What do you think?
Rate this book
This Vacant Paradise
“Patterson beautifully parses the consequences of one woman’s fall in this memorable, penetrating, fully achieved novel.” ― The New York Times Book Review Story Prize and California Book Award finalist Victoria Patterson revisits Newport Beach in This Vacant Paradise , examining the intersections of economics, class, race, sex, and family expectations during the mid-1990s. Esther lives with her grandmother, a virulent matriarch who controls her family through her wealth. Esther knows that an advantageous marriage replete with social standing, familial and peer approval, and financial rewards will alleviate her struggles. But she has been known to self-sabotage, and her loved ones are rooting for her not to blow it with her latest beau, especially since she’s at the ripe old age of thirty-three. All is well until she begins a tumultuous love affair with Charlie, a local college professor known for his unconventional ideals as much as for his golf game and good looks. He sets a fire inside Esther, sparking and delivering her―whether by choice or not―from the insular, safe, and stifling confines of societal expectations to an alternate, unglamorous, and indefinable course. The result is a stunning debut a powerful work of fiction sure to provoke and engage. “Patterson writes with the exuberance of a natural storyteller. Her cast is rich, her narrative sinuous and masterfully structured.” ― San Francisco Chronicle “Considering the subject matter―the real housewives of Orange County―Patterson’s debut novel (after story collection Drift ) is surprisingly sophisticated and nuanced.” ― Publishers Weekly
- GenresFictionLiterary Fiction
320 pages, Hardcover
First published June 10, 2009
About the author
Victoria Patterson
19 books98 followersVictoria Patterson’s latest story collection, The Secret Habit of Sorrow, was published in 2018. The critic Michael Schaub wrote: “There’s not a story in the book that’s less than great; it’s a stunningly beautiful collection by a writer working at the top of her game.” Her novel The Little Brother, which Vanity Fair called “a brutal, deeply empathetic, and emotionally wrenching examination of American male privilege and rape culture,” was published in 2015. She is also the author of the novels The Peerless Four and This Vacant Paradise, a 2011 New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice. Her story collection, Drift, was a finalist for the California Book Award and the Story Prize and was selected as one of the best books of 2009 by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
December 16, 2015
Full disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review.
I knew nothing about Victoria Patterson or her previous work when I received this book, but I am always willing to try new things, so I love when I get to review something outside of my box. Reading the description for this book, I was fully prepared for a light, fun read, perhaps with a little bit of depth thrown in for good measure. Like a social satire in the spirit of Austen, for example.
But my goodness, was I wrong. This is no whimsical story, no fun satirical skip through the elite's playground through the eyes of a down-on-her-luck upstart stuck on the bench, no fairy-tale romance where the girl goes through some rough patches but gets her heart's desire in the end. This is a serious book that demands to be read and taken seriously, that drags the reader along in its wake, showing this world in all its honesty.
I felt like I was a party to this community, a part of Esther herself, and Nora, and Charlie, and Brenda, and Paul and even Grandma Eileen. I could understand and empathize with these characters' feelings and disappointments and hopes, even when I didn't necessarily agree with them. I love when I am able to fall into the pages of a book and experience it, not just read it.
And Patterson most definitely allowed me to escape into this world. I felt like I was there, could hear the murmured conversations in the background, could smell the ocean, could see the brightness everywhere: the sun, the reflections off of the water, and waxed cars, and sunglasses and martini glasses. The sparkle of whitened teeth and the brightness of all of the Haves' projected self-image... the one they show to hide the person they are.
I won't talk too much about the characters, because I feel that people should get to know them themselves. To form their own opinions and make their own judgements. I will say that I really enjoyed Esther's journey, all her ups and downs, all her bitter disappointments and glimpses of hope. I can't say that I particularly liked Esther, but I feel like I got to know her. I felt that she was willing and wanting to try, and so she gets credit from me for that.
