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Dear Money
In this Pygmalion tale of a novelist turned bond trader, Martha McPhee brings to life the greed and riotous wealth of New York during the heady days of the second gilded age. India Palmer, living the cash-strapped existence of the writer, is visiting wealthy friends in Maine when a yellow biplane swoops down from the clear blue sky to bring a stranger into her life, one who will change everything.The stranger isWin Johns, a swaggering and intellectually bored trader of mortgage- backed securities. Charmed by India’s intelligence, humor, and inquisitive natureâ and aware of her near-desperate financial situationâ Win poses a “Give me eighteen months and I’ll make you a world-class bond trader.” Shedding her artist’s life with surprising ease, India embarks on a raucous ride to the top of the income chain, leveraging herself with crumbling real estate, never once looking back . . .Or does she?
With a light-handed irony that is by turns as measured as Claire Messud’s and as biting as Tom Wolfe’s, Martha McPhee tells the classic American story of people reinventing themselves, unaware of the price they must pay for their transformation.
With a light-handed irony that is by turns as measured as Claire Messud’s and as biting as Tom Wolfe’s, Martha McPhee tells the classic American story of people reinventing themselves, unaware of the price they must pay for their transformation.
346 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
19 people are currently reading
427 people want to read
About the author
Martha McPhee
13 books162 followersMartha McPhee graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine and received her M.F.A. from Columbia University.
She is the author of five novels: An Elegant Woman, Dear Money; L'America; Gorgeous Lies; and Bright Angel Time. Her work has been honored by a National Endowment for the Arts grant and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Gorgeous Lies was a finalist for a National Book Award. She lives in New York City with her husband and two children, and teaches at Hofstra University.
She is the author of five novels: An Elegant Woman, Dear Money; L'America; Gorgeous Lies; and Bright Angel Time. Her work has been honored by a National Endowment for the Arts grant and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Gorgeous Lies was a finalist for a National Book Award. She lives in New York City with her husband and two children, and teaches at Hofstra University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
September 16, 2013
A woman fails as a writer but succeeds as a bond trader. Money is pretty great, you guys!
July 11, 2011
i aggressively disliked this book. the writing seemed lazy and very repetitive, like it was several short stories tacked together, so the same characters were introduced the same ways several times. there's big chunks of mortgage market explanations that aren't integrated into the story at all and are both too simplistic (there's an oft repeated analogy about cars) and too sparse to be of use. and the plot was maddeningly simple - lady has no money, lady wants money, lady earns money, lady then has money - with so little development of those steps that it wasn't clear why she wanted the money or what effect getting the money had, so that not only was i not rooting for her to win, i kind of wanted her to fail because i disliked her so much.
i really did not like this book.
i really did not like this book.
June 30, 2010
This book was a treat - a satire on the money-grubbing ways of the mid-2000s. A novelist is lured into bond trading on what is essentially a dare/bet sometime around 2004. The best part is this is based on a proposition the author actually received. I loved the parallels between her life as a struggling novelist in a high priced area (the constant thought of money-money-money as she tries to make ends meet for her family) and her life as an uber-successful bond trader where not much has changed in terms of her obsession (money), just the angle at which she approaches it. This rang very true. Also, at first I was skeptical that the main character could be so successful in such a different professional environment but the author convinced me someone who's good at taking risks and playing slim margins would be great in the world of MBSs, et. al. Loved that. There were also some very salient points regarding the risks the finance gurus took and the fact that if these people don't even know what they're doing, how can Main Street? Of course, this is told in hindsight so a little easier to make the point given what we now know.
The characters were great, if not obvious in their names (a dude named "Win" lures her into bond trading). There were times it dragged when she explained over and over again about the CMOs/MBSs/credit default swaps/etc. but as an investment banker-turned-CFO for a company whose clients are mortgage companies I am intimately familiar with world so none of it was new information. Of course that's also another reason I loved this book... because the world of finance is incredibly exciting to me. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the book all the way through, even though I wasn't fully sold on the ending. All in, an excellent read.
