The Luxe

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• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; First Edition edition (November 20, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061345660
• ISBN-13: 978-0061345661
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From Publishers Weekly

With a quote from The Age of Innocence as an epigraph and an enthusiastic blurb from the creator of Gossip Girl on its back cover, this lavishly produced debut makes no secret of its twin influences. The story opens in 1899 with the funeral of Elizabeth Holland, a well-bred beauty said to have plunged to her death in the Hudson River. The narrative then travels back several weeks, tracing the relationships and events that have led to the somber assembly. This tangled web includes not one but two sets of star-crossed lovers; an upstairs/downstairs romance; a scheming social climber; a bitter servant girl; and oodles of money, all set in a Edith Wharton via Hollywood vision of Old New York. The dialogue has its clunky moments, and the plot twist that drives the tale is telegraphed from the very start, but readers caught up in the fancy dress intrigue are unlikely to mind much: it’s all part of the dishy fun. Needless to say, the ending paves the way for at least one sequel. Ages 14-up.

My Thoughts:

I just finished reading THE LUXE by Anna Godbersen. On a 1-10, I give it a 10. You fall in love with the characters right from the start. Although the book is told from the (3rd person) perspective of five different characters, you sympathize with all of them (except maybe Penelope Hayes) and by the end of the book, you feel you know them like your own friends. Even the supporting characters are great!

The cover of this book is beautiful and a very nice quality. I only wish they had had it in hardcover when I purchased it. Thankfully, I have the third book in the series in hardcover.

It's lengthy, the paperback being 433 pages, but you never loose interest. It is definitely a page turner, even to someone like me who has never really gotten in to historical romances.

Gosbersen (I love her name by the way, don't you?) recreated Manhattan island in 1899 just as you would imagine it--girls in unspeakably gorgeous gowns dancing with handsome young men at lavish parties and engaging in forbidden romances. This book is not to be missed!

Pick it up now for TEEN READ WEEK!