Kevin Kwan's SEX and VANITY (July 2020)

SEX AND VANITY is a glittering tale of love and longing as a young woman finds herself torn between two worlds – the WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants) establishment of her father's family and George Zao, a man she is desperately trying to avoid falling in love with.- (I bought my book From Fully Booked ) I have read the CRA trilogy:  CRAZY RICH ASIANS, CHINA RICH GIRLFRIEND and RICH PEOPLE PROBLEMS.  I have enjoyed reading the three books.  The people who have discovered Kwan's gift just recently are "BLESSED" because they can now buy the whole trilogy set, and enjoy reading them one after the other. 

From KEVIN KWAN'S OFFICIAL WEBSITE (My book's cover is purple)

LUCIE TANG CHURCHILL sang this in a capella during her dad's memorial service when she was only eight years old.

Caveat emptor:  If you want a thought-provoking book, well, this is not it, but if you want to be entertained, without thinking of logic or depth, this is for you.  

By the way, you shouldn't be fooled by the title of this book. It's nothing really sleazy, unless you would have a tête-à-tête with Charlotte, you would think this is even, well, sort of, wholesome(Yeah, right!). 😅 There are only two to three appalling scenes,  but it depends on your convictions in life.

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I had fun reading about Paloma and Mercedez Ortiz who own 5,000 of the 7,000(+) islands of the Republic of the Philippines(jejejejejejeje).  EXAGE! 

I just wonder about the granddaughter named Bella Ortiz...Did her mother marry a distant relative or something...just like Charlotte's being a Barclay, and so is Consuelo, her grandmother?

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Kevin Kwan is one of my favorite authors. As I've mentioned before, I have read the trilogy before this one, and I enjoyed all of them.  They are all page turners, and so is this one.

From Amalfi to Capri Private Boat Tour

From Rome to Capri: 5 Best Ways to Get There

I just couldn't put it down.  I love Capri and the places near it, but Mr. Kwan made me love them more.  I even wished that I personally know Olivia so she could take me to that off the beaten path custom designer of sandals, but I wouldn't want to be her close friend, because...

I also wish that one day, when this pandemic is over(please Lord, please) I could go back to the Isle of Capri(and other places near it) and stay a little longer, even if I am not a CRA. 

I also, by the way, enjoyed my revisiting New York.  It was like I was there all over again. 

I was laughing hard when Lucie and George were talking  about surfing when they were at DITCH PLAINS, Montauk, Long Island, and Lucie said,"...You'd have to be Malibu Barbie to catch waves out here." Then right on cue, Swedish Viv, George's "surfing buddy" arrives.  Maybe it's not funny for you, but the mere mention of Malibu Barbie catching waves out there made me laugh out loud.

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What I don't understand is how Lucie could have been engaged to Cecil Pike.  Except for his looks(he was described to look like Armie Hammer), there's simply nothing lovable about him.  Oh maybe for others his money is so appealing, but his character is not so...plus, I don't understand why she wanted George to be out of her life just because he's Chinese. If she was worrying about her WASPy family, doesn't his gazillions of money count? Even if his mother was eccentric and all, wasn't George cultured enough???  What was so bad about George????  Was it because she was the one who...

Wait a minute...I thought this wasn't supposed to be thought-provoking?

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At any rate, I think E.M. Foster would love to be Kevin Kwan's best friend if he were alive now, and happened to read this book.  I think he would be happy with the "homage"/tribute to ROOM WITH A VIEW.  Pity, he died a little more than half a century ago.  Just a couple of months short of fifty-one years.

In Room With A View(RWAV), the male protagonist is George Emerson, and the female protagonist is Lucy Honeychurch.  In Sex and Vanity(SAV), the male protagonist is George Zao and the female protagonist is Lucie Tang Churchill.  The spinster cousin/chaperon in RWAV is Charlotte Bartlett, in SAV it is Charlotte Barclay.  In RWAV George is with his dad, Mr. Emerson.  In SAV, George is with Rosemary Zao, his mom who is eccentric and uber tactless.  Eleanor in RWAV is Olivia in SAV...well, something like that.  Mr. Beebe in RWAV is an Anglican Clergyman, in SAV he is a Yoga Guru.  

In RWAV Lucy goes back to England, and of course, we know Lucie went back to New York.

Well, there are similarities, of course, but because it's Kevin Kwan, it's even more exciting.  Oh, please don't haunt me, Mr. Foster!  Pretty Please!  Yours is a classic, and nothing really beats the original...plus, it's a homage, right?  

Please do read what Mr. Janet Maslin wrote: 

When the Room With a View Is Kevin Kwan’s, Things Might Get Wild

I guess E.M. Foster would be quite honoured if he were indeed alive, and not insulted.  His classic was updated so that the younger generations and future ones would appreciate more.  

The way Mr. Kwan describes every scene is quite vivid...yes, including the "appalling" ones.  LOL.

I also enjoyed this article:

Kevin Kwan Is "Pushing the Envelope" With New Rom-Com Book 'Sex and Vanity'

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Behind 'Crazy Rich Asians': 15 Minutes with Kevin Kwan

New Kevin Kwan Novel to be Published July 14, 2020

The Social Codes of the Crazy Rich

NOCD=Not our class, darling!

Billennials=Billionaire Millennials

Mocialite=Male Socialite

Kindly read the review below:

Kevin Kwan moves on with ‘Sex and Vanity,’ but the characters are still crazy rich

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Tata for now!  Ciao bella!