The Debutante Divorcee

by Plum Sykes

As she navigates the perils of glamorous high-society New York, newlywed Sylvia Mortimer encounters Lauren Blount, a very rich, thin, pretty, and reckless member of Manhattan's Debutante Divorcée set and the city's most notorious Husband Huntress, who sets her sights on Sylvia's own spouse and awakens Sylvia's fears of adultery. By the author of Bergdorf Blondes. Reprint.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Beach Reads, Adult, Humor

250 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Victoria Rowland, known professionally as Plum Sykes, is an English-born fashion journalist, novelist, and socialite. Born in London in 1969 and raised in Sevenoaks, Kent, she was nicknamed “Plum” after the Victoria plum. She attended Oxford University’s Worcester College, graduating in modern history. Sykes began her career at British Vogue in 1993 as a fashion assistant, later becoming a contributing editor for American Vogue under Anna Wintour. She quickly became a prominent figure on New York’s social scene, often described as an “It girl.”
Sykes is best known for her bestselling chick lit novels Bergdorf Blondes (2004) and The Debutante Divorcée (2006), which portray the glamorous world of New York fashion and society. These works reflect her insider perspective on the “chic lit” genre and have been compared to Sex and the City.
In 2005, she married British entrepreneur Toby Rowland at her family’s ancestral home, wearing a dress by Alexander McQueen, with whom she had a close creative relationship.
Sykes has also been open about her personal struggles, including a three-year battle with anxiety disorder and agoraphobia following the birth of her children. She detailed her recovery in a 2012 Vogue article, crediting an anxiety treatment program for helping her return to a full social and professional life.

Reviews

[Tiny Pants · Rating 1 out of 5]

This had been sitting on my shelf about a year -- technically, I'd only bought it because I was in a super-cute but obviously super-desperate independent used booksellers' and felt like I had to buy something -- and of course, since I'm a finisher, I read it. It gave me two days' pool material, though in the end, what I wouldn'tve given for something else to read by the pool (and yes, I am reading something else, but my hardcover 800+ page Edith Wharton bio is too big and bulky for the pool!).

Posh Spice ... I mean, Plum Sykes is no genuine authoress. Rather, she's a well-connected Vogue "writer" and "Brit-It-Girl" who thus gets to pen quick, cheeky novels meant to be read in two days at the pool. That's all well and good I guess, but ughhh this book was beyond boring and predictable. The dialogue was genuinely horrendous -- ignore all the cover blurbs claiming she's an "astute observer" of mores and that this will be a "comedy of errors." It's "Jane Austen-esque" only if Jane Austen had been dropped on her head repeatedly as a young child and lacked a facility with language. Half the sentences begin with the word "Darling" and don't get more substantial than that. Likewise, some asleep-at-the-wheel line editor forgot to nix all the Britishisms, so all these fashionable New Yorkers sound like, well, Madonna. No one in the US uses "fancy" as a verb, says "back to mine" to refer to whose apartment one is headed, or "mislaid" to mean something's lost, ...I could go on. And I'm in a foul mood, so it's rather tempting.

But I won't. Next time I want a poolside look at social climbing, divorce, and remarriage among Manhattan's smart set, I'll crack open The Custom of the Country.

[Merredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just ok. It was about a newlywed who moves to NYC with her husband, who is super rich. She meets new super rich friends, one super duper rich one in particular, and watches them waste their money. The other women are divorced, and make it seem glamorous. The main character's husband is away for work a lot, and although she does work as well (for a fashion designer), she still has time to think he may be cheating, and envy the divorced lifestyle. I know it's making fun of the upper crust and all, but it just seems so trite, no one has any feelings, they all waste SO much money, i mean, just SO much it's as if they're inventing ways to throw it away, not just by buying nice expensive things or treating themselves, but by buying the most expensive things they don't even want, just cuz. This is kinda chick lit but in a bad way, because you can't identify with anyone. It's not that funny. It's not horrible though, just ok. I had a tough time getting through it.

[Naida · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chic lit plain and simple. It only took me 2 hours to read it but it was a fun "beach read" Bergdorf Blondes was much better

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no explanation for why I enjoyed this book so much, but I sure did. It was a nice diversion from holiday stress and craziness (and scrimping and saving) to immerse myself in the book's descriptions of limitless money and socializing and traveling and man hunting. I listened to the audiobook, which I recommend, as the reader (not sure of who it was) did great accents, swapping between American and British like it was nothing.
The plot centers on Sylvie, a British woman newly married to an American filmmaker (director? producer? I can't remember, but he was involved in the making of films in some way), who befriends Lauren on her (Lauren's) divorce honeymoon and Sylvie's just-married honeymoon. They wear expensive clothing, travel to worldwide resorts, have fancy parties, meet exotic men, make and break friendships. Good stuff.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good vacation read.

[Rizwana · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little silly, but makes you laugh...and a very quick read
can people really be this 'flaky'? I suppose they can!

[P e t t y · Rating 2 out of 5]

I always got a thing for chick-lit and I never forget to check out chick-lit shelf every time I visit bookstore. So, when I saw this new-translated plum Sykes novel (well, It's been a long due, though) I have to buy it, since I really love her previous book Bergdorf Blondes.

But, OH-GOD, this book is so awful..haha.. it feels like Ms. Sykes losing her witty sides. I enjoyed her heroine as rich and spoiled princess, the wealthy society and all of those socialites life. but on Bergdorf Blondes her heroine, even tough she's typical spoiled princess but she's seems have purpose and pretty much likeable character.

But on Debutante Divorce, Sylvie Mortimer is like an empty shell and too shallow for my taste, she's like yammering in the whole book...haha.. or maybe it because the story itself somewhat doesn't even have a plot... it feels like watching overly-rich young woman complaining about her "too harsh" life. And of course, the character has a lack of personality.

Well, even though Plum didn't lose her "mocking-style" overly superficial dialogue (which I love) but the lack of plot and character's personality makes this books very forgettable.

[Cheryl · Rating 1 out of 5]

If it was possible to give this book negative stars I would have. I loathed this book. It was shallow, vacuous and about as interesting to read as toilet paper. Now I have nothing against a nice piece of fluff, but at least make it fun, and have at least one character that isn't completely a completely disgusting vapid twit. A cover blurb compares this piece of rubbish to Jane Austen, an insult of epic proportions. The Jane Austen society should take them to court over that one. As well as it being a horrible read, the constant mention of fur clothing and a nasty whiff of racism made it even more repellent. This is possibly the worst book ever I have ever read and maybe the worst book ever written.

[Courtney R · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lol

[Salli · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s cute and funny, nothing serious and a bit predictable but I enjoyed it anyway

[Charlotte (Bogrejser) · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is nothing that can make three hours seem like three seconds, like when another girl tells about her love life.

This is true. It really is. Sadly.

This book was fairly shallow which wasn't exactly what I expected. The short synopsis on the back of the book made me intrigued, but, while it was a fun and light read about the New York upper crust, it's not a book I'll ever read again. I might recommend it - if someone needs to put their own life in perspective - but definitely not as a quality book.

I read in another review of this book that Plum Sykes writes this book as a "Vogue"-writer - and I totally agree. The only reason for Sylvie (the MC) and Lauren (and all the other rich and extremely, otherworldly beautiful girls) to be friends is that Sylvie marries a rich man. Nothing more. She's got money, she's in the club. It isn't based on her personality - I mean, even b*tches like Sophia (who goes after married men (and preferably her girlfriends' men)) and Lauren (who is rich enough to be allowed to cancel something when the event is about to start, who doesn't respond to phone calls or messages, and who really just lacks the most basic character trait in a friend) are popular and someone everybody wants to be friends with. Horrible.