The characters were great, if not obvious in their names (a dude named "Win" lures her into bond trading). There were times it dragged when she explained over and over again about the CMOs/MBSs/credit default swaps/etc. but as an investment banker-turned-CFO for a company whose clients are mortgage companies I am intimately familiar with world so none of it was new information. Of course that's also another reason I loved this book... because the world of finance is incredibly exciting to me. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the book all the way through, even though I wasn't fully sold on the ending. All in, an excellent read.
September 8, 2010
The author of this book actually posted a comment to my review (!), which reminded me that (because I wrote the original review late at night), I forgot the most important parts of my write-up of this book. This book was brilliant because it was engaging AND smart. The character development was amazing, resulting in multilayered, unpredictable, real characters throughout the book. I actually read the book twice just because I enjoyed it, and thoroughly recommend it.
This book is part of a trifecta on the mortgage meltdown that I found myself reading this week. I'm also reading "The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine", and TIME's article, "Rethinking Homeownership". Occasionally, my reading materials just line up like that.
India Palmer lives the life of an artist. This is how her husband justifies his lack of interest in money, by reminding her they are artists. He is a sculptor and designer of precious objects; she is a critically acclaimed novelist. The problem is that critically acclaimed novelists don't sell many books, and now, India can't afford the lifestyle she thinks she needs in Manhattan. She wants to keep up with the upper class families; wants the hired help, the high-end shopping, the lessons and private schools for her daughters, and she wants to live in one of the most expensive places in the country. She's proud of her work, but it isn't going to pay her credit card bills.
Enter Win, a multi-millionaire bond trader. Win makes a bet with his boss that he can turn India into a trader. After all, trading is about sales, about the story, and who better to provide that story than a novelist? India accepts the challenge - and the lure of money.
India now has to face the fact that money, and the adrenaline betting high of bond trading, and the sense of belonging she gets on the trading floor, are more enjoyable to her than her writing career was. She doesn't have qualms about quitting her art, but rather, doesn't want others to think badly of her for doing so. She delays admitting to her artist husband that she's putting her art to the side to join the financial world. And she has to admit to her writer friends that she has given up her vocational calling - to write - for this new career. And each time she tells someone what she's done, it brings up the question: how much do we value our artists, as a society? How is it that artists are they are so financially underappreciated?
The juxtaposition throughout the book is against another family, the Chapmans. Husband Will, "Perfect Boy", decides to become a novelist, and quits his job in banking. His historical novel sells, in two parts, each with a big advance. But even a successful, two part novel still can't measure up to the income Will had in banking. His wife, Emma, buys a home in Maine for a million dollars, which Will uses an "exotic loan" (a two year ARM) to pay for. Emma then blithely spends another $200K to re-do the house, which disturbs her husband. She has no idea of what it means to live on less money, and what her husband's decision to leave finance for art will mean to her. As Will takes the reverse of India's path, we also see India's jealousy of the Chapmans turn into schadenfreude. He has given up money for art; she has given up art for money, and she believes hers was the better choice.
Pragmatically, India is better off once the insane money of the 2005 bond market starts rolling in. Her girls have everything they need and want. Her husband's art is subsidized by her income, and suddenly, he's able to create even more. She can pay for high end vacations, high-end housing, all kinds of clothes. She works long hours, but she enjoys what she does. And she doesn't feel she had to trade her art, so much as her art ceased to matter.
We start seeing the beginning of the end of subprime, and the first signs of the meltdown, after India's first year in the financial world. She even sees it coming, but doesn't want to face it. Who, after all, wants to announce that the party is ending? She has just started this new path, and doesn't want the bubble to pop and send her back to the lonely work of writing. But the details are there, the signs of the doomsday machine. McPhee has done a wonderful job spinning the mortgage meltdown into her narrative, as part of the plot itself.
This was touted as a Pygmalion story in several of the reviews. I don't see it that way. There are references to Eliza Doolittle, but India really transforms herself, based on some belief and guidance from her new mentors. She re-creates herself, rather than letting herself be re-created. Not so much Pygmalion so much as a tale of Selling Out, and of whether an artist is compromising themselves when society has already financially compromised them to start with.