I did have a few issues with the book, a few ends that I wish were tied up more neatly, but honestly, I don't feel like this detracted from the book very much. We're able to see a snapshot in the lives of these people, and life's circumstances rarely end up prettily wrapped with a red bow on top. I felt that Charlie's class and equality conversations were a little, unnatural at times, especially with Esther. She has never been trained to think with a sociologist's mind, and I felt that he should have made it a bit more accessible to her so that she could really understand him, and the concepts he brought to her world. But again, this was a minor issue.
All in all, I enjoyed this book very much. It's not at all what I expected, but sometimes, the unexpected is exactly what we need.
I knew nothing about Victoria Patterson or her previous work when I received this book, but I am always willing to try new things, so I love when I get to review something outside of my box. Reading the description for this book, I was fully prepared for a light, fun read, perhaps with a little bit of depth thrown in for good measure. Like a social satire in the spirit of Austen, for example.
But my goodness, was I wrong. This is no whimsical story, no fun satirical skip through the elite's playground through the eyes of a down-on-her-luck upstart stuck on the bench, no fairy-tale romance where the girl goes through some rough patches but gets her heart's desire in the end. This is a serious book that demands to be read and taken seriously, that drags the reader along in its wake, showing this world in all its honesty.
I felt like I was a party to this community, a part of Esther herself, and Nora, and Charlie, and Brenda, and Paul and even Grandma Eileen. I could understand and empathize with these characters' feelings and disappointments and hopes, even when I didn't necessarily agree with them. I love when I am able to fall into the pages of a book and experience it, not just read it.
And Patterson most definitely allowed me to escape into this world. I felt like I was there, could hear the murmured conversations in the background, could smell the ocean, could see the brightness everywhere: the sun, the reflections off of the water, and waxed cars, and sunglasses and martini glasses. The sparkle of whitened teeth and the brightness of all of the Haves' projected self-image... the one they show to hide the person they are.
I won't talk too much about the characters, because I feel that people should get to know them themselves. To form their own opinions and make their own judgements. I will say that I really enjoyed Esther's journey, all her ups and downs, all her bitter disappointments and glimpses of hope. I can't say that I particularly liked Esther, but I feel like I got to know her. I felt that she was willing and wanting to try, and so she gets credit from me for that.
I did have a few issues with the book, a few ends that I wish were tied up more neatly, but honestly, I don't feel like this detracted from the book very much. We're able to see a snapshot in the lives of these people, and life's circumstances rarely end up prettily wrapped with a red bow on top. I felt that Charlie's class and equality conversations were a little, unnatural at times, especially with Esther. She has never been trained to think with a sociologist's mind, and I felt that he should have made it a bit more accessible to her so that she could really understand him, and the concepts he brought to her world. But again, this was a minor issue.
All in all, I enjoyed this book very much. It's not at all what I expected, but sometimes, the unexpected is exactly what we need.
February 23, 2011
Victoria Patterson is brilliant. This modern day House of Mirth tells the story of Esther Wilson, whose beauty is her greatest asset. She knows this. Everyone knows this. Everyone, including Esther, expects her profit from it by marrying a rich man, no matter how unpleasant he may be. As Esther sabotages herself again again in this endeavor, however, her world begins to unravel and she begins to wonder who exactly she is and who, exactly, she can be. Read This Vacant Paradise for the story and the characters, but know that you will also end up reflecting on a lot of interesting topics, including the commodification and sexualization of women, the relationship between money and fear, greed, love, sex, and identity.
June 27, 2011
Retelling of the House of Mirth. I really love House of Mirth. This is a retelling in modern day Orange county. At first I was ready to pretty confidently shoot it down as not working. The same scenario of dependence on wealth and a good marriage is much more convincing in a novel set a century or more ago and the characters in This Vacant Paradise just seemed incredibly shallow. And they are, but somehow they author manages to make you complicit in that. The roles the characters play are created by their world and it's not so easy to escape that, or maybe just too easy to play along. It ends really strongly and the 'golddigger' main character is revealed to have a depth that you don't want to admit she has. You want to be able to dismiss her but you can't quite do it. The shallowness of her existence is painful and poignant as the people around her only see her on a surface level. Her humanity is revealed as the other characters ignore it. Everyone is skimming along the surface, afraid to go deeper for the various reasons, distractions and complications that make up their own lives.
