Wolves in Chic Clothing

February 21, 2005
Riding on the designer coattails of their The Right Address
, this duo—best friends since first grade—lampoon the elite they know and love/loathe with a story that's as buoyantly vapid as their stock characters. This time, the plot involves the junior jet set: a few preening Manhattan princesses decide to remake a fresh-faced girl in their own airbrushed image, Henry Higgins–style. Julia Pearce, a downtown hipster with vintage-chic style and natural beauty, works as a salesgirl in Pelham's Department Store, where she's caught the eye of the Pelham heiress, Lell. Out of winter ennui, Lell and her gaggle of girlfriends decide to take on this "charity case"—who bemusedly welcomes the attention—bestowing upon Julia a promotion, a fake pedigree and an uptown makeover. As she forsakes burgers for salads, thrift stores for Ralph Lauren and joie de vivre for too-cool cattiness, Julia's ascension from day laborer to Pelham power player affords her the chance to pursue her dream of jewelry design. But it also estranges her from longtime friends, puts off her love interest and attracts the advances of Lell's sleazy new husband, Will—predictably wreaking havoc for everyone. The authors intend to mine humor from tossing Julia to the snarks—er, sharks. But this fish-out-of-water story gasps for air, and even the authors' swipes against society feel familiar and bloodless.

December 1, 2004
When downtown salesgirl Julia delivers a necklace to bride-to-be heiress Lell, she gets made over-and then dumped-by Lell and her uptown harpy friends.

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2005
This slick reimagining of the Pygmalion myth has two wealthy young socialites trying to remake an aspiring jewelry designer in their own image. Julia Pearce, a salesgirl at Pelham's department store in New York, is flustered when she's summoned to bring heiress Lell Pelham her jewels on the morning of Lell's wedding. Both Lell and her best friend (and rival) Polly Mecox spot potential in beautiful Julia, and they decide to help her refine her manners so that she can fit in with their set. At first, Julia is dazzled by the wealth and sophistication of the world Lell and Polly inhabit; but she gradually begins to see the cracks in the perfect facade: the competition between Lell and Polly that simmers beneath the veneer of their friendship, Lell's affair with a rich playboy months after her marriage to handsome Will Banks, and Will's own wandering eye, which has landed on Julia. Karasyov and Kargman's second collaboration is the perfect light spring read, full of biting barbs lobbed at New York's elite.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)