This book is part of a trifecta on the mortgage meltdown that I found myself reading this week. I'm also reading "The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine", and TIME's article, "Rethinking Homeownership". Occasionally, my reading materials just line up like that.
India Palmer lives the life of an artist. This is how her husband justifies his lack of interest in money, by reminding her they are artists. He is a sculptor and designer of precious objects; she is a critically acclaimed novelist. The problem is that critically acclaimed novelists don't sell many books, and now, India can't afford the lifestyle she thinks she needs in Manhattan. She wants to keep up with the upper class families; wants the hired help, the high-end shopping, the lessons and private schools for her daughters, and she wants to live in one of the most expensive places in the country. She's proud of her work, but it isn't going to pay her credit card bills.
Enter Win, a multi-millionaire bond trader. Win makes a bet with his boss that he can turn India into a trader. After all, trading is about sales, about the story, and who better to provide that story than a novelist? India accepts the challenge - and the lure of money.
India now has to face the fact that money, and the adrenaline betting high of bond trading, and the sense of belonging she gets on the trading floor, are more enjoyable to her than her writing career was. She doesn't have qualms about quitting her art, but rather, doesn't want others to think badly of her for doing so. She delays admitting to her artist husband that she's putting her art to the side to join the financial world. And she has to admit to her writer friends that she has given up her vocational calling - to write - for this new career. And each time she tells someone what she's done, it brings up the question: how much do we value our artists, as a society? How is it that artists are they are so financially underappreciated?
The juxtaposition throughout the book is against another family, the Chapmans. Husband Will, "Perfect Boy", decides to become a novelist, and quits his job in banking. His historical novel sells, in two parts, each with a big advance. But even a successful, two part novel still can't measure up to the income Will had in banking. His wife, Emma, buys a home in Maine for a million dollars, which Will uses an "exotic loan" (a two year ARM) to pay for. Emma then blithely spends another $200K to re-do the house, which disturbs her husband. She has no idea of what it means to live on less money, and what her husband's decision to leave finance for art will mean to her. As Will takes the reverse of India's path, we also see India's jealousy of the Chapmans turn into schadenfreude. He has given up money for art; she has given up art for money, and she believes hers was the better choice.
Pragmatically, India is better off once the insane money of the 2005 bond market starts rolling in. Her girls have everything they need and want. Her husband's art is subsidized by her income, and suddenly, he's able to create even more. She can pay for high end vacations, high-end housing, all kinds of clothes. She works long hours, but she enjoys what she does. And she doesn't feel she had to trade her art, so much as her art ceased to matter.
We start seeing the beginning of the end of subprime, and the first signs of the meltdown, after India's first year in the financial world. She even sees it coming, but doesn't want to face it. Who, after all, wants to announce that the party is ending? She has just started this new path, and doesn't want the bubble to pop and send her back to the lonely work of writing. But the details are there, the signs of the doomsday machine. McPhee has done a wonderful job spinning the mortgage meltdown into her narrative, as part of the plot itself.
This was touted as a Pygmalion story in several of the reviews. I don't see it that way. There are references to Eliza Doolittle, but India really transforms herself, based on some belief and guidance from her new mentors. She re-creates herself, rather than letting herself be re-created. Not so much Pygmalion so much as a tale of Selling Out, and of whether an artist is compromising themselves when society has already financially compromised them to start with.
July 4, 2013
The cover was a little off putting, but I have long had her novels on my secondary "to read" list and love her father's writing so brought it home from the library. Initially I disliked both the idea behind her story as well as India as a character, but once she became a trader, her sad sack, "poor me" attitude disappeared and I flew through the pages. I cannot abide characters in that sort of situation, wanting more, unable to achieve more through lack of initiative, so whenever a book portrays a main character in a similar situation, I am impatient and irritated much as in real life. After reading the entire book, I completely understand how craftily the story was conceived and delivered, and really enjoyed the entire book at it's end.
Her skill in portraying that world was incredible and it is a book I have no ability to understand how she created, at all. The attention to detail of the financial world, specifically the spot India inhabited was great. Her characters were very alive and while the story was incredibly fantastic & unrealistic, it was a lot of fun to read. Her comments on the writer's craft, the artistic life were very interesting and completely engaging.