July 9, 2025
I didn’t really get the point of the book. It didn’t feel like it had much of a plot. It had a few good points that felt emotional, but otherwise it all felt pointless. But maybe that’s the point. There was a lot of unnecessary sex and sexual references. There was also no need to have a child picturing his mother’s nipples.
June 22, 2011
This is a really cautious thumbs-up, so buyer beware.
I got this book because it was about Orange County, CA. ( where I live), written by an Orange County woman, and the NYT review I read said that it was a modern day version of Edith Wharton's "House of Mirth" (which I love). The story line revolves around Esther, a beautiful girl who has had money all her life and suddenly has none, but is dependent on her rich bitch of a grandmother's whimsical attention. She lives in an oceanside house in Newport Beach,with her grandmother, but she has no money of her own and has to work as a saleslady at a Fashion Island boutique. The only future she can envision for herself is to marry money. So she's dating a creepy guy, Paul, who scratches himself and then studies his fingernails for results. Charlie, a sociology professor at a local community college is in love with Esther and she, probably with him. But she thinks he doesn't have enough money so she has to hold him at bay. Nora, an earth-mother type loves Charlie to pieces, and she is an intelligent, saintly woman who jogs with him, gives him good advice, but repels him because she wears gray sweatpants and doesn't shave her armpits. So far so good.
But the writing is so bad that I thought at first it was a satire. Each of these people is so shallow as to defy reality. And the question becomes: is the author showing us this shallow narration so that we will get in the mood and understand the characters better? Not sure. Do you remember when National Lampoon had a feature called:"From the Slush Pile"where they published the worst segments from unsolicited manuscripts. Well, I thought I was revisiting this column when I read the following passage. As background, Esther has a brother who is a heroin addict (and who doesn't) and he lives on the streets. She locates Eric every month or so and slips him money. This time he is unconscious on a bench with only one shoe and no jacket, covered with scrapes and bruises. So she slips the money inside his pocket, and this is what she thinks: " Although others couldn't see it, she perceived a deep knowledge in Eric that seemed connected to their past, to what he remembered. But he guarded his knowledge fiercely, as if he had some secret awareness of the way the universe worked and would keep it to himself, and when she looked in his dark eyes, she saw a glimmer of his uncertainty and his fear, his vulnerability and sensitivity, and she understood how incredibly fragile he was;she believed that if she ever let on that she knew, even for a moment, or asked him the wrong question, he might quickly unravel." Pullllllllllease!! Eric has already unravelled and he's not open to questions, but if he were, what in the Sam Hill could you ask him that would further unravel.
And here's another zinger: (Esther admiring her friend Brenda for. . .) " She envied Brenda, able to dismiss her husband, to take lovers, and to buy whatever pleased her." Um , in that order, or what? And when she reflects on why she loves Charlie. " But she was impressed. Her preoccupation had to do with the light he shed on her own situation. Once he'd asked her:' Who are you? Who are you really?' And when she hadn't answered, he had told her that she was selling herself short, even if she couldn't see it."
Okay, so I gave it 3 stars because eventually it won me over and I kept thinking of Edith Wharton's pathetic heroine, no more intellectual than Esther, and I felt so sorry for these people. And I was caught up in Esther's tragedy just as I had been in the "House of Mirth" . In the end, it seemed very realistic to life as we know it.
I got this book because it was about Orange County, CA. ( where I live), written by an Orange County woman, and the NYT review I read said that it was a modern day version of Edith Wharton's "House of Mirth" (which I love). The story line revolves around Esther, a beautiful girl who has had money all her life and suddenly has none, but is dependent on her rich bitch of a grandmother's whimsical attention. She lives in an oceanside house in Newport Beach,with her grandmother, but she has no money of her own and has to work as a saleslady at a Fashion Island boutique. The only future she can envision for herself is to marry money. So she's dating a creepy guy, Paul, who scratches himself and then studies his fingernails for results. Charlie, a sociology professor at a local community college is in love with Esther and she, probably with him. But she thinks he doesn't have enough money so she has to hold him at bay. Nora, an earth-mother type loves Charlie to pieces, and she is an intelligent, saintly woman who jogs with him, gives him good advice, but repels him because she wears gray sweatpants and doesn't shave her armpits. So far so good.
