup size, the whiteness of her teeth. And oh yes: her youth. Though Esther Wilson, the heroine of Victoria Patterson’s debut novel, has the looks to marry well, things aren’t going as planned. She’s nearing her mid-30s and possibly aging out of the only role she’s equipped to play: wife to a powerful member of the elite.

In the tradition of Edith Wharton and Henry James, This Vacant Paradise recasts the important questions about our very American obsessions: class, caste, race, age, and the roles of men and women in our drive toward an ever more lofty sense of our upward mobility.

Victoria Patterson, author of the story collection Drift, a Story Prize and California Book Award finalist, gives us a novel of such rigor and complexity that it feels too masterful to be her first. Like ZZ Packer or Robert Stone, Patterson’s prose is at once wickedly entertaining and searingly intelligent.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Considering the subject matter—the real housewives of Orange County—Patterson's debut novel (after story collection Drift) is surprisingly sophisticated and nuanced. In debt and unmarried, Esther Wilson works at a clothing boutique and lives with her wealthy grandmother, Eileen, whose financial generosity is orchestrated to "encourage dependence." Terrified of poverty, Esther is in the midst of securing a proposal from an unattractive but wealthy heir, but she blows it. Enter ex-boyfriend Charlie Murphy, who, though from a well-off family, is a liberal-minded sociology professor at the local community college, and therefore an object of Eileen's derision. Charlie takes it upon himself to emancipate Esther from the chains of vapid privilege, but with a huge inheritance imminent for him and nasty gossip circulating about Esther, Charlie's lefty enlightenment dims. As an acerbic commentary on mid-'90s Southern Californian excess, the novel walks a fine line between critic and unintentional participant—commentaries on the retrograde position of Orange County women jostle against overindulgent physical description—though Patterson's Southern California has echoes of Nathanael West and early Bruce Wagner. (Mar.)
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Review

Praise for This Vacant Paradise

"Patterson beautifully parses the consequences of one woman's fall in this memorable, penetrating, fully achieved novel." —The New York Times Book Review

"Patterson writes with the exuberance of a natural storyteller. Her cast is rich, her narrative sinuous and masterfully structured." —San Francisco Chronicle

"With echoes of a modern-day House of Mirth, Patterson’s elaborate tale examines the complexities and contradictions of society, family, and personal desire." —Booklist

"Considering the subject matter—the real housewives of Orange County—Patterson's debut novel (after story collection Drift) is surprisingly sophisticated and nuanced. In debt and unmarried, Esther Wilson works at a clothing boutique and lives with her wealthy grandmother, Eileen, whose financial generosity is orchestrated to "encourage dependence." Terrified of poverty, Esther is in the midst of securing a proposal from an unattractive but wealthy heir, but she blows it. Enter ex-boyfriend Charlie Murphy, who, though from a well-off family, is a liberal-minded sociology professor at the local community college, and therefore an object of Eileen's derision. Charlie takes it upon himself to emancipate Esther from the chains of vapid privilege, but with a huge inheritance imminent for him and nasty gossip circulating about Esther, Charlie's lefty enlightenment dims. As an acerbic commentary on mid-'90s Southern Californian excess, the novel walks a fine line between critic and unintentional participant—commentaries on the retrograde position of Orange County women jostle against overindulgent physical description—though Patterson's Southern California has echoes of Nathanael West and early Bruce Wagner." —Publishers Weekly

“This Vacant Paradise is that truly rare thing, a first novel that arrives with its writer working at the height of her intellectual gifts and creative powers.” —Jane Vandenburgh, author of Architecture of the Novel and A Pocket History of Sex in the Twentieth Century

“This is an exceptional novel, populated by several memorable and deftly rendered characters, each presented with nuance and compassion. Patterson taps deeply into their humanity, and the outcome is striking and dark.” —Michael Jaime-Becerra, author of This Time Tomorrow

“This Vacant Paradise is an enthralling reinterpretation of The House of Mirth that reminds us that there are contemporary Lily Barts. Esther Wilson—what a character! Her sense of integrity and her desire for love are so understandable, yet they continually bring her into conflict with her materialistic family and acquaintances in Newport Beach. Has the last hundred years of advances in women’s rights made a difference to the woman raised to marry for money? Victoria Patterson asks this fascinating question, and the answer makes for a completely engaging novel.” —Alice Elliott Dark, author of Think of England and In the Gloaming

