Wellesley Wives by Suzy Duffy

Title: Wellesley Wives
Author: Suzy Duffy
Publication Date: September 27, 2012
Source: Net Galley
Summary (from Goodreads):

Popsy Power - a Boston society-wife and her best friend, Sandra seem to have it all with billionaire husbands and beautiful daughters. But things change.

From Bollinger to basic-wage, it's a roller coaster for the ladies who lunch. When the daughters land in a heap of trouble too, it's hardly surprising that their mother should worry about the next generation of Wellesley Wives.

Life can't always be fun in the sun, but that's why there's fur!
Sit back, relax and enjoy the wonderful world of the Wellesley Wives.


                                 Review

What first caught my attention was how much the summary (from the publisher's website) of this book sounded like a Jackie Collins novel. Multi-character point of views by rich, over the top drama queens. If you’re a JC fan, then you know what I’m talking about. And that’s not a complaint, I actually like the trashy romances Collins spits out and that’s one reason why I wanted to read Wellesley Wives. Turns out the two authors are very similar in their story telling—minus the trashiness on Duffy’s part.

Wellesley Wives follows the lives of four women: Popsy, Sandra, Rosie and Lily. If you read the summary of this book from the publisher's website then you’ll get the gist of the plot. Popsy and Sandra are best friends, Lily is screwing Sandra’s husband and Rosie is trying to do everything in her power to keep her marriage together and give her husband what he wants—even though it’s not at all what she wants. See? A Jackie Collins book!

That being said, I really enjoyed this story! I wasn’t expecting it to be as heartwarming and hit at my emotions like it did. The story of Popsy and her husband Peter was a surprise that I didn’t see coming, honestly, and it broke my heart. It was their story that I feel really made the book shine. It made it more than just about spoiled, rich women learning how to live without money.

I like the strength Sandra had and her loyalty to her best friend. At first I wasn’t really into her because of her plans to trap Jack with a baby. She was manipulative and selfish. But as the story went on and her marriage crumbled I really enjoyed seeing a different side of her—one that wasn’t this needy, pathetic, devious, neglected wife.

Rosie and Lily were my least favourite characters. I wanted to slap them both for different reasons. Lily blamed herself for all the horrible events that happened to her family because of her affair with Jack, and because of that she was willing to stay in a relationship she really no longer wanted to be in. Stupid girl! I know that there are so many couples who do this and I want to scream! Forget the whole don’t judge people without knowing their story bullshit. The truth is if you’re not happy no one is going to be happy. There is no saying more real than that.

And Rosie! Ugh! I hated, really hated, the way she let her husband convince her into something she was not at all comfortable with. I have no problem at all with the swingers lifestyle if that’s what you’re into, but it is a lifestyle that affects BOTH people in the relationship and because of that BOTH people should want it or else it’s basically just cheating on your spouse. The fact that she went along with it even though it made her sick to think about infuriated me! This is not okay! This is not what two people in a marriage should do to each other! You should not have to put yourself in this kind of position! Yes, I’m still pissed thinking about it. I hated that Rosie didn’t have the backbone to tell her husband there was no way in hell she was going on that kind of vacation. Because she wasn’t at all okay with this, I have no idea how she could look at it as him not cheating on her. And by him telling her he was going with or without her? Yeah, that’s blackmailing your wife into letting you cheat with her permission. She just gets the choice whether or not to witness it. There is no way, NO WAY I would be able to stay in that kind of marriage. I don’t care if Marcus did see the error in his ways at the end, the damage was already done. If I was Rosie I would never be able to get over the fact that he was so eager to touch someone else. I wouldn’t be able to stop wondering just how many women he had kissed, just how many eager legs had spread for him. I would be D.O.N.E. Gone.

Can you tell that was the real low point in the book for me? I’m surprised I didn’t ditch it just because of that.

But still, I’m giving it 4 stars because, aside from Rosie and Marcus, I really did enjoy everything else. I loved the three minor roles of Shane, Sven and Matt. Those three really are the “heroes” of the book because they saved Popsy, Sandra and Lily from one thing or another—emotionally, physically and literally. Especially Shane. We didn’t get to see very much of him but he’s the best by far in this book because of what he symbolizes.

Even though ¼ of the plot made me so furious, Wellesley Wives is a delightful read. And really, when an author can evoke that much hate from me, she’s done her job well.