But the writing is so bad that I thought at first it was a satire. Each of these people is so shallow as to defy reality. And the question becomes: is the author showing us this shallow narration so that we will get in the mood and understand the characters better? Not sure. Do you remember when National Lampoon had a feature called:"From the Slush Pile"where they published the worst segments from unsolicited manuscripts. Well, I thought I was revisiting this column when I read the following passage. As background, Esther has a brother who is a heroin addict (and who doesn't) and he lives on the streets. She locates Eric every month or so and slips him money. This time he is unconscious on a bench with only one shoe and no jacket, covered with scrapes and bruises. So she slips the money inside his pocket, and this is what she thinks: " Although others couldn't see it, she perceived a deep knowledge in Eric that seemed connected to their past, to what he remembered. But he guarded his knowledge fiercely, as if he had some secret awareness of the way the universe worked and would keep it to himself, and when she looked in his dark eyes, she saw a glimmer of his uncertainty and his fear, his vulnerability and sensitivity, and she understood how incredibly fragile he was;she believed that if she ever let on that she knew, even for a moment, or asked him the wrong question, he might quickly unravel." Pullllllllllease!! Eric has already unravelled and he's not open to questions, but if he were, what in the Sam Hill could you ask him that would further unravel.
And here's another zinger: (Esther admiring her friend Brenda for. . .) " She envied Brenda, able to dismiss her husband, to take lovers, and to buy whatever pleased her." Um , in that order, or what? And when she reflects on why she loves Charlie. " But she was impressed. Her preoccupation had to do with the light he shed on her own situation. Once he'd asked her:' Who are you? Who are you really?' And when she hadn't answered, he had told her that she was selling herself short, even if she couldn't see it."
Okay, so I gave it 3 stars because eventually it won me over and I kept thinking of Edith Wharton's pathetic heroine, no more intellectual than Esther, and I felt so sorry for these people. And I was caught up in Esther's tragedy just as I had been in the "House of Mirth" . In the end, it seemed very realistic to life as we know it.
March 8, 2011
I was introduced to Victoria Patterson through her essay in the wonderful collection, Bound to Last. This is her first novel, set in Newport Beach, CA. Esther Wilson is poised on the fault line between privilege and economic distress. Her beauty and the demands of super matriarch Grandma Eileen require a suitable husband if only she can find one that appeals to her at least a little. The trouble is that at 33, time is running out, not to mention that her current suitor fills her with boredom and incipient nausea.
Esther is such an old fashioned name. Newport Beach is truly an enclave of political conservatism and vapid imitative wealthy culture. Grandma Eileen suffers from gout, an addiction to Heinekens and a deep discontent with her offspring. In fact, Esther's father was kicked out of the family home when his sexual preferences became known and while Esther and her brother Eric were raised by their single gay father, she ended up back at Grandma Eileen's after his death. Eric became a homeless junkie. The entire scenario is a meld of modern day dysfunction and the stuffy yet desperate feeling of aristocratic downfall.
Victoria Patterson lived in Newport Beach during her middle school and high school years. Clearly she did not fit in. Her portraits of both the rich and those on the fringe are drawn with a fierce yet humorous satire. When Esther, who must work at a women's clothing boutique in the high end Fashion Island shopping plaza for her spending money, falls in love with Charlie Murphy, things begin to shift. She experiences a sexual, social and even intellectual awakening that endangers her precarious position as an inheritor of Grandma Eileen's fortune. The novel is an intricate picture of Esther's simultaneous economic downward spiral and the uplifting awareness of her selfhood.
If that sounds dreary or heavy, it is. But Patterson's writing is so good, so crystalline and so full of dark humor, that the readers suffers with Esther while having frequent laughs over the grandmother, not to mention the "best friend" Brenda whose plastic surgery, shopping, interior decorating and hours at beauty spas are not enough to hold her fabulously rich husband. Paul, the prospective suitor, tall, pale, nervous and a terrible kisser, is cringe inducing. Charlie, as the lover, a deserter from his successful father's family business, considers himself socially enlightened and attracts female students at the local community college where he teaches. In fact, Charlie has quite a thing for women, though he is especially smitten with Esther. His desires are as self-involved as any Newport Beach denizen. The sex between them is hot, lusty and actually well written.
The aptly titled This Vacant Paradise raises numerous questions concerning wealth, social class, the position of women and the role of family. Are we really as modern and conscious as we think we are? How do the attitudes of families with recently acquired money determine the destinies of their descendants?
The author read and re-read the novels of Edith Wharton and Henry James while writing this novel patterned on The House of Mirth. We are fortunate as readers in the early years of the 21st century, to have new writers possessed of the skill to address the human condition with the depth of literary fiction in addition to the page turning craft found in bestselling thrillers, mysteries and romances. Victoria Patterson revels in these skills. I think she is an author to read now and to watch in the future.
December 16, 2011
Excited to remember our time in SoCal, especially during the midwest winter, but I couldn't finish this book:
- Beginning on page 6, there were graphic descriptions of the female body and sexual acts. It felt pornographic to me. I am shocked the writer is female, she seems devoid of normal feminine sensitivities. It felt like a book that a horny man would write.
- The characters depicted as evil/repressive in this book seem to be rich, republican, religious, racist and "anti-gay". It contained all the judgmental stereotypes that liberals have for conservatives. It was outrageously offensive. Okay, we know what side of the political tree the author got up on. But, there also seems to be a "repressive" conservative societal pressure that main characters struggle against. Umm, has the author been to SoCal???
- The reader is degraded by this book to the state of the author's characters - where money, sex and power are everything. Eat or be eaten. There is no such thing as personal goodness. Drug use and pleasure seeking at-all-costs are common. Life is pointless. I enjoy guilty pleasures about the misbehaving rich, but this book brings the reader to a place of desolation.
I'm also a huge fan of the House of Mirth, but I couldn't appreciate any connections to this story. The author's vulgar sexual and political aggressiveness was too much for me. Hugely disappointed.
- Beginning on page 6, there were graphic descriptions of the female body and sexual acts. It felt pornographic to me. I am shocked the writer is female, she seems devoid of normal feminine sensitivities. It felt like a book that a horny man would write.
- The characters depicted as evil/repressive in this book seem to be rich, republican, religious, racist and "anti-gay". It contained all the judgmental stereotypes that liberals have for conservatives. It was outrageously offensive. Okay, we know what side of the political tree the author got up on. But, there also seems to be a "repressive" conservative societal pressure that main characters struggle against. Umm, has the author been to SoCal???
- The reader is degraded by this book to the state of the author's characters - where money, sex and power are everything. Eat or be eaten. There is no such thing as personal goodness. Drug use and pleasure seeking at-all-costs are common. Life is pointless. I enjoy guilty pleasures about the misbehaving rich, but this book brings the reader to a place of desolation.
I'm also a huge fan of the House of Mirth, but I couldn't appreciate any connections to this story. The author's vulgar sexual and political aggressiveness was too much for me. Hugely disappointed.
March 26, 2011
Stopped after Part One. The reason I started reading this was that it's billed as a retelling of House of Mirth, irresistible to a Wharton fan. Well, not. Patterson has no compassion for her characters. She also likes to use Really Big and/or Obscure Words ,so much so that you notice them.
Sigh. Time to read H of M for the umpteenth time and empathize (whoopsie-Big Word) with Lily Bart's tragic slide.
Sigh. Time to read H of M for the umpteenth time and empathize (whoopsie-Big Word) with Lily Bart's tragic slide.
June 23, 2016
This was supposed to be a 90s Californian House of Mirth. I haven't read HoM in a long time but this didn't ring any bells*. Ultimately it left me cold. Also, it was a little like oh ho ho, look at my super 90s references! Friends! OJ Simpson!
*I later re-read House of Mirth, which I clearly didn't remember very well because at least at the beginning there are a lot of character parallels with This Vacant Paradise. HOWEVER, this is still pretty totally different and not in a good way.
