The Spare Wife

November 19, 2007
Witchel (Me Times Three
) returns to the romances of Manhattan's upper echelons in this Gawkeriffic potboiler. Ponce Porter passed up college and left Harding, S.C., to try New York as an aspiring young model and quickly ended up married to Lee Morris, a very wealthy TV producer almost 40 years her senior. Childless by choice and bored, Ponce enrolled in NYU and then law school, eventually settling at a prestigious firm. Cut to the now-widowed Ponce—now 42 and dubbed “The Spare Wife” for her ability to gracefully attend social functions with any and all of upper New York—locking lips in a Chicago hotel with the happily married celebrity fertility doctor Neil Grossman, where she's spotted by Babette Steele, an aspiring 25-year-old assistant at the prestigious Boothby's Review
. Babette knows she has the breakout story of her career, but Ponce and her delightfully crafted cast of friends aim to spoil Babette's feast. Witchel's drama-filled portrait of 40-something socialites in the Paris Hilton era has scandalous affairs and social to-dos to spare. It's extravagant and shallow, closely observed and entertaining.

February 1, 2008
Former model, widow, and sometime lawyer Ponce Morris (named for Ponce de León and his fountain of youth) has made it perfectly clear that she isn't interested in sex and romance anymore. So her girlfriends don't mind when she acts as a "spare wife" and attends events and such with their husbands. The wives benefit from Ponce's friendship, too, in the form of girl talk and shopping expositions. But when Babette, a young aspiring writer and editorial assistant, discovers that Ponce is having an affair with one of the husbands, she finds herself with a scoop that could kick her writing career into high gear. Although it's hard to sympathize with the numerous dishonest and philandering characters in Witchel's second novel (after "Me Times Three"), once you get a grasp of who they are and the intertwined roles they play, this is a deliciously fun read with plenty of entertaining high-society shenanigans. For larger popular fiction collections.Samantha Gust, Niagara Univ. Lib., NY

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2008
Witchel plumbs the shallows ofcelebrity journalism in this nimble look at the high stakes involved when covering high society. Among Manhattans glitterati, wealthy divorc'e Ponce Morris is a rarity among trophy ex-wives: shes adored by her female friends for her entertaining elegance and by their husbands for her genuine interest in sports and politics. Indeed, her loudly proclaimed aversion to romance or remarriage makes her the most sought-after companion in town. But when ambitious young editorial assistant Babette Steele catches Ponce in a passionate embrace with happily married Dr. Neil Grossman, fertility doctor to the stars, the possibility of a glitzy magazine scoop exposing Ponces hypocrisy seems like Babettes ticket to media mecca. Siccing everyone from a private eye to her personal trainer on Ponces trail, Babette fails to consider the strength of Ponces social connections nor her zealous talent for self-preservation. Thanks to New York Times lifestyle reporter Witchels insider knowledge of media machinations, this spry and pithy satire bursts with nipping, sardonic humor.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)