Wellesley Wives by Suzy Duffy

Wellesley Wives is a romantic comedy about Popsy Power, her friend, Sandra, her two daughters, Rosie and Lily and all the men in their lives. The folks of Wellesley form the cream of Boston society. Popsy, her daughters and her friend are the envy of many. With their Ferrari’s, furs, and fundraiser lunches they seem to have it all. However, when things start to go wrong it is up to the Wellesley Wives to prove what they are made of and just how they pull themselves up by the boot straps is where this story begins.

This is a tale of friendship and love, about making bad decisions and working to put things right again and about the eternal bond of womanhood. The women are intrinsically linked and when one of them does something incredibly selfish and stupid, the fall out affects them all.

I loved this book! When we are first introduced to the women they each appear to be quite shallow and superficial in their own way. I didn’t think I could empathise with them, especially as they seemed to have been rather spoilt and pandered to, in different ways. However, very soon, their fallibilities began to emerge and for me they quickly began to be likable. I found myself “talking” to them as events unfolded and by the end of the story I wanted to meet them in person, they seemed so real.

It is difficult to say too much about the story without giving away the plot. However, there is one chapter I will talk about because it is so brilliantly written that I read it three times, just for its entertainment value:

Very early on in the story it’s Popsy’s fiftieth birthday and she and Sandra are going to a charity lunch in aid of The Children’s Hospital in Boston. The lunch is being hosted by Jenny Lennox who has the most enormous house resplendent with pool, tennis courts and of course, a helipad. Jenny has also just acquired a genuine Renoir, a gift from her husband, Eddie, who reportedly paid $100 million for it. As Popsy and Sandra mingle amongst the other guest, Popsy finds herself standing in front of the Renoir. Taking a moment to admire it she is joined by another guest who seems to be somewhat of an art critic. After the appraisal she also tells Popsy some very interesting gossip about why Eddie had been so generous with his gift. Popsy is shocked. When she caught up with Sandra a few minutes later, she just couldn’t wait to tell her what the other guest had said.

“So, what do you think?”Sandra said as she came up beside her.

“I think it is gorgeous and did you know that it was a ‘charming and irreverent portrayal of the hedonistic life and subtlety of lust in the late 1800’s’?”

Sandra looked at Popsy , arching her eyebrows. “I never would have guessed”

Popsy nodded. “I also heard that Eddie Lennox paid $100 million for it”

“In fact, I had heard a rumour, but wasn’t sure that it was true. Nice round figure.

You know, in all likelihood it’ll be worth double that in twelve months. Do you get taxed on fine art appreciation?”

Popsy pulled her friend closer and glanced around to make sure nobody was in earshot. “Yes, but did you hear why he bought it? I heard Jenny discovered he was having an affair. This is his peace offering. His ‘get out of jail free card’ if you will. A frigging Renoir”

Sandra said nothing and examined the painting.

“Did you hear me , Sandy? Did you know about this? Was Eddie Lennox offside? Evidently he has a mistress. Well I assume it’s had a mistress and not has if he’s bought this painting and the Lennoxes are all happy families again”

At last Sandra tore herself away from the painting and looked at her friend. “Who told you this?”

“That woman over there. The tall, striking strawberry-blonde” Pospsy gestured discreetly.

“Figures” Sandra sighed.

“Why?”

“Because she’s the mistress.”

Can’t you just visualise that conversation and the look on Popsy’s face when Sandra delivers the last line?

I can!

This story is filled with great passages of conversation and what appear to be almost farcical turns of events, but, underlying all of this the Wellesley Wives find strength and courage in different ways by helping each other through some of the most difficult times in their lives. It is an excellent read, escapism of the highest order and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who wants to be entertained for a while.

This book was published on 27th September by The Writer’s Coffee Shop Publishing. It is the first of three in the series. I, for one, cannot wait to hear more from the ladies of Wellesley.

9.8/10

Rebecca and a Friend of a Friend........

I think I am the only person in the world who has not read any of Daphne du Maurier's work, especially the classic novel Rebecca. It has to be admitted that I have reached this age and not looked at one line of her writing - not until now, that is! Thanks to fellow bloggers ( Dot especially:) I spent all this weekend reading Rebecca and it was every bit as good as every fan had promised it would be.



Other than the thrilling storyline, the most interesting thing about this book for me is the fact that when it was first published, in 1938, it was billed as a 'True Romance' and a kind of 1930's equivalent of today's chick-lit. Daphne du Maurier hated the book being categorised in this genre and after reading it I can understand why. Even Alfred Hitchcock's film adaptation (which I watched on YouTube after reading the book - yes, I became obsessed!!) had that true romance undertone to it and although the film painted some excellent character portraits and focused on the insecurities, insanity and broodiness of some of the main cast, I do not believe it truly captured the heart of what du Maurier was trying to say in the book.



