Gilding Lily

by Tatiana Boncompagni

In this delicious new novel, Tatiana Boncompagni creates a heroine everyone will love...and no one will ever forget. As Lily Bartholomew navigates kiddie birthday parties starring chart-topping entertainment, society dinner-dances where any woman larger than a size 2 can barely stand to show her Botoxed face, and vacations to exclusive hideaways with the mother-in-law from hell, she constantly wonders, On what planet have I landed? After all, she's just a down-to-earth gal from suburbia who felt as if she'd landed in the middle of a fairy tale when she married Robert. He's handsome, rich, and--best of all--able to make her laugh, and she happily jumped headfirst into his world. But now Robert's lost his job, Lily hasn't lost her pregnancy weight, and their once-golden existence seems suddenly tarnished. Desperate to regain her self-esteem, Lily begins writing essays about life among the rich and snobbish, which tosses her into the spotlight and in the path of social disaster. But as Lily navigates her way through the shark-infested waters of Manhattan society, she starts to rediscover her own place in the world--and how to regain what truly matters.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Contemporary

320 pages, ebook

First published August 27, 2008

About the author

Tatiana Boncompagni is the author of SOCIAL DEATH, a mystery set on the Upper East Side, and two women's fiction novels: GILDING LILY and HEDGE FUND WIVES.

Her writing has appeared in dozens of publications, including the New York Times, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, InStyle, Marie Claire, Town & Country and Vogue.

Tatiana graduated magna cum laude from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. She is married and has three children. She enjoys baking anything with chocolate, drinking good wine and finding a moment of peace in Shavasana. She does not like doing the dishes.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lily Bartholomew lived the sweet life. She was the ultimate “It” girl that everyone wanted to be seen with. That was about thirty pounds and a million diaper changes ago. Now Lily is married; recently gave birth to a healthy, happy boy named Will and can no longer fit into a size 2. Lily and her husband, Robert loves each other very much except for the other woman in the picture. This woman knows Robert inside and out, she’s rich and powerful as well as a force to be reckoned with and she’s causing havoc on Lily and Robert’s marriage. So just who is this woman? She is none other then Robert’s mother…Josephine. She is considered to be one of the creams of the crop women in New York’s high society.

Lily is ready to be back on top again. But it will be a long, windy and frustrating road ahead. Apparently though there are certain rules you need to be aware of if you are going to be an “It” girl in high society. They consist of being able to wear a size 2, owning all of the top designers clothing (but heaven forbid you have to pay full price for them), your worth is only as good as how many photographers want to take your picture and never ever call the beach “The Hamptons”.

The first thing I have to say about Gilding Lily is …….Fantastic, Bravo, Magnificent! I have not had so much fun and enjoyment from reading a book in a long time. Books like Gilding Lily only come around every once in a while and when they do they are a pleasure. You would think someone like Lily, who has lots of money, would be spoiled and annoying but she was neither. In fact she was very warm-hearted and caring, which made me fall in love with her as a character. Gilding Lily is a quick read. Author, Tatiana Boncompagni is dressed to impress with her first book Gilding Lily. I look forward to many more books from this great author.

[Nancy White · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sad lives of the rich and famous…

I don’t know much about socialites in New York. What made me sad about this nook was how all the women regularly and often turned on each other. There were very few shreds of kindness or humanity in this piece of fiction. Nevertheless, I enjoyed a glimpse into the lives of the characters portrayed in this book.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The storyline was about the NY elite’s obsession with their social status & the cut throat women that belong to it. The story was ok. Too many long descriptive paragraphs about how places were decorated and name dropping famous designers etc…many of whom I never heard of.🥴 I understand it’s part of the story but it was a bit much. And I think I was hoping for another ending! Not really a spoiler but I wanted payback!🤣

[Read Between the Pages · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahh…Gilding Lily by Tatiana Boncompagni. Where do I begin with this novel? Well let’s start with a summary of the book shall we? This book is basically about a woman named Lily Bartholomew who is married to a wealthy man named Robert. She enjoys her life in the glamour having fun going to parties with him and getting her picture taken…until they have a baby that is. Once she has a child, that’s when everything starts crashing down around her. She feels embarrassed of her weight, she feels her husband as stopped loving her, she had to quit her job which she loved. The only good thing in her life at that moment is little Will. As the book goes on, you see how her life goes from good to bad to worse to pretty alright in a span of a year.

The characters in the book were relatable, meaning that in every character, you could see a bit of yourself in them. From the nicest person to the downright evilest witch. Even if you wouldn’t want to admit it, you can see yourself in them. Boncompagni wrote Lily so believably, I sometimes had to stop and think if this was a true story or not. If you were thrust into a world of fame, fortune, and anything you could possibly want after living in a middle-class family, you’d be able to relate to her and the struggles and mistakes she’s made. It was so realistic, that it could unfortunately happen to anyone.

In the copy of the book I had, there were some grammar mistakes but it was mostly quotation marks that were missing here and there. It didn’t mess up the flow of the book at all.

Now the descriptions were a little much. Now, I’m not saying description is a bad thing, but I am saying that every little piece of furniture didn’t need to be described in full detail. The clothes, yes. The jewelry yes. How people were feeling, yes. What brand couch and table, not so much. I felt like the author over described certain aspects of this book just to make it a tad bit longer. But overall, I could see the galas and clothes and people wonderfully. Felt like I was really there sometimes.

Overall, I give this book a 4/5. I could relate with Lily and in the end I felt bad for her. I wanted her to get a total happy ending, without all the stress and pain that came along with it. Lily to me was a real life person who faced real struggles. Many people who read this book said they couldn’t relate to her at all. How they couldn’t, I have no actual idea. Maybe they haven’t lived a normal life. Maybe they’re rich and see this book as slander to socialites. Who knows. All I know is that you should give this book a read, even if it may not seem like your cup of tea.

[Anastasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

* Paperback: 300 pages
* Publisher: Avon; 1 edition (September 9, 2008)
* ISBN-10: 0061451010
* Author: Tatiana Boncompagni
* Cover art: I like the dress.
* Overall rating: **1/2 out of 5 stars
* Obtained: My personal bookshelf

Gilding Lily by Tatiana Boncompagni
Reviewed by Moirae the fates book reviews.

In this delicious new novel, Tatiana Boncompagni creates a heroine everyone will love...and no one will ever forget.

As Lily Bartholomew navigates kiddie birthday parties starring chart-topping entertainment, society dinner-dances where any woman larger than a size 2 can barely stand to show her Botoxed face, and vacations to exclusive hideaways with the mother-in-law from hell, she constantly wonders, "On what planet have I landed?"

After all, she's just a down-to-earth gal from suburbia who felt as if she'd landed in the middle of a fairy tale when she married Robert. He's handsome, rich, and--best of all--able to make her laugh, and she happily jumped headfirst into his world. But now Robert's lost his job, Lily hasn't lost her pregnancy weight, and their once-golden existence seems suddenly tarnished.

Desperate to regain her self-esteem, Lily begins writing essays about life among the rich and snobbish, which tosses her into the spotlight and in the path of social disaster. But as Lily navigates her way through the shark-infested waters of Manhattan society, she starts to rediscover her own place in the world--and how to regain what truly matters. (Synopsis provided by goodreads)

I'm not entirely sure what made me read this book or what made me buy the book. I liked the name, and the dress and the fact that is was only $4.00 was good as well. Over all the book was just okay. It wasn't great but it wasn't horrible either.
I liked the main character, but that was all I liked. Her mother-in-law is a bitch, her husband is a chauvinist.
The "issues" that Lily is faced with seemed to be the same over and over and she complains about them all the time. She does take charge of her life and does her best to fix the mess that she made and the mess that others made for her.
My biggest issue was the ending. The ending knocked it down from 3 stars to 2 and a half for me. It felt way to rushed and it felt too neat. I was really upset with how she just accepted everything. Her husband had been a massive dick to her and she just ignored it basically.
I wouldn't recommend this one really. If you do want to read it, by all means do, but maybe get it from the library.

[Courtney · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let me say right now that I've had this book finished for about two weeks now, and have had to force myself to write the review. It's not that the book is bad; it's just that it did nothing for me. That said, let me move on to the actual review.

Gilding Lily is the story of Lily, a woman from upper-middle class roots who is catapulted into the luxe (and back-stabbing) world of the New York elite when she marries a man of that class. Somewhere around the birth of her son, she loses her sense of self and self-worth, forgetting what it is to be a strong, independent woman instead of one of the sheep clamoring for attention and photos in all the trendy magazines.

I had to fight to pick Gilding Lily up each time I put it down. When I had the book in my hand, I didn't necessarily want to put it down - that is, I didn't have to fight to read it - but honestly, if I hadn't had an obligation to read & review it (I received the book as an ARC - Advanced Reader's Copy - with the understanding it was in exchange for a review of the book), I would have put it down after the first 50-100 pages and never picked it back up.

Gilding Lily is (mostly) well-written. There were a few instances where at the end of a chapter the author hinted at something which was going to happen, and I expected that hint to be expanded upon in the next chapter only to be disappointed, finding that the chapter in question had moved on to an entirely different scene or issue in Lily's life.

So, in all, I'm giving the book 2.5 stars. I personally did not enjoy the book, but that was because of the subject matter rather than the quality of the book. I'm sure someone else, who is more into "chick lit" and the lives of the rich, shallow, and famous would enjoy it immensely.

[Lyz · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am so glad I am finished with the book. NO ONE in this book is likeable. Lily is weak. Robert is an immature, self-absorbed ass. Josephine is wicked. The socialites are vile. There is no one to like. An author needs to give us someone to root for, but rooting for Lily was an exercise in frustration. Every time one of the vile socialiltes or her nasty MIL turned an innocent situation into a disaster, Lily shrank back and condemned herself for poor decision making. By the middle of the book I quit rooting for Lily to grow a backbone and simply awaited her next session of self guilt. Weak Lily and self-absorbed mama's boy Robert depressed me. This book will not claim space on my bookshelf. This book is headed for my Halfprice Books pile. Any bit of change I receive for it will be more than it's worth.

[Abby · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is ridiculous. Taking into account this is supposed to be a light, fluffy, fun book, it is still ridiculous. The main character is a champion whiner who refuses to stand up for herself and instead just pouts to the reader over just how mean everyone else is. She complains that her husband is lazy and unmotivated, while she herself is just sitting around nagging him. She realizes her socialite friends and mother in law are all complete bitches yet she still clamors for their approval. She spends the majority of the book being unlikeable and frustrating. On top of having a non sympathetic protagonist, the plot is boring. I would not recommend this book to anyone, even my most chick lit adoring friends.

[Katerina · Rating 1 out of 5]

This definitely wasn't one of my favorite books but it was a light hearted easy read. This book gives you an inside look at the elite life of the people everyone one wants to be but then the book takes a turn for the unexpected and shows us how one of them because one of the people they mock. Lily is a beautiful and successful women who met the man of her like and has a beautiful child but when her world turns upside-down she has nothing left to do but let it be. Her husband lost his job and she still has her baby weight on her but that doesn't slow her down, she uses that to her own advantage. this hear felt and up beat story will make you laugh and really think, never be envious of other people's lives because your never know the full story.

