Customer Reviews

Trophies

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is so hard to follow that reading it becomes a chore. I guess if I lived in L.A. I would understand what the author is trying to convey. I would not recommend this book,unless your looking for more challenges in your life.

I bought this book based not only on Amazon reviews but also kudos it received from the likes of Norman Lear and Arianna Huffington. I now have the feeling that a lot of the reviewers are friends of Ms. Thomas. "Made me laugh out loud...Ironic, smart"..."Sharp, wicked adrenaline-rush." I didn't read that book.

I can't begin to tell you how disappointed I was in this book. The message seems to be that you can spend obscene amounts of money on plastic surgery, Jimmy Choos and Manolos, facials, waxing, and of course your multi-million dollar house as long as you are raising lots of money for charity which apparently trophy wives are good at.

With the exception of Maya, our resident supermodel, none of these women have a job. However, with the upkeep of their fabulous faces, bodies and homes...they don't have time for one.

Marion Zane...the "hero" of our story is blessed with a face like Suzy Parker thanks to plastic surgery. Marion did not even know who Suzy Parker was when they made her face look like Suzy's. Note to Marion: it is probably a good idea to know who you are being made to look like when you are undergoing the knife.

Pepper, the most annoying character in this book with her faux hillbilly accent is not only a child abuser [Question for Heather: why would you have one of your main characters take a brush to her child's bare bottom for absolutely no discernible reason] and seems to spend this entire novel yelling at her children and trying to get her Greek husband back from a woman who has cast a spell on him using of all things...menstrual blood. Don't ask.

I don't think this book was at all funny and instead of making me understand the "trophy wife"...I came away wondering what on earth their purpose in life is beyond their so-called philanthropy.

Heather Thomas looks lovely on the inside cover of the book but I unfortunately can't say much for her writing abilities. Married to one of Hollywood's best known entertainment attorney's...I had the feeling while reading this that Marion is very close to Heather's heart. A wonderful way to rationalize living like Marie Antoinette while people are losing their homes and jobs and have no idea who Christian Louboutin is.

I just finished reading Trophies: A Novel, by actress/author Heather Thomas, a book that I found myself completely immersed in from the first chapter until the end.

The story takes place in Los Angeles, specifically Hollywood, and the "trophies" are the wealthy and famous second wives of powerful movers-and-shakers, women who use their position, power and wealth to influence not only political parties and Hollywood deals, but also things like charities.

The main character, Marion, is the "Queen B" of the group, and enjoys the best of everything, loving family, loyal friends, the best charities under her belt etc., however she knows that things in the world that she runs in are not always what they may seem to be on the surface, and that sometimes a little insider information can be the most powerful tool of all--sometimes that information can also end up as a weapon--especially when wielded by someone within the same inner circle.

Things take a major turn after a rather shocking event and a clash over a charity function held in the aftermath. Marion finds herself on the outs with just about everything, virtually overnight. The events that follow are pretty incredible, taking you through a range of emotions as you laugh at some of the situations she finds herself in, but also feel her pain as she experiences one humility after another.

Of course, Marion is not one to stay down, and becomes determined to see her project through, despite her circumstances and the odds. Will she learn from her experience? Will she triumph? Will she get those who done her wrong? You will have to read the book to find out.

Trophies: A Novel is definitely hilarious reading material, with plenty of catty and juicy content to keep you turning the pages, and as Ms. Thomas lives the life she is writing about (perhaps not to the extremes her characters do) there is keen insight into the world of glitz, glamour and high profile fundraising that the average person is not privvy too.

Underneath it all however, Trophies: A Novel is a genuinely warm and touching story about human nature, spirit and perseverance.

Highly recommended.

I picked up this book after seeing Heather Thomas on Chelsea Lately. I think Chelsea and her book Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea are hilarious so I got Trophies even though I didn't find Heather Thomas to be all that engaging. She did, however, look fabulous for her age!

I found Trophies to be a three-star book. However, I had to dock it one star due to the myriad of grammatical and spelling mistakes. Had I made that many errors on a college paper, my professors would have unhesitatingly taken a grade off. Perhaps I'm being too harsh, but I felt a story that gives such devoting detail to the minutiae of the lifestyles of the rich and famous should have been more careful with its presentation. The mistakes just needlessly took me away from the story.