All the women spend SOOO much money on things they don't even need - I don't think I've ever read a book that I disagree with as much as this.
Also, the whole concept of "being newly divorced is just the best! I can have sex with anyone I want!" is just... thrown out... at the end of the book. It was a plot twist I didn't see coming, and - while it was a fitting ending - made me put the book in my pile of books to give away.

One of the things I did like was the construction of the story; how we as readers understand why Sylvie is being so paranoid. There's clues everywhere - but still we understand her. I liked that, even though I didn't really connect with her as a person, but oh well.

We all know very well that men must have very precise instructions on what to surprise their wives with.

[Giselle · Rating 2 out of 5]

A finished unsolicited copy was provided by the agency for review.

I knew going into this book that it was going to have the same name dropping, brand-conscious technique that was found in the first book, so I wasn't expecting to love it. But even though I felt so annoyed when descriptions of socialites and their lives were dropped, I still liked this a little bit better than Bergdorf Blondes. This one is about marriage, trust and loyalty. Sylvie is very influenced by all of her friends who are recently divorced. None other than her best friend Lauren who coins the term "debutante divorcee" where she even goes on her very own divorce honeymoon and throws a divorce shower. Now I wasn't too surprised about this, for I've read about this and people actually do have these. It celebrates the fact that they're single again.

I liked this one enough because Sylvie who just got married is having doubts about her new husband. All signs point to him having an affair and it was in her best interest to get to the bottom of it with proof. I found her friends to be very supportive even though they were very frivolous and flaky at times. They still had her back.Even though Sylvie didn't go crazy as most women in her position would, I still felt that she learned her lesson and to find trust in her husband and herself instead. I thought it had a very cute ending with the little twist rather sweet. Though predictable, I thought the book was all right, but it still didn't resonate with me. I hardly know what the socialite life is, and I don't particularly care either.

Overall, I would recommend this one for women who like their chick lit with a little haute couture thrown in.

[Jennifer Cooper · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. I liked Bergdorf Blondes well enough, but this book was not much fun. It opens with the narrator's assertion that "Married girls in New York these days put almost as much effort into losing husbands as they once did into finding them," and it just gets more depressing from there. It follows the marriages, divorces, and other social activities of a group of obscenely wealthy women living in Manhattan. Unfortunately, they're all vapid, self-absorbed, whiny, juvenile, and generally awful. The plot is contrived, the ending is way too cutesy, and the the characters just aren't sympathetic AT ALL.

Sykes writes well, which keeps the book from being a total loss, but it was still pretty bad. I'm not a huge fan of chick-lit, but I generally enjoy Syke's articles in Vogue, so I was pretty disappointed in this book.

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't get the point of this book..... I really tried to like it, and I kept reading until it was painful, but the book was not funny, the characters were shallow, and I just couldn't relate.

Let's see: there is this gal who's in some ubër-expensive Mexican resort on her honeymoon, however, her husband has left her @ the airport on business. She meets up with these two young empty-headed, glob-trotting, super-rich, divorced women. They spend their time talking about the things I imagine super-rich globe-trotting women do, drinking alcohol filled tropical libations, lounge around sunning, gossiping, cruising on the water & wearing marvelously expensive designer clothing.....and talking about their marriages/divorces.

I didn't like the characters, I didn't feel any thing in common with them, I didn't empathize with them....empty women with too much time & money on their hands......

I missed out completely.......

[Chloe (Always Booked) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was terrible. It’s about a woman who flaunts her divorced status and manipulates men into doing things for her and a newlywed woman who is SO paranoid her new husband is cheating. The characters are annoying and superficial. The plot is almost non existent. The sensitivity of this book is MIA. The only reason I didn’t rate it lower is because the characters felt semi real and I can see how some people may enjoy some of the humor.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read, trite and predictible but fun. It was really nice to read some fluff for a change, after recently reading several heavier books. It started out kind of stupid but once I realized it was a satire and not meant to be taken seriously, and that it was actually making fun of every single character in it, I enjoyed it a whole lot more.