Praise for Drift

“Set against the affluence of Newport Beach, Patterson’s debut collection often focuses on the enclaves—outcasts, waitstaff, divorcées, alcoholics, and drug addicts—as her characters confront personal battles, the limits of friendship, and the bleary anticipation of a different life. Patterson’s thirteen engaging tales offer keen perspectives on life lived on the fringe.” —Booklist

“Patterson’s unflinching account of the seedy side of a real-life Xanadu is frightening, immersive, and wonderfully realized.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Victoria Patterson’s Newport Beach is a privileged world of wealth and heedless consumption that trails a wake of human damage. By giving us nuanced portraits of the sidelined, she somehow evokes the complex, glittering whole. Patterson is our generation’s heir to John O’Hara and Edith Wharton. And nobody else writes about female sexuality with such sensitivity and fearlessness. Several times, I had to put this book down just to catch my breath.” —Michelle Huneven, author of Jamesland and Round Rock

“Victoria Patterson’s beautiful stories break our hearts as they inform us. Through her characters we see the complications and trauma of not fitting in with one’s surroundings, in a version of California we are rarely allowed to see. Haunting, affirming, and often comic, her stories make the reader grateful for this writer’s documentation of our human alienation—and our unexpected bonds. Patterson is a gifted storyteller, a fresh, essential new voice.” —Dana Johnson, author of Break Any Woman Down

“Victoria Patterson has enormous talent and I suspect we'll be hearing a lot more from her.” —James Lee Burke, author of the Dave Robicheaux series

“If I could write just a single story as beautiful and heartbreaking and intelligent as the thirteen linked together in Drift, I’m pretty sure that I could die a happy man. Victoria Patterson makes me envious as hell, and I applaud her for it.” —Donald Ray Pollock, author of Knockemstiff

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Counterpoint; First Edition edition (March 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582436452
• ISBN-13: 978-1582436456
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,003,582 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Victoria Patterson is the author of the novel This Vacant Paradise. Drift, her collection of interlinked short stories, was a finalist for the California Book Award and the 2009 Story Prize. The San Francisco Chronicle selected Drift as one of the best books of 2009. Her work has appeared in various publications and journals, including the Los Angeles Times, Alaska Quarterly Review, and the Southern Review. She lives with her family in Southern California and teaches through the UCLA Extension Writers' Program and as a Visiting Assistant Professor at UC Riverside.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars On the fault line between privilege and economic distress March 10, 2011

By J. A. Krueger

Format:Hardcover

I was introduced to Victoria Patterson through her essay in the wonderful collection, Bound to Last. This is her first novel, set in Newport Beach, CA. Esther Wilson is poised on the fault line between privilege and economic distress. Her beauty and the demands of super matriarch Grandma Eileen require a suitable husband if only she can find one that appeals to her at least a little. The trouble is that at 33, time is running out, not to mention that her current suitor fills her with boredom and incipient nausea.

Esther is such an old fashioned name. Newport Beach is truly an enclave of political conservatism and vapid imitative wealthy culture. Grandma Eileen suffers from gout, an addiction to Heinekens and a deep discontent with her offspring. In fact, Esther's father was kicked out of the family home when his sexual preferences became known and while Esther and her brother Eric were raised by their single gay father, she ended up back at Grandma Eileen's after his death. Eric became a homeless junkie. The entire scenario is a meld of modern day dysfunction and the stuffy yet desperate feeling of aristocratic downfall.

Victoria Patterson lived in Newport Beach during her middle school and high school years. Clearly she did not fit in. Her portraits of both the rich and those on the fringe are drawn with a fierce yet humorous satire. When Esther, who must work at a women's clothing boutique in the high end Fashion Island shopping plaza for her spending money, falls in love with Charlie Murphy, things begin to shift. She experiences a sexual, social and even intellectual awakening that endangers her precarious position as an inheritor of Grandma Eileen's fortune. The novel is an intricate picture of Esther's simultaneous economic downward spiral and the uplifting awareness of her selfhood.

