The Rich and the Righteous

by Helen Van Slyke

The power and the passion of the rich and the righteous. Dorothy - a dazzling beauty who agreed to play the perfect wife in public at a price that made her husband's life a private hell. Bridget - the high-powered career woman who never mixed business with pleasure, until she found herself drawn to the man who was her most dangerous rival. Marjorie - who tried to be a Total Woman to the husband she loved, but had to turn to an illicit lover for fulfillment. Rose - who married her husband when he was just starting up the corporate ladder, and now desperately feared she was being left behind. Patricia - who knew that business was her tycoon husband's whole life, and searched for a way to keep it from killing him. Five women - each seeking a different kind of happiness, each paying her own price.

Genres: Fiction, Romance

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

Reviews

[Noella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ik had geen hoge verwachtingen van dit boek. Het gaat over de wereld van de modemakers, die mij eerlijk gezegd niet erg interesseert. Maar het gaat ook over de mensen achter het bedrijf, over hun zakelijke en privéleven. En hierin werd ik echt meegetrokken. We leren hen kennen, zoals ze zich in het openbaar gedragen, met al hun slimmigheidjes en zakelijk inzicht, maar ook wordt beschreven hoe ze zich tegenover hun naasten gedragen, in familiale en vriendenkring. Maar er is ook nog een derde inzicht in hun leven, namelijk over hoe ze écht zijn, met al hun vreugde en verdriet, persoonlijke ambities en ook hun kleine kantjes, en hun diepste gevoelens die ze dikwijls aan echt niemand durven tonen. En het daar dat de conflicten uit voortkomen, ze moeten zich langzaam toch blootgeven en eerlijk met hun omgeving omgaan. Want dit is de enige manier om tot persoonlijk geluk te komen.
Meeslepend boek. Eens je de basisgegevens over de meeste personages gelezen hebt, zodat je weet met wie je te maken hebt, is het de auteur gelukt om de aandacht vast te houden met het verhaal.

[Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that I went on a Van Slyke kick in college. They were quick soap opera reads that took my mind off things of a more serious nature.

[Nightwitch · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is like the book equivalent of a soap opera, but set in the 1960s and revolving around Who Will Inherit This Business Empire. There is a lot more telling than showing but it remains pretty engaging throughout. However, the back cover of my copy was wildly misleading - it gave the impression it was going to be about the five women and their love lives - so the actual plot of the book, which involves a lot of backstabbing and 1960s psychology, wasn't quite what I was expecting. Also, there really is a lot more emphasis on the male characters than the female characters, who are kind of cardboardy and also defined mostly in terms of their relationships to the male characters - even Bridget, who is a kick-ass forty-something corporate tycoon. Finally, the ending really annoyed me: the dilemma is solved in the space of, like, a page (and also involves a pregnant, betrayed married woman getting into a "car accident" and dying in order to prevent her evil, also married babydaddy from being named chairman of her father-in-law's company, whereas I would really have preferred a good slap-down or some otherwise more suitable revenge on her part). So, fun and easy, but kind of a disappointment at the same time.

[Liza M. Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Recensione completa su www.pennaecalamaro.com

Intrighi e colpi di scena non mancano. Helen Van Slyke sembra quasi ripercorrere la sua carriera lavorativa, iniziata proprio in una multinazionale di cosmetici prima di scoprire la sua vera vocazione di scrittrice. Il patron della Haylow è un uomo complesso: profondamente religioso, ma anche cinico e spietato negli affari. Il figlio, che al contrario crede nell’etica e nella giustizia, lo ha sempre rimproverato di essere un padre assente e incoerente rispetto ai valori in cui professa di credere. I due sono più simili di quanto loro stessi riescano a vedere, eppure sulla loro strada diversi personaggi vorranno frapporsi, per aiutare o per distruggere definitivamente il loro rapporto. Soprattutto il vecchio dovrà scendere a patti con la sua cecità per riuscire a capire davvero chi gli sta intorno e di chi può fidarsi davvero.

Continua su www.pennaecalamaro.com

[denna devillier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb !!!!

Stunning book from start to finish !!! Great character development and a wonderful heartwarming and at times heart wrenching tribute to family, success, faith and love.

[josee argumedo · Rating 2 out of 5]

gran chisme, un poco de clickbait. El último capítulo no me gustó, un poco de relleno pero necesario. No me aportó nada más que puterio, pero del bueno, más que nada en situación de escape

[Y. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a good book. I like the honesty of how things unfold when one believes in God. I love the faith and the lessons learned. I love the standards and characteristics of each person. I don't believe in true love, but the way things were in the story, it wasn't unrealistic. The beginning was catchy (I thought the author must really be disgusted from life). The ending was very good and somehow unexpected (maybe because of my lack of sleep, but it may be that it really is simply unexpectable. Maybe it's ego that makes me say the first.)
I find a lot of what is in the story true of life. I see how the author let each of us make our own conclusions about life. Some will say people live in ignorance, and I don't doubt that. Many will see their own weaknesses in the loopholes or strengthes of characters. The novel was very, very good. Very. Nothing to excuse the 4 stars instead of 5. Nothing. I just don't have compassion for it. DON'T MISUNDERSTAND, PLEASE. I RECOMMEND THIS. It's just a rating that isn't bad, in fact, is good, even if not perfect. Thank you, Helen. I really enjoyed your book.

[Mo]

Nice easy read - entertaining, unexpected in parts.

[Marlene Bessette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really had a hard time getting into the book, story is good but too much narrative for my taste. One of the book that has taken me will power to read through. But happy when done.
All about a rich corporation family's battle within generation, their different ways of dealings, mostly between father and son