[Nilam Suri · Rating 3 out of 5]

kalo lo mau tahu kehidupan para socialitenya new york, dan para pemburu suami,this book provides the whole package.mulai dari glamournya,scandal,romance..semuanyalah...

although,i'd prefer bergdorf blondes more sih...secara lebih drama...but this is nice also.

[Steph's Romance Book Talk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light, fluffy, fun, listen but a little slow in the beginning. Once the middle hit and all the players were established it was very enjoyable.

This specific video review: https://youtu.be/QbdTsTP2Nn4

For other video book reviews check out my YouTube Channel Stephanie Uncensored
https://www.youtube.com/c/stephanieun...

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Listened to the audio version). Slow to get into but excellent. I couldn't stop listening halfway through. I had Bergdorf Blondes years ago when it first came out, so I hoped that this book would be good as well. Not disapointed and thinking about rereading BBs soon.

[Les · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a fun beachy read.

[Celine Ko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always a fun read, though I remembered the ending to this. It's nice to imagine what it'd be like to live like this sometimes and escape.

[Rho · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a piece of junk. I was told it was of the genre The Swans of Fifth Avenue which I loved. The first few chapters of observations, insight, descriptions are quite witty and clever but then the characters don't always make sense, all they talk about is the stuff they're wearing and name dropping. I don't think I have ever given a book a one star in my years on Goodreads but crap is actual crap.

[Jeriann Crawford · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a fun romp!

[Al-Al Malagoar · Rating 2 out of 5]

perkembangan karakternya kosong, tokoh2nya terlalu sempurna. hitam putih. konfliknya datar saja gitu. dan endingnya ew bat lah😪😪

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Sykes is far from my usual mystic, somewhat morbid, politic-philosophical-woman ideas self. Into those long, deep Russian novels or post-modern obscure or self-mocking tracts of novels.

I laughed out loud through Bergdorf Blondes & lost 3 layers of pretentious skin (maybe in the tanning salon the girls religiously go to or during one of the religiously followed exfoliations).

It hardly seems worth recounting the plot of BB: 2 young wealthy debutante/society New York City girl-types superficial their way through about 200 pages of laugh out loud dialogue & mentalogue. I actually do know these aren't words but how else describe the silly chatter inside our heroine's head? And, btw, she is actually far more intelligent than her behavior implies which allows for all the hilarious observations she cleverly makes-usually silently-about the life-and-death trivialities which surround her. Many of these experiences are provided by her far wealthier Bergdorf-heiress friend whose tendency to take herself as well as her own needs far too seriously-and loss of perspective is always what's create either tragedy or comedy-such as having the most-chic hair stylist to create that perfect Bergdorf Blonde look. This being, along with the being heiress and all-the reason for the title of the book, as well as the crisis upon which the plot pivots.

I deeply enjoyed this highly superficial book, an oxymoron which alone justifies my reading of it.
That & the 2 hour vacation it provided from own perspective-lost existence.

Sometimes radical intervention is necessary.

[Brenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I kept expecting more. I guess it was a satire of the divorcee's but it just didn't hold my attention much. There was a bit of a mystery there but the characters weren't developed much. I guess they were supposed to be very ha ha which isn't my bag. This is very much chick lit, I did win the book. I think I would rather have read the author's first book it sounded as if it got better reviews. I'm sorry I can't rate this higher but it was one of the books you could pick up and put down as you had time it wasn't the kind that make you want to sink into the couch and finish it in one reading which is what I"m always looking for.

