Gucci Mamas

by Cate Kendall

Once a down-to-earth girl, Mim Woolcott now keeps Prada, Louis Vuitton, and numerous day spas in business as her life has descended into a merry-go-round of shopping, backstabbing, and snobbery. In between keeping up with the Joneses, cracks are starting to show in Mim's perfect life as money gets tighter and her husband works ever longer hours. If her two best friends have similar problems, Mim would never know: the Gucci Mamas are far too busy picking outfits and having manicures to notice each other's troubles. Something's got to give, and it will take a catastrophic, life-changing event to bring Mim to her senses.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Romance

336 pages, Paperback

First published April 2, 2007

Reviews

[Shelleyrae at Book'd Out · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in Melbourne, Australia Gucci Mama's may well have been told in New York or London for the lack of distinctive flavor. As a member of the working class poor it's difficult to find sympathy for women who complain about how hard their lives are as their housekeepers polish their silver, the nanny takes their children to school and they hand over a platinum credit card to buy another pair of $1500 shoes. However Kendall (a pseunydom for a pair of writers who cowrote the book)manages to illustrate just how seriously the women take themselves while pointing out the riduculousness of their petty comcerns. Of couse Kendall is eager to show that life is not as easy as it seems. Mim's marriage is suffering under the strain of the workload her husband has to maintain to provide for their lifestyle. Liz and Ellie both have secrets they dread being found out and Tiffany's husband is chronically unfaithful. It's a stretch to find empathy for these characters whose problems are largely of their own making but by the same token it's quite satisfying to know that money doesn't necessarily equate to happiness (though I'd sure like the chance to personally test that theory).
A generally entertaining satire about the 'truth' of society wives seemingly glamorous lives, Gucci Mama is a quick read from the chicklit bookshelf

[Robin Riedstra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is escapist Chick Lit. If you’re after the meaning of life please go see the works of Douglas Adams or Monty Python. If you’d like to have a guilty giggle over posh Melbourne socialites then read Gucci Mamas. I have to say I love the name, and all the names of the Cate Kendall books. It really let’s you know that you’re in for a book of high class, high fashion and high drama. And yes, the book does deliver. There are laughs, there is mayhem, there are tragic issues which some of us can’t relate to but do get to live vicariously through for a bit. An absolute, switch your brain off and just be entertained delight. Loved it.

Warning there are some genuine issues faced in this novel some of which you may find upsetting if you have ever had an unsuccessful pregnancy. And despite the fact these characters do seem vapid on the surface you do grow genuinely attached to them, so you will feel for their circumstance. But generally it is a light and entertaining read. Perfect for those ladies who don’t have time to lunch but wish we did.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great chic lit read to start with, but the last few chapters were crap. Poorly ended, it’s like the author decided they got bored of writing and scribbled a few pages and proclaimed “tada finished!”. 2 1/2 stars due to the lack of an ending.

[Kylie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dear lord I'm glad that I don't have mum/school friends like these ladies. How brutally painfully feeling like you have to keep up with the Jones's all the time.
But... Makes for a kind of fun silly and easy read.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laughed out loud listening to this in my car!

[Narelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laughed a long time reading this book. Quirky, fun and could identify each of the characters in the mother’s tribe I watch. Great read

[Jennifer Kiernan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very easy light hearted read!

[Bron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light-hearted read about people I have nothing in common with. Makes it fun.

[Christina Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very fun beach read. Very little depth, but loved the detailed descriptions of decor and outfits. Just enjoyable.

[Bronwyn Rykiert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do mamas like this really exist, if they do they are well out of my league and thank goodness for that. What a hard life it would be always fighting to be the best and to be included with who you think is the best. No wonder Mim and Jame's lives were falling apart. Parts of it I wasn't happy to be reading, such a mob of bitches, but other parts of it were quite good. I had worked out that deep down there was more to Mim that showed at first and I liked the story of Liz but I couldn't really understand Ellie seeming to be a snob considering where she came from. All in all it was an enjoyable read.

[Amber Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story of a group of women who are slaves to fashion and social status in Melbourne, Australia. A good book; however, the voices of the women and sometimes the story switched so quickly while listening I would get confused.

As the story unfolds you find that each of the women who allow their lives to be dictated by social status and fashion are terribly unhappy or are running away from their past.

Pretty good book; however, I can't imagine ever being such a slave to dictates of society. Makes me shudder.

[Josie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was a very easy book to read. Cringed a bit in places at some of the characters and their comments on how sorry they felt for the general public being such low life ants and how they treated each other and were meant to be great friends but talked about them behind their backs. In saying that it was a great read though and made me laugh in places.

[Nicola Sheridan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books that I enjoyed but also left me feeling a bit sad for the vacuous and shallow characters in it. I can't say that any of the characters endeared themselves to me, but that being said, I empathised with them anyway. This book makes an interesting study of the wealthy socialites it portrays. A good read for a rainy weekend with steaming cup of coffee.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't know if it's my mood lately or if I'm reading too many books at once but what started out as promising, ended boring. I just didn't care anymore about halfway through. I should've just put it down and got back to it later.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first I wasn't sure about this one, but then it really grew on me. It describes the life of Melbourne upper class mums, but in a quite disparaging way. Definitely an illustration of the more you have the more you want, so increases rather than decreases in pressure.

[Vivien Fung · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are other things I could say about this book, but I think all I'll say is.. this is a book that punishes cheating husbands by turning them into paraplegics and allows the put-upon wife glory by granting her $100,000 worth of plastic surgery. Yeah.

[Carley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking for a a light-hearted chick lit and that's what I got. The sequencing of the chapters was awkward and there were lots of unnecessary characters that cluttered the plot. Overall though it turned out to be a cute read though.

[Dar · Rating 2 out of 5]

A quick fun read. The descriptions of every outfit of the characters by brand name got really irritating.
The last few chapters redeemed it though & it was quite an enjoyable read.

[Meredith Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

nice to read some Aussie chick lit for a change. nowhere near Irish authors, but not too bad.

[Tiffany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute. Fun and forgettable. A nice easy read.

[Melinda Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

a little on the bland side, and a lot of unnecessary characters so I didn't have any idea who was who for most of the book... but what do you want with chick lit??

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want to know what it's like to move into the leafy eastern suburbs of Melbourne, then read this.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read and a good laugh.

[Emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolute rubbish. Would have given it 0 stars if I could have

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

light & funny

[Em]

This is rubbish!

[Marg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous easy to read and very appropriate for some people I know.

[Willow]

It was good and lighthearted in parts but not so much in others. Overall though, it was a good book. just not quite my cup of tea.