I certainly now want to read all of her other books .
Her skill in portraying that world was incredible and it is a book I have no ability to understand how she created, at all. The attention to detail of the financial world, specifically the spot India inhabited was great. Her characters were very alive and while the story was incredibly fantastic & unrealistic, it was a lot of fun to read. Her comments on the writer's craft, the artistic life were very interesting and completely engaging.
I certainly now want to read all of her other books .
February 28, 2012
The first half was quite whiny and seemed to dwell upon the jealousy she had for all her "rich" friends. I almost shelved it because it was getting irritating. The later part moved much better but I cannot say that i liked India much better by the end - she went from whiny to smug.
It was an interesting perspective to a point.
It was an interesting perspective to a point.
May 23, 2017
Great mix of finance and literature
I really enjoyed this novel where the main character transforms from being a good novelist to a bond trader. She proves she is capable of excelling at both...only difference being that money allows her to be free in a different way. Excellent read.
I really enjoyed this novel where the main character transforms from being a good novelist to a bond trader. She proves she is capable of excelling at both...only difference being that money allows her to be free in a different way. Excellent read.
March 27, 2011
Moves along nicely. Narrator is hard to love. For more thoughts, visit my One-Man Book Club at my name (all one word) dot com...
July 18, 2019
This book is a mess but it is a very entertaining mess. It’s basically The Big Short filtered through the lens of a needy, greedy Manhattan mom.
Perhaps because of my enduring love for Manhattan, I never seem to tire of New York City tales. Even ones that are as bleak and insufferable as this one. I found myself relating to India more than I would have liked. Sure, she has everything one could reasonably want: handsome husband, two kids, writing books, living in an uptown Manhattan apartment. But like a lot of us, she lives above her means and yet she craves more. More money, more prestige, more comfort, more sophistication.
This book was published in 2010, on the heels of the subprime mortgage crisis. It takes place right before the bubble bursts. McPhee does a great job of capturing the moment in finance. A lot of it felt familiar to me in an awful way. As India ascends to her perch as a “mistress of the universe”, the country devolves around her and her desire to want more, no matter who she has to step on.
But as I said in the beginning, the book is a mess. The narrative is scattered, with random, inexplicable time jumps. The characters are thin, especially the husband Theodor and financial patron Win. And again, the lead is absolutely insufferable. It’s a lot to sit through if you have no curiosity in the subject. But if you, are intrigued by the premise of the book, I think it’s worth your time.
Perhaps because of my enduring love for Manhattan, I never seem to tire of New York City tales. Even ones that are as bleak and insufferable as this one. I found myself relating to India more than I would have liked. Sure, she has everything one could reasonably want: handsome husband, two kids, writing books, living in an uptown Manhattan apartment. But like a lot of us, she lives above her means and yet she craves more. More money, more prestige, more comfort, more sophistication.
This book was published in 2010, on the heels of the subprime mortgage crisis. It takes place right before the bubble bursts. McPhee does a great job of capturing the moment in finance. A lot of it felt familiar to me in an awful way. As India ascends to her perch as a “mistress of the universe”, the country devolves around her and her desire to want more, no matter who she has to step on.
But as I said in the beginning, the book is a mess. The narrative is scattered, with random, inexplicable time jumps. The characters are thin, especially the husband Theodor and financial patron Win. And again, the lead is absolutely insufferable. It’s a lot to sit through if you have no curiosity in the subject. But if you, are intrigued by the premise of the book, I think it’s worth your time.
June 13, 2019
India Palmer is a semi-successful writer, struggling to keep her artist husband and active daughters afloat while desperate to enjoy the same indulgences of her more successful New York counterparts. When she accepts a friend's bet--to become a trader of mortgage-backed securities--will her endless cravings finally be satisfied? A great play on the term "dear money" (money that is hard to obtain because of abnormally high interest rates), this is a scathing look at high finance, haves and have nots, and the illusions of living as an artist.