*I later re-read House of Mirth, which I clearly didn't remember very well because at least at the beginning there are a lot of character parallels with This Vacant Paradise. HOWEVER, this is still pretty totally different and not in a good way.
July 19, 2011
Well crafted, contemporization of my favorite, Edith Wharton's House of Mirth, but as with the original.....
MAJOR d
o
w
n
er.
Weird ending.
MAJOR d
o
w
n
er.
Weird ending.
March 11, 2018
This was an update/retelling of Edith Wharton’s House of Mirth, which I read recently (no doubt because I put it on my list way back when I read the review of this book). The echoes of Wharton’s book were really interesting, but in the end it felt more like a literary exercise to me than a novel in itself, and I never believed in Patterson’s Esther the way I believed in Lily Bart. Plus, she lacked some of Lily’s moral core - she actually did some of the things that led to her being talked about while Lily never did. Overall, I just found it a little flat and I most enjoyed the few characters who didn’t have roots in the original.
December 27, 2020
Beautifully written, searing in its heartbreak.
December 31, 2017
I decided to read this book because the description had me believing that the protagonist had an epiphany about her shallow life and decided to break away from it to live out a more meaningful purpose. That's not what happened at all.
While the characters are vivid, realistic, and fleshed out, they don't seem to grow a lot. There is very little character development, which made the whole book feel quite depressing from beginning to end. I do not recommend this book at all.
While the characters are vivid, realistic, and fleshed out, they don't seem to grow a lot. There is very little character development, which made the whole book feel quite depressing from beginning to end. I do not recommend this book at all.
September 6, 2015
Melancholia
Victoria Patterson chose the perfect title for her book about Newport Beach, California, and I chose the title for this review because it was the first word that came to my mind. The Newport Beach I remember is a microcosm of what ails our society, and I moved across the country to get as far away as possible as soon as I could. Yes, I could have lived elsewhere in Orange County, but I would have been surrounded by people whose goal was to own a McMansion in Newport. I am an admitted reverse snob.
Esther, the protagonist, is a thirty-something beautiful woman who lives with her wealthy, cantankerous and mean grandmother Eileen. Whether it was the author's intention or not, I found great irony in the old-fashioned name, Esther. With apologies to all women named Esther, I envisioned an elderly, dowdy woman who favored "old lady" clothes. Women in the Newport I knew were inclined to sport the latest fashions, Botox-paralyzed faces, augmented breasts and streaked blond hair and answer to the names in vogue.
Esther is largely dependent on Granny Eileen, who disowned Esther's father because he is gay. She has a low-paying job in Fashion Island, which in this reader's opinion cannot compete with South Coast Plaza for panache, and supplements her income by stealing and seeking out wealthy suitors. Grandma Eileen has decreed that she marry money. Although practically engaged to a wealthy yet repulsive man. Esther does have standards and breaks off the relationship. Granny and the rest of Esther's dysfunctional family are beside themselves with anger, especially when she reconnects with a teacher at the community college.
Victoria Patterson writes exquisite prose. Her descriptions of the sky over the Pacific, for example, are not only accurate, but stunning. The story made me sad for Esther, who was mocked and mistreated by her family for being poor, despite Granny's ability to help her. I pondered the unexpected ending for a while and finally concluded that it was the only outcome that rang true. If you are having a bad day, I suggest that you read the book when you feel better; you don't want a case of my melancholia!
Victoria Patterson chose the perfect title for her book about Newport Beach, California, and I chose the title for this review because it was the first word that came to my mind. The Newport Beach I remember is a microcosm of what ails our society, and I moved across the country to get as far away as possible as soon as I could. Yes, I could have lived elsewhere in Orange County, but I would have been surrounded by people whose goal was to own a McMansion in Newport. I am an admitted reverse snob.
Esther, the protagonist, is a thirty-something beautiful woman who lives with her wealthy, cantankerous and mean grandmother Eileen. Whether it was the author's intention or not, I found great irony in the old-fashioned name, Esther. With apologies to all women named Esther, I envisioned an elderly, dowdy woman who favored "old lady" clothes. Women in the Newport I knew were inclined to sport the latest fashions, Botox-paralyzed faces, augmented breasts and streaked blond hair and answer to the names in vogue.