Onto the actual story. Plot: Marion Zane, wife of billionaire Richard Zane, is on top of the world...HER world. Her world differs from ours in that she inhabits the insular, rarefied air of the 1% of Beverly Hills. She is the TOP of the trophy wives - a Stage III trophy without a prenup, a position she loves and fought her way to get. It all starts to unravel though after she encounters a seemingly familiar woman at a party. Marion separates from her husband and moves into the Beverly Hills Hotel until, horror of horrors, she is put on a $30,000-a-month budget during her divorce proceedings. Because of all her obligations to charities and fundraisers, the money quickly runs dry and she finds herself living in her car. Only her trusty maid Xiocena knows of her situation because Marion doesn't want people finding out she is broke and thus jeopardize her position in society. Somebody or somebodies though seem hellbent on dethroning and destroying her. Will Marion find out who they are before all her deepest, darkest secrets are revealed and she's ruined forever? Will she be forced to reveal the secrets of those nearest and dearest to her? Will she be able to raise the $400 million to fund her dream hospital downtown? All that and more are revealed in the 500+ pages of the book.

Aside from Marion, the main trophies are:
Maya - world's top supermodel and wife of Brad Pitt-like character
Patti - serial wife; married 6 times
Pepper - Southern wife of Greek tycoon; whiz with numbers
Lyndie - Marion's frenemy; TOP trophy before Marion
Claire - Midwestern beauty queen; newly wed to Hollywood director

All in all, the book was entertaining. It's the West Coast's answer to The Manny. Each trophy is given a background and some are quite colorful. Like Sex and the City, I like how the bonds between a group of women are portrayed. Despite the length of the book, there are enough characters and moments of hilarity to keep the story moving.

However, unlike The Manny, Trophies is much more self-aggrandizing. In the beginning, someone dismisses trophies in general as a bunch of "poodles with no real power." Heather Thomas, a member of the group herself and perhaps a recipient of such sentiment, spends the rest of the novel trying to disprove that notion. The trophies see themselves more as philanthropists. Aside from the obvious "bad" character, these women are friendly with their maids and pay them well. They'll rush out of their own party to be at the side of a maid in need. Right. One character, a former government spy at that, even acknowledges, "He'd never dreamed that a human being so caught up in trivialities could have so gigantic and positive an impact on mankind...Marion accomplished more social good than most governments or corporations." Roll eyes here.

I caught myself rolling my eyes a couple of times, especially towards the end of the novel, but it was an easy, enjoyable read. Grammatical errors and proclamations of grandeur aside, this was a fun glimpse at how the other 1% lives. A solid three-stars for the story.

Whether she wrote it all herself or not, Thomas (being US magazine's "Favorite Female Newcomer" of 1982) certainly knows the world. And somewhat to my surprise, Trophies doesn't completely suck.

But when the probably-inevitable movie (TV or otherwise) is made, let's hope it's filmed by people who know this:

When characters who can laugh at the thought of living on one million a year do so, the rest of us are laughing too. Not with them, but at them.

Thus freed from any need to feel too deeply for the characters, we can enjoy the book on its own merits. There's no pretending it's ever going to be on any school assigned reading lists, but it's a fun way to kill a summer afternoon.

Still, I'd almost rather have seen a memoir of Thomas's pink-bikini-hot-tub days--the view from the other side of the poster, as it were. Maybe next book?

This was such a fun read, but could have used a little editing to make the plot tighter. It reminded me a lot of Dominick Dunne with the back-stabbing socialites from LA. I could just imagine reading about these women in People magazine.

If you like daytime television soap operas, you'll love this book. With a generous number of characters to wrap one's mind around, the author lures you into the world of Hollywood wealth, fame, debauchery, (BJ parties anyone?) D-cups, and Botox. With for-publicity fundraising as the primary redeeming quality to these otherwise shallow, status-and-money-conscious self-proclaimed "trophies," this is a sometimes amusing, sometimes painfully dull and slow-moving, sometimes juicy beach read page-turner.