April 25, 2021
I enjoyed reading this book but I’m glad it’s over. Good writing that kept me in suspense about what the main character would do, but not the sort of suspense where I was eagerly waiting for more. A couple of really great parallels. Good on a sentence level. I had the author as a professor and she really........ believes in literary fiction over any kind of genre fiction whatsoever, so I knew in advance what I was getting myself into. This was fun to read but I’ll definitely need a palate cleanser of some exciting fantasy
March 9, 2020
"In this Pygmalion tale of a novelist turned bond trader, Martha McPhee brings to life the greed and riotous wealth of New York during the heady days of the second gilded age..." Ordinarily I wouldn't be so enthusiastic about a novel that moved rather slowly at the beginning & seemed somewhat repetitive. But I found the writing & the observations about the "gilded age" just delicious & enjoyed this book enormously.
September 14, 2019
3.5 ish stars- I had a fun time with this one. It was pitched as “a satirical plunge into the world of deluded, money-obsessed mini-Machiavellis” which is a niche of books that I am a little obsessed with. At times I got lost and thought it could have been edited down a bit, but overall it was a good time.
May 31, 2020
If you enjoy money you can enjoy this book. I almost stopped reading because it did not hold my interest but I pushed through and it got better.
July 17, 2020
Found the main character very unappealing.
July 1, 2022
Crash, burn, escape before the Meltdown? Don’t get it. India Palmer lived the Sub Prime life and the book ends with her contemplation on a beach in Maine? GCL Book Sale June 2022
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 13, 2024
Beautiful writing. Fascinating story. I went in thinking it would be a quick, breezy read, and I came out of it with a new favorite author.
January 2, 2017
As a writer with expensive tastes myself, I didn't have a very difficult time relating to the struggles of India Palmer. The first half does an excellent job at showing how even a successful couple of fairly artists (if I remember correctly, India says she and her husband bring in around $150,000 a year) struggle with New York City living, and sets up just the right circumstances for her to take the proposed Pygmalion deal. While India can come off as a little self-pitying in this part of the book (poor little miss can't keep up with Joneses), her reasoning for sacrificing what she does makes perfect sense - if she had been the true starving artist type, I don't know if the plot would have worked as well. It's a good commentary on the absurd expensiveness of raising a family in Manhattan, and creates a nice "My Fair Bonfire of the Vanities" story.
Though the second half of the book was entertaining, it was more vignettes about India's new life than a storyline, and I think this is what my biggest criticism is - there was very little conclusiveness (perhaps mirroring real life, but dramatic liberties exist for a reason). Despite India's initial reluctance to take on the deal, it turns out she's a much better bonds trader than a writer, at least from a financial perspective, and once that ball starts rolling, she very rarely pauses to think, "...but am I betraying my artistic value?" There wasn't a lot of follow through on the initial conflict, no doubt, and definitely no turning back. It remains a good read, and the fish-out-of-water experience for India as she really gets to take control of her life was fun, but it's a little disheartening to see someone so insistent on being a writer throw it all away. It also could have benefited with India having more conflict - her family was all too supportive, her friends too indulging, her money issues insignificant for most people.
Still, most definitely a recommended and worthwhile read!
Though the second half of the book was entertaining, it was more vignettes about India's new life than a storyline, and I think this is what my biggest criticism is - there was very little conclusiveness (perhaps mirroring real life, but dramatic liberties exist for a reason). Despite India's initial reluctance to take on the deal, it turns out she's a much better bonds trader than a writer, at least from a financial perspective, and once that ball starts rolling, she very rarely pauses to think, "...but am I betraying my artistic value?" There wasn't a lot of follow through on the initial conflict, no doubt, and definitely no turning back. It remains a good read, and the fish-out-of-water experience for India as she really gets to take control of her life was fun, but it's a little disheartening to see someone so insistent on being a writer throw it all away. It also could have benefited with India having more conflict - her family was all too supportive, her friends too indulging, her money issues insignificant for most people.
