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It's the day after Labor Day, 2008, and the elite universe of New York's Upper East Side is about to unravel along with the economy. Socialite Grigsby Somerset is barely aware of her changing world, and has no idea her investment banker husband Blake is about to enter into a devil's bargain with hedge fund owner John Cutter. As autumn unfolds, Grigsby's fairytale life starts to unwind. Street-smart Renee Parker has been hired as John's executive assistant and is convinced that something is amiss with her new boss. Renee enlists her friend Sasha Silver, CEO of Silver Partners, to help her decipher what is happening. They soon discover that John is nearly ruined, except for the assets he is hiding in the Cayman Islands from his wife Mimi, and has concocted with Blake a scheme to redeem himself. This tale of expulsion from a modern-day Garden of Eden captures what happens when economic decline spells ruin for Manhattan's pampered elite.
Alexandra Lebenthal is the socially prominent President and CEO of Lebenthal & Co, and its wealth management division, Alexandra & James Inc. Her father is Jim Lebenthal, who made his name in municipal bonds. She also serves as a board member of the School of American Ballet and is involved with several other leading New York cultural institutions including The Business Council of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Capital Campaign for the Museum of the City of New York, the American Museum of Natural History, and the New York Botanical Garden.
While I bought this book knowing it wasn't the next Pulitzer prizing winning book, I thought I would have at least an interesting read (like a Meg Cabot book). The character descriptions were worse than some fanfiction out there, actually I think i've read fanfiction that has better character development than this book.
The story wasn't all that engaging and the different characters that we were supposed to "love" or "hate" didn't leave me with any feelings at all. All in all it was a waste of time and money.
As the recession has gotten worse, cutthroat competition amidst the Wall St. sharks and their spouses has turned even uglier. Flying Point Capital hedge fund owner John Cutter diligently keeping his profit margin high with aggressive investment in the subprime mortgage market while beginning to conceal his money from his estranged Greenwich wife Mimi the art collector.
Blake Somerset watches his fortune shrink by over $50 million while the banker's Fashionista wife Grigsby refuses to lose her position as the top dog setting elitist of the Upper East Side. He holds on by assisting his Harvard classmate John hide funds that his "client's brilliant assistant Renee Parker would not be able to trace let alone his "client's" Connecticut art collecting trophy wife.
Although the key characters are stereotypes, the insightful lucid descriptions of the confusing financial vernacular is superb and helps make the business of Wall St. the prime protagonist of this ironic tale. Many readers will cheer the climax but recent events affirm the opposite with few falling like Madoff. Still overall the Recessionistas is a wonderful satire from an insider who cleverly lampoons her roots.
Harriet Klausner
Anonymous
Posted September 7, 2010
Really enjoyed it
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.The Recessionistas can safely be characterized as chicklit set in the middle of the financial meltdown in New York City. While Lebenthal liberally creates unsympathetic characters like the wives of investment bankers, unscrupulous money managers, and backstabbing bosses, we meet:
* Grigsby Somerset- an Alpha for as long as she can remember. Surrounded by people who want to be like her, she her occupation is centered towards the right charities, clothes, and getting her daughter into the correct schools. Her staff includes her personal trainer, stylist, decorator, and she's angling for a personal assistant.
* Blake Somerset - Grigsby's husband and a banker at Lehman Brothers. A former classmate of John Cutter from Harvard Business School.
* Sasha Silver - CEO of SAMCO (Silver Asset Management Co) who is regretting having sold her company to the larger BridgeVest Financial. She's hardworking, glamorous, and savvy with the perfect husband. Sasha is having the most trouble dealing with Harry Mullaugh, BridgeVest's CEO and a showdown of sorts is inevitable.
* John Cutter - heads Flying Point Capital, a "hot, new fund" with aggressive bets in the subprime mortgage market. John is a notoriously difficult boss but a top producer.
* Mimi Cutter - married to John Cutter and recently a "Greenwich wife". She's has a art history degree from Harvard and has amassed an art collection that reflects her excellent taste and their unlmited funds.
* Renee Parker - a Spence and Princeton graduate, John Cutter's personal assistant, and despite her working class roots (her mother works as Grigsby and Blake Somerset's maid), Renee regularly appears in the society pages and as an active member of several of the "right charities."
* Amanda Belden - Renee Parker's nemesis at Spence and Director of Marketing at John Cutter's fund.
The book's strength is in Lebenthal's coverage of the recession as it slowly unfolds. She breaks down the events that caused the sudden collapse of the banking system while simultaneously painting a picture of how these events impact the daily lives of her memorable cast of characters.
ISBN-10: 0446563676 - Hardcover
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1 edition (August 9, 2010), 320 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Cristi10hagen
Posted August 19, 2010
I saw an intro of Recessionistas in Elle magazine and had to get this novel. This book is about 4 women and what it was like for them after the 2008 market crash. If you like business, fashion, and suspense then this is a book for you. It is a Wall Street social diary and easy to read if you aren't familiar with business lingo or have any fashion sense.
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Overview
It's the day after Labor Day, 2008, and the elite universe of New York's Upper East Side is about to unravel along with the economy. Socialite Grigsby Somerset is barely aware of her changing world, and has no idea her investment banker husband Blake is about to enter into a devil's bargain with hedge fund owner John Cutter. As autumn unfolds, Grigsby's fairytale life starts to unwind. Street-smart Renee Parker has been hired as John's executive assistant and is convinced that something is amiss with her new ...