Esther is largely dependent on Granny Eileen, who disowned Esther's father because he is gay. She has a low-paying job in Fashion Island, which in this reader's opinion cannot compete with South Coast Plaza for panache, and supplements her income by stealing and seeking out wealthy suitors. Grandma Eileen has decreed that she marry money. Although practically engaged to a wealthy yet repulsive man. Esther does have standards and breaks off the relationship. Granny and the rest of Esther's dysfunctional family are beside themselves with anger, especially when she reconnects with a teacher at the community college.
Victoria Patterson writes exquisite prose. Her descriptions of the sky over the Pacific, for example, are not only accurate, but stunning. The story made me sad for Esther, who was mocked and mistreated by her family for being poor, despite Granny's ability to help her. I pondered the unexpected ending for a while and finally concluded that it was the only outcome that rang true. If you are having a bad day, I suggest that you read the book when you feel better; you don't want a case of my melancholia!
March 29, 2011
*This book pales in comparison to Wharton’s House of Mirth, although I give the author credit for an interesting idea. Unfortunately there is not one likeable (or even sympathetic) character, the sex scenes are tedious (this is an actual quote: “ ‘Oh, he said, ‘oh, oh.’ ‘Oh,’ she responded, ‘oh, oh, oh’” (166)), and the minutiae overwhelming. We simply do not need descriptions of every mouthful of food, every sip of whatever, and every mouth wipe with a napkin.
“But he could feel his ego pawing at the idea anyway” (217).
“He took the knowledge all the way in, without guilt, like a gust of godlike fresh air in the midst of a polluted shit pile” (290).
“She appreciated Fred’s well-intentioned advice. (‘Assholes will always be assholes, no matter what you tell them. They were assholes before you were arrested, and they’ll be assholes after, but now it’s easier to tell the difference.’)” (296).
“She used to believe that she was owed, that life shouldn’t be so difficult, and that she should get credit, since she’d been through so much. But she no longer kept score” (299-300).
“But he could feel his ego pawing at the idea anyway” (217).
“He took the knowledge all the way in, without guilt, like a gust of godlike fresh air in the midst of a polluted shit pile” (290).
“She appreciated Fred’s well-intentioned advice. (‘Assholes will always be assholes, no matter what you tell them. They were assholes before you were arrested, and they’ll be assholes after, but now it’s easier to tell the difference.’)” (296).
“She used to believe that she was owed, that life shouldn’t be so difficult, and that she should get credit, since she’d been through so much. But she no longer kept score” (299-300).
April 30, 2011
I kept reading because I love the idea of reading an author's re-imagining of another book I've loved. In this case it was Wharton's "House of Mirth." The setting is Los Angeles, the general moral compass is "vacant" and the characters, except perhaps for Rick and Nora, are lost. Rick takes care of the main character, Esther's demented, aging, alcoholic grandmother. He does so with unbelievable tenderness. My mother would have loved him in her last years. But even the occasionally lovely sentence and the fact that I was reading a modern version of Wharton's classic. The character's lives are sad and lonely. They're empty. And, although I am sure women like Esther exist, I don't know, or particularly want to know them. Charlie, Esther's great love, is so completely disappointing as a person. Nothing ends happily. Sounds like Wharton, doesn't i. But her gorgeous sentences make the journey through a vacant paradise bearable and far more worthwhile.
June 2, 2011
I had a slow start with this book and put it down, but when I picked it back up, I got hooked right away. I think it is a thoughtfully written novel, humorous at times and heart-wrenching at others. Its depictions of Orange County life can seem over the top, but simultaneously I thought the author did an excellent job at capturing aspects of inner life and family dynamics. It is unusual to find a contemporary novel that makes a theme of shame and deals so well its effects among the characters and in the inner life. The degree to which I care about a character is always a sign of a book that I will like a lot. As I read the end, I had the wish that the author would pick up Esther's story again.
