Palaces

by Neal Travis

Success gave her everything she wanted.....Almost
Academy Awards night, the night she won an Oscar for directing her first big film, she was alone with her triumph. It has cost her the husband she once gave her life to, and the young man who gave his life to her. But never again would she choose between love and success.

Caught up in the fast international scene that burns up talent and dreams, she won fighting on her own against power moguls who had the leverage to crush; the will to destroy. And amid all the glamour and excitement, she was sometimes afraid. Sometimes lonely.

Until Andy East. Who came back into her life a self-made tycoon who wanted her to have the world. Who loved her without trying to possess her. But who might not wait forever.

Genres: Fiction

377 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1983

Reviews

[Nick Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1978, Judith Krantz married the sexual permissiveness of the 70s to the nascent conspicuous consumption ethos of the 80s to create the blockbuster "Scruples," the ultimate 'sex & shopping' novel. Eager to cash in, paperback publishers flooded the market with (what I call) fancy script/one word titles of which 'Palaces' is a prime example. Published in 1983, Travis's 'Palaces' was the second of several fancy script/one word titles by the autor; paperback sagas featuring a beautiful woman who dares to 'have it all.' What's interesting about 'Palaces' is that, while it keeps the adult fairytale aspects of Krantz's work, it also feels, at times, like one of Burt Hirschfeld's delightfully trashy paperback exposes of various resort towns ('Aspen' being his most successful). Watching hack Travis try to adapt to a changing paperback landscape gives this book an added zing that his future works (the dreary 'Wings') lack. The sex is frequent, perfunctory, and rarely lasts longer than a paragraph.

[Gabby · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cover of this book, which shows a man holding a woman obviously in the throes of passion, pretty much says it all. What separates Palaces from other books of this genre is that on its cover, the guy is wearing his shirt. As far as the writing of the story goes, this one is about on par with others of its kind. It's predictable, a very quick read, and it could probably be read with one eye tied behind your back. It was published in1983, so some of the material is dated, but for a bit of fluff, you could do worse.