What do you think?
People With Money
From the author of
Raised by Wolves
comes
a sharply satirical novel about class divisions, relationships and the dangers of mixing the two. Perfect for readers of Kiley Reid and Celeste Ng.
Amy Chan is a queer, twenty-something artist, broke and living one bad shift away from financial disaster. Edward Smith is affluent and white, his descent into a lonely middle age cushioned by generational wealth. This is the story of their relationship – one that is lopsided, transactional and arguably doomed from the start, but that shifts their worlds in unexpected ways.
Because, as Amy comes to understand, in Edward’s world love isn’t bigger than money – it just learns to speak its language.
People With Money is a darkly funny debut about the need for connection and the absurd negotiations that privilege smuggles into love.
Amy Chan is a queer, twenty-something artist, broke and living one bad shift away from financial disaster. Edward Smith is affluent and white, his descent into a lonely middle age cushioned by generational wealth. This is the story of their relationship – one that is lopsided, transactional and arguably doomed from the start, but that shifts their worlds in unexpected ways.
Because, as Amy comes to understand, in Edward’s world love isn’t bigger than money – it just learns to speak its language.
People With Money is a darkly funny debut about the need for connection and the absurd negotiations that privilege smuggles into love.
- GenresFiction
321 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 1, 2026
About the author
Jess Ho
4 books8 followersJess Ho is a freelance writer, journalist and critic. They were previously the food and drink editor of Time Out Melbourne. They have also been published in Gourmet Traveller, Eater, The Guardian, The Age Spectrum,the Financial Review, Good Weekend, frankie and The Big Issue, among many others, as well as a number of cookbooks and guides on Melbourne. They are the host and producer of the SBS podcast Bad Taste. Their first book, Raised by Wolves, was published in 2022.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Well, this was deeply uncomfortable. In a good way.
Amy is a broke, queer twenty-something artist who is basically one bad week away from financial disaster. Edward is affluent, white and middle-aged, with the enormous luxury of having inherited enough money to make most of life’s problems considerably less urgent. Naturally, they fall into a relationship. Because apparently nothing says healthy emotional attachment quite like a significant financial power imbalance.
Their relationship is messy, transactional and deeply complicated. Frankly, I have no idea why either of them would choose the other. I liked that Jess Ho doesn’t try to tidy any of that up for us. There’s no neat little lesson about money, love and privilege. Instead, she lets us sit in the uncomfortable grey area and watch two people try to work out what they owe each other when money is always sitting there in the room with them.
There’s plenty to think about here: class, wealth, loneliness, privilege, sex, power and the ridiculous ways people can rationalise their choices when they really, really want something.
What I found most interesting was the way Ho explores the idea that money doesn’t necessarily replace love. Sometimes it just gets involved in the negotiations. And when one person has significantly more of it than the other, those negotiations become rather difficult to call equal.
It’s a clever debut. Four stars. Uncomfortable, clever and definitely one that gave me plenty to think about.
Thank you to Affirm Press and Simon & Schuster Australia for sending me the book in exchange for an honest and fair review.
Amy is a broke, queer twenty-something artist who is basically one bad week away from financial disaster. Edward is affluent, white and middle-aged, with the enormous luxury of having inherited enough money to make most of life’s problems considerably less urgent. Naturally, they fall into a relationship. Because apparently nothing says healthy emotional attachment quite like a significant financial power imbalance.
Their relationship is messy, transactional and deeply complicated. Frankly, I have no idea why either of them would choose the other. I liked that Jess Ho doesn’t try to tidy any of that up for us. There’s no neat little lesson about money, love and privilege. Instead, she lets us sit in the uncomfortable grey area and watch two people try to work out what they owe each other when money is always sitting there in the room with them.
There’s plenty to think about here: class, wealth, loneliness, privilege, sex, power and the ridiculous ways people can rationalise their choices when they really, really want something.
What I found most interesting was the way Ho explores the idea that money doesn’t necessarily replace love. Sometimes it just gets involved in the negotiations. And when one person has significantly more of it than the other, those negotiations become rather difficult to call equal.
It’s a clever debut. Four stars. Uncomfortable, clever and definitely one that gave me plenty to think about.
Thank you to Affirm Press and Simon & Schuster Australia for sending me the book in exchange for an honest and fair review.
Did Not Finish
October 3, 2026Not my jam
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews