Beautiful People

March 29, 2010
Holden's pretty-on-the-outside people either see the light or get what's coming in this skewering of the bratty class. The best-selling Brit author (Bad Heir Day) holds up a mirror to preening and pampered actors, and to the predatory PR nabobs and agents who mold and market them. Under Holden's steely gaze are Belle, a plastic surgery poster girl whose star is on the wane and who will do whatever it takes to crawl back on top (including adopting an African orphan), and Darcy, a serious London actress who lets herself be lured into the lead of a Hollywood blockbuster, finding that she neither likes the moviemaking grind nor fits into the vacuous industry mold. These two polar opposites briefly share a destiny, discarded lovers, and the need to fit into a size zero while battling glitzy evil. It's a wearying and overlong fight, but there are ringside moments that nail the wispy nature of celebrity and the futility of chasing it.

February 15, 2010
This British cupcake of a novel throws a wholesome nanny into the terrifying world of Hollywood agents, actors and hastily adopted African babies.

Holden, author of a number of light farces (The School for Husbands, 2007, etc.), assembles a large cast of, if not quite characters, at least punch lines, that gather in a slapstick climax under the Tuscan sun. Hollywood agent Mitch Masterson has convinced client Darcy Prince, scion of a venerable British acting family, to audition for Jack Saint's latest sci-fi epic Galaxia. While Darcy's star is on the rise, his other A-lister Belle Murphy, likened to a stick figure with balloons, is spiraling out of control. Teetering on stilettos with a growling Chihuahua tucked under her arm, Belle has been sent to London to revive her career by doing Shakespeare (and for good measure she's adopted an African baby she's named Morning). Enter Emma, a lovely, responsible young nanny—who has just been sacked from her last post when the scheming aristo-nanny Totty de Belvedere sneaks cocaine into Emma's bag—whom Belle hires to do…absolutely everything. As plots would have it, everyone ends up in the Tuscan countryside—Darcy, Belle and gold-chained heartthrob Christian Harlow, to film Galaxia; Emma to care for Morning; Totty in care of the children she usurped from Emma; a paparazzi fed up with celebrities; and the Fitzmaurice family: father, an MP with a strangely randy constituency, mother, a batty social climber, and young son Orlando, who has had significant flirtations with Emma. Sex is on many a mind, but Darcy, the world's only carb-consuming actress, would prefer a leisurely meal at hunky Marco's hilltop restaurant, where the cheese is fresh, the bread crunchy and olive oil is drizzled over everything. She's beginning to think the simple life of food and love is just what she's after. In a smash-up finale of epic complications, all is happily resolved.

If Holden's novel lacks a bit of depth, it is redeemed by the contagious pleasure had in skewering Hollywood hotties and coke-snorting aristocrats.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

March 1, 2010
British author Holden ("Filthy Rich") deftly weaves several plotlines to an ending in rustic Italy, where "Galaxia", a blockbuster "Star Wars" knockoff, is shooting. Darcy Prince, a serious London theater actor, is tapped as the next Hollywood It Girl but questions the system as she is forced on a crash diet. From L.A., with a stop in London to polish her tarnished image, comes almost-washed-up star Belle Murphy. Belle's slimy but gorgeous ex, Christian Harlow, is cast in the film and also casts a spell on Darcy. Emma, Belle's nanny for her adopted African baby, has her own story, bringing several more British families onto the scene. Business and love affairs quickly rise and fall. A touch of scandal is complemented by a drop of sweetness as the good triumph and the evil, or simply shallow, lose. VERDICT The mass of characters would be annoying in less competent hands, but Holden's satirical humor and adept writing shine through. Glitzy fun with appeal for readers of Emma McLaughlin, Plum Sykes, or Lauren Weisberger.Lisa Davis-Craig, Canton P.L., MI

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2010
Holdens novel is the literary equivalent of a big-budget romantic comedy with an all-star Hollywood cast in which everyones stories overlap. And it is equally as carefree and enjoyable. Holdens characters, ranging from a young and troubled starlet to a well-respected English actress, male supermodel, struggling nanny, and celebrity chef, to name but a few, have two things in common: they are all beautiful, and Holden portrays each one with humor and honesty.Their separate stories are eventually entwined in the second half of the novel, once everyone ends up in a small town in Italy, a coincidence that is surprisingly fun and funny. With clever dialogue and a great spectrum of personalities, Holdens big book of celebrity obsession and the price of beauty is fast-paced, realistic, and hugely entertaining.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)