Wednesday, December 9, 2009

The Devil in the Junior League by Linda Francis Lee

Oh, what fun this book was to pick up. A little hidden gem on the library shelf. Being Canadian, I really had very little idea of what the Junior League is and how the upper crust of Texan society lived. They are things I'd heard about, but it's not part of the culture of my life, or places I'd been to.
At first, I couldn't help but hate the main character. She is such a snob. So many rules to follow to make her life perfect, but that's how she was raised and what she knows. Of course the a novel can't simply be built on observations of upper crust Texas, so you knew there would be some curve balls to create a plot.
The first curve ball is finding out her husband has had an affair with a lower class woman and is leaving her to continue in his new relationship. Divorce doesn't just happen in Frede's culture, particularily for someone so low class.
Her second curve ball is discovering her husband has secreted away all of her money. The only person who is able to help her is her newly rich neighbor Howard Grout. A self-made rough sort of man. He agrees to help her on one condition, that she find a way to get his wife into the Junior League.
I had a lot of fun reading this one and I hope you do too.

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