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Trading Up
by Candace Bushnell
Trading Up is the sequel to 4 Blondes.
In this novel, Bushnell focuses only on the life of Janey Wilcox who is now a Victoria's Secret model trying to climb the New York social ladder. In this sequel, Janey’s character becomes more developed as we follow her now successful life and her ups and downs in the high society scene. It seems as if Janey’s only goal in life is to be a top player in the society scene and she will do whatever it takes to get there.
The novel begins in the year 2000 on Memorial Day weekend in Manhattan. Janey is on her way out to the Hamptons for yet another summer when she receives a phone call from Comstock Dibble, the head of Parador Pictures. Not having heard from him for almost a year, unsettling memories flooded her mind. Comstock Dibble had been her lover the summer before, and Janey actually fell in love with him until he became engaged to socialite Mauve Binchely. While this was a scenario that had repeated itself many times in the past (her summer lover finding another woman), this one actually hurt her because she felt genuine feelings for him. Men were perfectly happy dating her and sleeping with her, but they would never commit to her. Comstock was calling to tell Janey not to make any trouble for him as they were both attending top socialite Mimi Kilroy's party that evening.
Janey is thrilled that she was invited to Mimi's party. In the past, Mimi had barely even given Janey the time of day, but now that Janey had finally made a name for herself in New York, Mimi was suddenly acting like her best friend.
At Mimi's party, Janey is introduced to Selden Rose, the head of the cable channel, MovieTime, and who will eventually become her husband. He wasn’t the type of guy Janey pictured herself marrying, but after dating just about every guy in New York City, he was great for her. Everyone would comment about how wonderful they looked together, and how much Selden valued her. Janey felt that it was important to have a husband who loves you more than you love him, so this was perfect!
The rest of the novel follows Janey's trials and tribulations in trying to successfully make it in high society life. It is not easy for her as issues from her past are brought out into the open and threaten to ruin her reputation.
I was reluctant to read this novel since I was disappointed after reading Bushnell’s 4 Blondes, the prequel to Trading Up. But I picked it up because it followed Janey’s life, and Janey was the only character I enjoyed reading about in 4 Blondes. While this novel was much better than its predecessor, it wasn’t truly satisfying. Janey seems really shallow, and it was hard to keep track of all the characters that Janey encountered while trying to make her way to the top of the social scene in Manhattan. It was a quick read, but not one of my top picks.
Title: Trading Up
Author: Candace Bushnell
Publisher: Hyperion
ISBN: 9780786890873
Review written by: Alexandra Perich
Reviewer's Rating:7
Reader's Rating: 0
Reader's Votes: 0
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