Still, most definitely a recommended and worthwhile read!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 31, 2025
In 2003 India Palmer, a middling novelist, and her family are struggling financially. India and her husband (a gifted but slow-working and methodical artist) live in New York City with their two daughters and valiantly try to "keep up with the Joneses," in this case the well-to-do Chapmans. India knows that life would be easier if they downsized, moved to a small town in Vermont, sent the girls to public school, and so forth. But she loves New York, and she loves associating with (and pretending to be part of) the wealthy class. Then India meets a Wall Street star who makes her a deal: he'll turn her into a world-class trader in 18 months. Out of desperation, she takes him up on it, and succeeds beyond her wildest dreams. So, what is this book about? Poverty vs. riches? Needs vs. wants? Expectations vs. reality? Who we think we are vs. who we are capable of becoming? This book is mildly interesting, but unfortunately McPhee fails to clearly identify her theme and purpose. The contrast between India's family and the Chapmans, which appears to be the principal plot device at the book's beginning, disappears partway through (aside from a chapter confusingly told from Emma Chapman's point of view)--only to take on huge importance at the end. India's writing adventures and insights are far more interesting than her Wall Street activities. McPhee repeatedly refers to the upcoming financial crash but it doesn't impact India at all; she's turned into a selfish, entitled businesswoman who neglects her children. The book is a little too long, a little too repetitious, a little too pretentious (and India too unappealing) to merit more than two stars.
August 22, 2010
McPhee was offered training as a real-life bond trader--perhaps the inspiration for Dear Money--but she stuck with fiction. Critics, however, were divided on her latest novel. Most enjoyed the first half, which describes the jaw-dropping cost of raising a family in 21st-century Manhattan. But the second half, with its pedantic detailing of the financial world, proved to be much less entertaining. Several critics were also bothered by secondary characters who were unnaturally good natured (the Washington Post described India's daughters as "the least demanding children in the history of civilization"). Despite these flaws, most reviewers found Dear Money to be a worth a shot, calling it a "playful, witty, couldn't-be-more-timely morality tale" (San Francisco Chronicle). This is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine.
August 25, 2010
I had a hard time 'connecting' with the main character, India. She is burdened by her lack of money, yet she chooses to indulge in the expensive lifestyles of her friends, rather than being strong and acknowledging that her family's finances don't allow her to live so lavishly. Her desire for more money causes her to leap into the world of bond trading, and this is seen as a radical departure from her career as a writer, but having been less and less successful in her work as time has gone by, it just seems like a practical move. The people I most liked in this book were her artist husband and her wise friend. Both of them seemed more discerning and less greedy than India. As always, the absence of God in her life makes India empty and uncertain about where to find ultimate meaning. She wants to HAVE what others have, and even when her friend tells her that she had seen India as someone to emulate, she seems discontented. Money can't make one happy!
July 10, 2010
I enjoyed this book, if for no other reason of getting a glimpse into a world I will not ever inhabit nor visit. I liked the characters, and found myself rolling my eyes - along with the author - at the social posturing and wasteful living of the New York City breed. I loved that India never betrayed her husband, and that their marriage was always strong.
I always prefer a "squeaky clean" book. I found this one to be mostly very clean. There was a little obscenity here and there (mostly after she starts her job on Wall Street), and I saw it as unnecessary but skip-able. There was some sexual innuendo (again, between the bond traders), and a couple of rather awkward conversations regarding sex that were oddly placed and not necessary to the plot at all, which bothered me. Overall, however, a food read.
I always prefer a "squeaky clean" book. I found this one to be mostly very clean. There was a little obscenity here and there (mostly after she starts her job on Wall Street), and I saw it as unnecessary but skip-able. There was some sexual innuendo (again, between the bond traders), and a couple of rather awkward conversations regarding sex that were oddly placed and not necessary to the plot at all, which bothered me. Overall, however, a food read.
April 22, 2012
"Do you ever think about tulips?" he asked. "I think about tulips all the time. My mind is filled with tulips, the colors and variations."
I started this book on Easter, on a two hour drive: only about a chapter or two. I had to finish the last sixty or so pages tonight, because the lending period ended tonight.
And that was very hard because this is a suspenseful book. I just cared so much for the narrator and everyone her life touched. I wanted her to make the 'right' choice, or at least end well...and yet this whole thing takes place just before the economic meltdown. It's kind of devastating emotionally.