[Dominika Czekanski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun chick-lit type book, easy and fast read, good for the beach or pool. It's about a new mom who's also a socialite in the NYC scene. As her life focuses on her newborn baby and the high society social scene she looses track of her marriage and trouble stirs up immediately. To top things off she has a horrible meddling, insecure, selfish and rude mother-in-law, who only adds fuel to the fire of Lily's crumbling marriage. The book exposes how easy it is to fall for the trappings of the socialite world of luxurious fashion, vacations, member-only clubs, and dinner parties, but also how quickly you can loose your sense of self, and what truly matters in life. A good lesson for all those social ladder climbers out there.

[Sarah W. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read set in the world of luxurious New York society, where Lily Bartholomew discovers what is truly important as she ascends and descends the social hierarchy. Having married into a wealthy family, Lily and her husband are nonetheless struggling after the birth of their first child and the loss of both their jobs. Determined to regain some level of financial security, Lily begins writing about the snobbish social set she inhabits and finds herself at risk for making more enemies than friends. Filled with details of parties, designer dresses, and exclusive vacation locales, this novel makes for some fun, light reading.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was cute. Not a bad bargain purchase, but I was so pissed off when I closed it up. No matter the cutesy ending, I was too annoyed with Lily's husband Robert for how ignorant and stupid he was throughout the book. I felt it needed more of a general resolution, even though I was happy he got a happy ending. I generally enjoy taking the time read books like this - caricatures of society women and all - but the undertones of this one bothered me and I couldn't put much stock in the happy ending of the couple because of Robert's attitudes that were so ingrained in the text.

[Hafidha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strangely enough, I was able to relate to this novel about an upper east side woman who marries into money, then struggles to adjust to married life, a first baby, stay-at-home-motherhood, and her husband's unexpected job loss. I'm not living in Manhattan or rubbing shoulders with socialites, but I wanted to see how the main character worked things out. No big lessons for me personally, but it was a nice, light read.

[Gayle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I seized the opportunity to fly through an advance reader's copy of "Gilding Lily" and enjoyed it. Well written with a few twists; liked Ms. Boncompagni's style ~ phrasing, imagery, pace... It's a very quick read (soup to nuts in parts of 2 consecutive evenings) and entertained me as a break from Ethan Canin’s book.

[Kristi Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG this book kept me up laughing! And a hilarious tale how one New York Society mom takes the Society World by swarm! I loved the 10 ten list at the end of the book...must read book so you too can enjoy this list ; )

[Debbie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this because it was on a magazine's suggested summer reading list. Uninteresting story, one-dimensional characters and not the "fun" you look for in a light chic-lit summer read. The best part of the book is the beautiful dress on the cover. Enough said.

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished reading for the second time. It is rare I will read a book twice but this was a good one. Being from NY I can totally envision the locations and what the characters are like. Highly recommend.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written. A great book about remembering who you are and what you stand for. Gives you a glimpse of the posh life through an outsider's eyes.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sort of along the lines of the Nanny Diaries. A glimpse into the glitterati of NYC. Entertaining enough for a long flight back to the East Coast.

[Mariettak2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sorry when I finished this book. Was an escape to a differnt world entirely. Didn't know people could be so petty.

[Nancy Baack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disturbing to think there are probably actually people who act like this (Oh wait! I watch the Real Housewives of Orange County and NY - I should know this!)

[Theresa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read 100 pages and gave up. I couldn't get into this book as I found it totally boring.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't finish this book, so surface, predictable and cliche.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fast read. A good story. I found that the premise of this was a bit like the other book by the author that I had read-but I liked the ending of this one more.

[Mercy Arocho · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved it...couldn't put it down

[Leanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great summer/beach read...... I never knew what the life of a socialite was really like - Lily brought me into a world I never knew existed.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great summer read. Fun chick-lit

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

The socialite women just infuriate me! This book can be used as a marriage counseling tool. So good that I couldn't put it down.

[Beth Pratt · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read it during jury duty (lots of time spent waiting around). It was dumb, dispiriting, unoriginal. The writing was just competent enough to keep reading rather than stare at the wall blankly.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't care for this book. It didn't seem very well written.