The Chocolate Money

July 9, 2012
This is the story of Bettina Ballentyne, only child of the terrible Babs, heiress to a massive chocolate fortune. A precocious 10-year-old when we meet her, Bettina’s a careful student of her mother, following her rules (Babs “refuses to have a fat daughter,” so Bettina never eats the family chocolate), noting her etiquette reminders (a man who can’t afford to buy his mistress really good jewels should stick to flowers), and memorizing her sex tips (the proper terminology for oral sex, Babs advises, is “admiring the centerfold”). In later sections, 15-year-old Bettina’s at prep school, where she undergoes the usual harassment by mean girls, discovers a taste for rough sex, and realizes that her roommate’s boyfriend is the son of her mother’s lover, a man Bettina nursed a crush on. Things end predictably badly, and for all the book’s desire to shock (there’s a lot of sex and sex talk, and Babs is a bad mother on an epic scale) it never quite does. Babs is too cartoonish, Bettina too blasé, and the writing too stilted (a problem made worse by the lack of contractions in speech) for us to care much, sex scenes notwithstanding. Agent: Bill Clegg, WME Entertainment.

July 15, 2012
A descendent of John D. Rockefeller, Norton debuts with a coming-of-age novel about another poor little rich girl who suffers neglect and abuse at the hands of her villainous mother. In 1978 Chicago, 10-year-old Bettina lives in fear and fascination of her mother: Babs Ballentyne, heiress to the Ballentyne chocolate fortune, is an unfortunate cross between Auntie Mame and Mommy Dearest, spoiled, egotistical and despotic. Although Bettina describes her as a blond beauty in the Grace Kelly mold, Babs is unrelentingly crass and hates anything that smacks of intellect or emotion. Whether she loves her daughter is unclear, but bookish, sensitive Bettina irritates the controlling Babs to no end. When Babs discovers a forbidden can of ginger ale in Bettina's room, she goes berserk and destroys Bettina's most prized possession. What Babs loves, besides profanity and cigarettes, is sex; and she describes to Bettina in prurient detail the sex she's enjoying with her married boyfriend, Mack. Over the next couple of years as the relationship waxes and wanes, Mack becomes the one semidependable adult in Bettina's life, not counting a stereotypical black cook. But shortly after returning to his wife, Mack dies in a drunken car accident. Cut to 1983. Bettina arrives at prep school in New Hampshire alone with one suitcase and a lot of travelers' checks. She's not very interested in her genuinely nice roommate (Bettina's condescending attitudes toward anyone middle class, not to mention her tone of low-key anti-Semitism, may be inherited but limit a reader's sympathy). Meredith, the preppy mean girl down the hall, becomes Bettina's obsession, whom she wants to impress and defeat, especially when she realizes Meredith's on-again-off-again boyfriend is Mack's son. Soon Bettina is navigating her sexual awakening with side roads into sadomasochism. Babs disappears from the story for a while but shows up in time to ruin a little more of Bettina's life before her final exit. Bettina ends her flat-footed narration not on a note of growth or self-awareness, but one of enduring blame. Not enjoyable, even a little distasteful.

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September 15, 2012

In 1978 Chicago, ten-year-old Bettina Ballentyne and her mother, Babs, live in a two-story "aparthouse" overlooking Lake Michigan. Babs occupies herself with spending her candy-empire inheritance, sleeping with other women's husbands, throwing lavish theme parties, and regaling Bettina with the inappropriate details of her sexual trysts--when she pays any attention at all to her only child. At age 15, Bettina attends an exclusive boarding school where she embarks on a series of physically and emotionally abusive relationships, tries to come to terms with Babs, and begins to unravel her own history. A descendant of John D. Rockefeller, first-time novelist Norton creates a heroine readers can root for. The author deftly portrays the lifestyle of the idle rich and prep school politics, infusing the pathos with dark humor. The narrative may seem to wrap up neatly, but readers know that the damage of maternal neglect will linger. VERDICT Readers who enjoy contemporary mother-daughter fiction or chick-lit fans looking for heavier fare than offerings by Sophie Kinsella or Lauren Weisberger will relish this one.--Jenn B. Stidham, Houston Community Coll. Northeast, TX

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2012
Mommie Dearest has met her match in Babs Ballentyne, heiress to the Ballentyne chocolate fortune and so-called mother to only child Bettina. While Bettina may live in an apparthouse overlooking Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, she's the ultimate poor little rich girl. To put it nicely, her mother is a real piece of work, using her daughter as a pawn to satisfy her own interests and whims. Bettina is witness to an illicit affair between Babs and Mack, a married man who shows Bettina rare kindness. A few years after Mack dies in a car accident, Bettina enrolls in prep school Cardiss, where Mack's son, Cape, is a student. Bettina's single-minded sexual pursuit of Capeas well as her chain-smoking habit and detachment from those around herreeks of Babs, and readers will wonder if the apple hasn't fallen too far from the tree. Debut author Norton, the great-great-granddaughter of John D. Rockefeller, writes fearlessly, and the results are compelling. Reading this novel is like watching a train speed toward you, and you're paralyzed on the tracks.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)