If that sounds dreary or heavy, it is. But Patterson's writing is so good, so crystalline and so full of dark humor, that the readers suffers with Esther while having frequent laughs over the grandmother, not to mention the "best friend" Brenda whose plastic surgery, shopping, interior decorating and hours at beauty spas are not enough to hold her fabulously rich husband. Paul, the prospective suitor, tall, pale, nervous and a terrible kisser, is cringe inducing. Charlie, as the lover, a deserter from his successful father's family business, considers himself socially enlightened and attracts female students at the local community college where he teaches. In fact, Charlie has quite a thing for women, though he is especially smitten with Esther. His desires are as self-involved as any Newport Beach denizen. The sex between them is hot, lusty and actually well written.

The aptly titled This Vacant Paradise raises numerous questions concerning wealth, social class, the position of women and the role of family. Are we really as modern and conscious as we think we are? How do the attitudes of families with recently acquired money determine the destinies of their descendants?

The author read and re-read the novels of Edith Wharton and Henry James while writing this novel patterned on The House of Mirth. We are fortunate as readers in the early years of the 21st century, to have new writers possessed of the skill to address the human condition with the depth of literary fiction in addition to the page turning craft found in bestselling thrillers, mysteries and romances. Victoria Patterson revels in these skills. I think she is an author to read now and to watch in the future.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars An Intriguing Look Into the Real Lives of the "Haves" March 12, 2011

By EscapismThroughBooks

Format:Hardcover

Full disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review.
I knew nothing about Victoria Patterson or her previous work when I received this book, but I am always willing to try new things, so I love when I get to review something outside of my box. Reading the description for this book, I was fully prepared for a light, fun read, perhaps with a little bit of depth thrown in for good measure. Like a social satire in the spirit of Austen, for example.

But my goodness, was I wrong. This is no whimsical story, no fun satirical skip through the elite's playground through the eyes of a down-on-her-luck upstart stuck on the bench, no fairy-tale romance where the girl goes through some rough patches but gets her heart's desire in the end. This is a serious book that demands to be read and taken seriously, that drags the reader along in its wake, showing this world in all its honesty.

I felt like I was a party to this community, a part of Esther herself, and Nora, and Charlie, and Brenda, and Paul and even Grandma Eileen. I could understand and empathize with these characters' feelings and disappointments and hopes, even when I didn't necessarily agree with them. I love when I am able to fall into the pages of a book and experience it, not just read it.

And Patterson most definitely allowed me to escape into this world. I felt like I was there, could hear the murmured conversations in the background, could smell the ocean, could see the brightness everywhere: the sun, the reflections off of the water, and waxed cars, and sunglasses and martini glasses. The sparkle of whitened teeth and the brightness of all of the Haves' projected self-image... the one they show to hide the person they are.

I won't talk too much about the characters, because I feel that people should get to know them themselves. To form their own opinions and make their own judgements. I will say that I really enjoyed Esther's journey, all her ups and downs, all her bitter disappointments and glimpses of hope. I can't say that I particularly liked Esther, but I feel like I got to know her. I felt that she was willing and wanting to try, and so she gets credit from me for that.

I did have a few issues with the book, a few ends that I wish were tied up more neatly, but honestly, I don't feel like this detracted from the book very much. We're able to see a snapshot in the lives of these people, and life's circumstances rarely end up prettily wrapped with a red bow on top. I felt that Charlie's class and equality conversations were a little, unnatural at times, especially with Esther. She has never been trained to think with a sociologist's mind, and I felt that he should have made it a bit more accessible to her so that she could really understand him, and the concepts he brought to her world. But again, this was a minor issue.

All in all, I enjoyed this book very much. It's not at all what I expected, but sometimes, the unexpected is exactly what we need.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This Vacant Paradise: The High Price of Love Among the Moneyed Set February 25, 2011

By Margaret

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I loved Patterson's collection of short stories, Drift, so I was excited when I discovered she had a novel coming out. I was even more excited when I read it. This Vacant Paradise is brilliant. An instant classic in the vein of Edith Wharton's House of Mirth, the novel revolves around Esther Wilson, whose beauty is her greatest currency. As she fails again and again to fulfill expectations that she find a wealthy husband among the upper set of Newport Beach, California, her life begins to unravel and she begins to wonder who she is and who she could be. Read the book for the story, characters, and breathtaking descriptions, but know that you will walk away reflecting deeply on the sexualization and commodification of women, the slavery of money, and the price of love. Know also this: with two important works of fiction under her belt, Patterson promises to be one of the enduring literary voices of her generation. One day, she will be huge, but you can read her now and see what it feels like to get in on an amazing discovery.