This isn't a novel of events or actions. It's an emotional arc, set, of course, on the dramatic background of high finance Wall Street.
I started this book on Easter, on a two hour drive: only about a chapter or two. I had to finish the last sixty or so pages tonight, because the lending period ended tonight.
And that was very hard because this is a suspenseful book. I just cared so much for the narrator and everyone her life touched. I wanted her to make the 'right' choice, or at least end well...and yet this whole thing takes place just before the economic meltdown. It's kind of devastating emotionally.
This isn't a novel of events or actions. It's an emotional arc, set, of course, on the dramatic background of high finance Wall Street.
January 24, 2012
I can't get into this book. I suspect one reason is the overly detailed writing, like the beginning, which describes a cottage in Maine. The first name that's mentioned (in the second paragraph) is of another character in a way that made me think she was the main one. I couldn't connect with India, the narrator. I didn't find her likable and her voice is distant somehow. I'm also loathe to discover whether there's lots of money and Wall Street talk later in the book as India becomes a bonds trader - not my cup of tea. I just took a look at the end, and it was exactly as I would have predicted.
May 4, 2010
Martha McPhee is the real deal. Her new book -- Dear Money -- is engrossing, playful, absorbing, and very timely. Who can resist the premise: an author of a few critically-acclaimed (but not widely read) books falls under the sway of a rakish financier, who promises that he can turn her into a mega-millionaire bond trader in 18 months.
Will he succeed? Will she regret leaving the highly respected world of literature for the rough-and-tumble world of bond trading? And will she respect herself in the morning? :) You won't be able to put this book down. I sure couldn't!
Will he succeed? Will she regret leaving the highly respected world of literature for the rough-and-tumble world of bond trading? And will she respect herself in the morning? :) You won't be able to put this book down. I sure couldn't!
Read
June 16, 2010I review Martha McPhee’s novel, “Dear Money,” in the June 5 edition of The Boston Globe.
In “Dear Money,” McPhee presents social commentary and a seduction of sorts.
http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articl...
My review in The Boston Globe of Martha McPhee’s “Dear Money” was selected as an “exemplary review” of the week by the National Book Critics Circle. The review is re-posted on the Powells Book website.
See below:
http://www.powells.com/review/2010_06_16
Joe
In “Dear Money,” McPhee presents social commentary and a seduction of sorts.
http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articl...
My review in The Boston Globe of Martha McPhee’s “Dear Money” was selected as an “exemplary review” of the week by the National Book Critics Circle. The review is re-posted on the Powells Book website.
See below:
http://www.powells.com/review/2010_06_16
Joe
June 13, 2010
I had a great time with this book -- a bit more so during the first half, which focuses on the struggling novelist trying to keep up with her richer friends, rather than during the second half, where she's Pygmalionized into a bond trader during the sub-prime boom. (No matter how passionately she describes the trading floor, it's still all a big soup of Fannies and Ginnies and tranches to me. That's my problem, not the author's.) The writing is just wonderful, so cool and precise and funny.
July 26, 2010
Interesting story regarding a published novelist turned bond trader so that she could make enough money to support her family and live the life style she chose. I struggled with whether to give it 3 or 4 stars because at times you were engrossed with the story and didn't want to put it down and at other times I found myself skimming the details because they seemed trivial. However, the themes of the story continued to stick with me after I finished the book which is always a sign to me that it was well written.
October 6, 2013
An engaging read that made me want to take all my money and hide it under the bed. It took me about a quarter of the book to catch on, but once I did it became a page turner. McPhee weaves quite a tale and fully develops characters you come to love, hate and be confused by. It's one of those books that makes you feel as if you are living in the pages. I gave it 3 stars only because the arc was predictable, but fun to read nonetheless.
January 2, 2011
I really liked this book. The characters were interesting, the plot original and I learned a lot about mortgage backed securities. I liked the "keeping up with the Joneses" theme -- starting with the origination of the phrase, and continuing through the novel, when it was revealed that the Joneses are not the same people to everyone. It was also clever how the meaning of the title was revealed at the end of the book.
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