Max de Winter is a recently widowed man whose wife, Rebecca, has been killed at sea. He takes a holiday from his stately home on the coast, Manderley, because he is on the verge of a breakdown and needs to get out of the house as it holds so many memories of Rebecca. The house is famous throughout the county for it's parties and is know for it's style and elegance, which is due mainly to the work of Rebecca, who by all accounts, was the perfect hostess, wife, mistress of the house, employer and socialiser. Max heads to Monte Carlo where he meets a young girl half his age, sweeps her off her feet and marries her, all within a few weeks. They return to Manderley and the new Mrs de Winter finds herself mistress of an enormous staff and home and caught up in a world she knows very little about, completely out of her depth. The new Mrs de Winter appears to be the absolute opposite of Rebecca in every way, shy, awkward, clumsy, timid and eager to please.



Mrs Danver's is the housekeeper and was Rebecca's maid and closest confident, Frank Crawley is Max de Winter's secretary. Both characters play key roles in Mrs de Winter's life during her first few weeks at Manderley. Needless to say, Mrs Danver's loyalty remains staunchly with Rebecca and to the past so she is not a friend of Mrs de Winter and as Frank is devoted to Max, he becomes an ally and friend of the new mistress of the house.


The story takes various twists and turns and it illustrates how inexperienced, inept at being mistress of the house and totally reliant on male affirmation, the young Mrs de Winter is. She is not given a christian name in the book and is only ever referred to as Mrs de Winter or Madame throughout, therefore, her identity is tied exclusively to her husband's name and not her own. (Not a lot of Girl-Power there, I here you say!)








*****This is where you should stop reading if you have not read the book and don't want to know any more of the plot (Scroll down to next line of bold print to continue...... and no peeking on the way!!)*****




After the shocking truth of the real events on the evening of Rebecca's disappearance are uncovered, I began to realise that the hero and heroine of the story were actually a murderer and later an accessory to the fact! Throughout the clever narrative, du Maurier's ability to bring the reader along with these two dubious characters and have said reader sympathise with their situation, was nothing short of genius. I was with them all the way, willing them on through the tribunal and the visit to London, hoping against hope for a positive outcome for them both, that is to say, I was hoping that they would get away with murder or that it was all just a horrible mistake and Rebecca hadn't been murdered at all!! I couldn't bear to think that I was on the murderer's side in this story and not the victim's. Then I stopped and said to myself "What am I thinking?"!!

I re-read the beginning of the book after I had finished the end as the first and some of the second chapters talk about Mr and Mrs de Winter's life in the present, which is set several years after Rebecca's death and the time the rest of the story focuses on. I was shocked when I realised that the biggest crime of all was actually being committed there, right there in the present at the beginning of the book and I had no idea of that when I first read it.

****You can rejoin the post now - I hope you didn't peep at the last two paragraphs****

Brilliant writing! It was no more a chick-lit book than Lord of The Rings!


Tell me what you think of Rebecca - I adored it and will be on the look out for anything du Maurier - do you have any suggestions of what I should read of hers next?


Speaking of women and Girl-Power (which I was actually, if you include Mrs de Winter, Mrs Danvers and Rebecca) I met a really nice lady on Monday who I hadn't met before. Several years ago I lived in Singapore and became friends with a lovely fellow Brit there who had three sons around the same age as mine. We met at picnics and social events, we chilled out on the beach and at outings and got together on committees to organise this and that. Over the years we became close and had a lot in common, which included the love of fine wine and laughing at life in general. Then one day she headed back to Canada whilst I remained in Singapore. Shortly afterwards we lost touch and I often wondered what had happened to her.


Then one day, a year or so ago, I got a friend request on Facebook and it was her. Since then we have shared each others family photos, commented on life's little nuances and generally continued to laugh together. A few weeks ago she dropped me a note which introduced me to another friend of hers in Canada, also a fellow Brit, who was on her way, for the first time, to holiday in Hong Kong. We two became friends on Facebook and before we knew it, we were planning to get together on Monday for a mooch around in Honkers - I am so glad we did! We had a wonderful time chatting and telling each other about our life and family. It was as if we had known each other for years and when I left her it struck me just how small this world really is.


I know we will stay in touch and now I have another friend who is a friend of a friend of mine - that really is Girl-Power at work!