On good reads the description was:
A major national media event when published in hardcover, this delicious follow-up to Bergdorf Blondes was an immediate New York Times bestseller and confirmed Plum Sykes' status as a literary superstar.Sylvie Mortimer has just married and is blissfully happy with The Divine New Husband, Hunter. Sylvie's new friend, Lauren Blount, is very rich, very young, very thin, very pretty -- and very, very divorced. The most reckless and glamorous of Manhattan's Debutante Divorc+e set, Lauren captivates Sylvie, the group's token newlywed. But while Lauren sets out on a morality-lite, orgasm-heavy "Make Out Challenge," Sylvie discovers her marriage isn't exactly an Eternity ad -- especially when the city's most notorious Husband Huntress zeros in on her spouse.The Debutante Divorc+e delivers all the wit and charm that made Bergdorf Blondes a smash hit. This juicy new tale delighted Sykes' many fans in hardcover and will continue to earn her new ones in this dazzling, chic paperback edition.

[Hallie (Hallie Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is also posted on Book by Book.

A few weeks ago I read, reviewed and surprisingly enjoyed Plum Sykes’ Bergdorf Blondes, and now I can easily say the same for The Debutante Divorcée. I think I even enjoyed this second light, funny novel a bit more than the first (though there were still several moments when I felt incredibly frustrated with the characters). Sykes once again brilliantly transported me into the foreign-to-me world of New York society and, with an entertaining and diverse cast of characters, drew me into a twisted yet charming storyline on marriage and divorce. Despite how far removed their social lives are from mine, I couldn’t help but hope that all would turn out well for Sylvie and her friends – I do love a good happy ending. Of course, as with Bergdorf Blondes, I understand this is not the book for everyone, but again, I think readers of chick lit will find The Debutante Divorcée a smart, amusing read and I would recommend it.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours, I received a copy of The Debutante Divorcée and the opportunity to provide an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like modern chick-lit fashion reads, you'll like this. It was a cute book, and there were a couple mysterious elements that kept you guessing throughout the novel.

Don't expect ANY character development though. You only get to know each character on a very superficial, surface level. For this books purposes, I think that worked out fine. Also, the CONSTANT mentions of the characters wearing fur coats--mink, chinchilla, etc, kept making me want to dry heave. I really didn't care for the

I only read this book because I got it for about 50 cents at a second hand store. If I had paid the $13.95 listing price, I don't think it would've been worth it.

Still, I'll read Sykes' prior novel, Bergdorf Blondes, should I come across it at another thrift store. Overall, it was an enjoyable, fluffy, chick-lit read. Not an utter waste of time, but it won't stand out in my memory.

[Ferne (Enthusiastic Reader) · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was in the bag of books that a friend loaned me to read. I read the back cover synopsis and anticipated that this title wouldn't be the favorite but I didn't realize I wouldn't even be able to read more than a few pages and with each additional sentence just wanted to stop reading. So I finished Chapter 1 but I'm done. I'm not interested in watching The Housewives of wherever...from Beverly Hills to New Jersey to Orange County to Atlanta. I don't care. And that's my attitude about this writing - I just don't care. I don't care enough to want to finish reading it. There are too many wonderful books on my wish list yet to read. Lots of luck if you want to try getting through it. Lots of luck!
The author was educated at Oxford, is a contributing editor at Vogue and has written for Vanity Fair. Perhaps her other writing is interesting. I can't find anything of interest within the pages of this book.

[Ratrichibi · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading Plum Sykes' "Bergdorf Blondes", i was craving for her next book "The Debutante Divorcee". Lucky I finally got it from my favorite bookshop ^^
Like the previous book, this book also sketched the life of New York socialites - the PAPs (Park Avenue Princesses). The main character, Sylvie Mortimer was a newlywed and met Lauren Blount, a newly divorced during her supposed-to-be-honeymoon (because Mr. Mortimer suddenly gone for work), and they suddenly BFF.
As always, the new enlightenment about the designer's dress - from YSL boots to Olatz beautiful bedsheets, Sylvie and Lauren take us to jewelry hunting : a pair of Faberge cufflinks in Moscow to S.J Phillips diamond pendant, while keeping your gorgeous husband fom the Husband Huntresses.
A very interesting adventure in style. ;)