Containing several distracting typos, it's about 200 pages too long, and these pages (or short chapters) fail to move forward the plot of the systematic dethroning of TOP trophy Marion Zane by her so-called well-defined friend and sister trophy, Lyndy. Most of the other secondary trophies are a bit stereotypical and aren't as colorful or interesting as Marion or Lyndy. Claire, the Midwestern beauty queen who marries a big shot Hollywood producer and becomes stepmother to three spoiled children is, however, the exception. Claire enters this arena as a trophy newbie, and shows rather than tells how seemingly "normal" girls with big princess dreams find themselves living these surreal lives.

But what the heck? I didn't buy this book expecting a great work of literature. I just wanted to trash around in the world of what passes these days as popular women's fiction. I definitely got what asked for, which was a few laughs and some unforgettable characters. Good for you Heather Thomas. Write another one. I'll read it.

Michele Cozzens is the author of It's Not Your Mother's Bridge Club

Trophies - A Novel - is a wonderful romp based on Hollywoods movers and shakers written by first time author and actress Heather Thomas. Instead of the ususal book about the tossed aside, first wives, we get to learn what it's like for the second wives, better known as the Trophy Wives. Add to it that there is also a mystery and suspense hidden inside of all the humor and gossip and you have the perfect beach novel.

This is the story of Marion Zane, the top Trophy, and her fabulous fall from grace orchestrated by Lyndy Montgomery Wallert, AKA The Beast of Revenge. Lyndy has had this dream that soon she would reclaim, what she thought of, as her rightful spot as top Trophy which she had lost to Marion and when that dream comes true she's going to treat herself to "ass-implants, resplendent and high." Lyndy was going to use her ass dream as incentive to fight her way back to the TOP.

Marion is not your typical "Trophy"; she is,wise,smart,loyal, loving, caring and politically savvy. She has it all: lovely body, looks,money, a solid marriage and best of all, no pre-nup. She has it all. Until one fateful night while hosting a political fund raiser at her home, a child dies needlessly while waiting for medical care at the hospital, and in her enthusiasm to right a terrible injustice, she does the unthinkable, she stages a fund raising "Throw-Down" and succeeds beyond her wildest dreams.
The means to Marions destruction has now been set in motion.
Also meet - Maya, Pepper, Patti and Ivan. All of them have secrets better left hidden. Will they aid Marion in time of need or will they betray her too?


One of the most entertaining, mysterious, funny,well written, first novels to come out of Hollywood in recent years. The brain of Heather Thomas must filled with pure creative evil to be able to think up something this cruel, yet entertaining.

A pure,unapologetic "potato chip" based, cleaverly written, beach read. One that you can't put down because you're afraid that you may miss the next "Mean Girls Grown Up" moment.

Watch for the last chapter and the last bit about Claire, a very "All About Eve"moment .

You will adore this gossipy, back stabbing look at the ultra-rich second wives and wonder how much of this is the truth. It goes to prove the adage that 'living well is the best revenge' and I certainly hope that there will be future books coming from Ms Thomas.

I was surprised to see this book by Heather Thomas on the shelves. The last I had seen of her was in the 80s when my brother had her hot tub posted tacked onto the wall. I was intrigued as to what her foray into novel writing yielded.

The result? A well-written, amusing novel about Hollywood trophy wives. Don't let the description fool you - this is not a tired retread of old ground. There is more than enough dish to go around in Hollywood, and those looking for a background into the film indistry won't find it here. Thomas mines the corner that belongs to the trophy wives and the charity gala.

This book has a some wonderful set pieces, one involving an exploding backside that while maybe improbable is still hilarious but she also takes the time to make her characters three dimensional. The main character Marion is very likable, and I felt badly for her during her trials. But Thomas never lets the fun stop, even for a moment. There are the usual affairs, gossip, ladies who lunch - even the ghost of a long dead Hollywood wife. Amusing and touching, it's also a credit to Thomas that she did not turn in a large type book that barely makes it to two hundred pages. The typeset is dense, and this is a perfect book that will take a while to read at the beach.

There's a part of me that would not want to be caught dead reading "that kind" of book. A womanish book, a frivolous book, etc. Yet there's an undeniable joy in this book. It's worthy of a place among the heavyweights of the lightweight Jacqueline Suzanne and Jackie Collins. I could not put it down, and in fact, hope that there will be a "Return of Trophies."