May 30, 2021
This book was indescribably awful, and the only reason I didn't give it zero stars is that it was somewhat intriguing to figure out which characters in this book corresponded to the real ones from House of Mirth. The NYTimes gave it a halfway decent review and House of Mirth is my favorite book ever so I figured I'd give it a try. The writing is atrocious and the plot implausibly simplistic, with the addition of totally gratuitous backstory that contributes nothing to character development or theme. And the end? INFURIATING!! But for the sake of some individuals who still might want to read this book I will not say why.
June 17, 2012
I really enjoyed this book, though it is not a "fun" book. It's a tragedy. I can attest that there are real-life Esthers out there. For them the ending often is tragic.
In my experience, as hard as it is for people who have never had wealth, and yearn to get it; I think it is much harder for folks who had it in youth, lost it, and yearn to get it back.
Esther was tragic, more so because she was unable to live in the moment and accept life for what it was, and so life slipped through her fingers. As sad as the ending was, it could have been worse for Esther.
I thought the book had a wonderful human character, human failings and all.
~Steve
In my experience, as hard as it is for people who have never had wealth, and yearn to get it; I think it is much harder for folks who had it in youth, lost it, and yearn to get it back.
Esther was tragic, more so because she was unable to live in the moment and accept life for what it was, and so life slipped through her fingers. As sad as the ending was, it could have been worse for Esther.
I thought the book had a wonderful human character, human failings and all.
~Steve
June 15, 2011
This came highly recommended but I found it a pretty dull slog until the last thirty pages. That's when the characters seem to show promise and life. And then it was over.
I loved the description of Fashion Island, but Newport Beach is so ripe for skewering, and having spent way too much time around there during the midnineties, I felt the author could have done so much more with the setting, the flash-and-crash crowd. So I guess I had expectations.
In sum: I thought it was a little more Theodore Dreiser than Edith Warton
I loved the description of Fashion Island, but Newport Beach is so ripe for skewering, and having spent way too much time around there during the midnineties, I felt the author could have done so much more with the setting, the flash-and-crash crowd. So I guess I had expectations.
In sum: I thought it was a little more Theodore Dreiser than Edith Warton
February 6, 2012
I read Patterson's collection of interconnected short stories, Drift, last year and liked it quite a bit better than this, her first novel. Same setting and themes: people at the far lower end of the middle class, or just barely hanging on to that lower rung, trying to get by in the keeping-up-with-the-Jones world of glitzy Newport Beach. Vacant Paradise was an adequate read, but the stories were more skillfully rendered.
July 4, 2011
I'd recommend this book for a woman in her early twenties or an undergrad. The protagonist's main concern is figuring what she wants from life after realizing she's always done what is expected. While the writing is good and the characters true life, I couldn't get past page 200 because the subject matter didn't intrigue me at this point in my life. For Edith Wharton fans, this is a modern day House of Mirth.
December 23, 2016
This is the second time I picked up this book and attempted to read it. Got further this time because I was held captive in a dentist waiting room for over an hour and there was nothing else to do, so I made it about halfway.
This book was full of losers, posers and parasites. I'm not sure any of them actually redeemed themselves or became thankful for what they have, because by that point, I didn't care.
This book was full of losers, posers and parasites. I'm not sure any of them actually redeemed themselves or became thankful for what they have, because by that point, I didn't care.
June 17, 2011
Patterson makes a convincing case that 1990s Newport Beach might as well be the setting for a turn-of-the last-century novel because concerns for class lead its characters into the same plot lines as those in Edith Wharton's House of Mirth. All the fun is in the set-up--the second half seems more forced.
Want to Read
May 1, 2011Awesome! House of Mirth retold in modern day Newport Beach? Can it end more happily? I hope so.
Saw her read, very close adaptation of the original with thoughtful updates and an equally compelling heroine. It was the GoodReads pick of the night, and I'm impressed with those of you who picked it.
Saw her read, very close adaptation of the original with thoughtful updates and an equally compelling heroine. It was the GoodReads pick of the night, and I'm impressed with those of you who picked it.
September 1, 2012
Well, it was nice to read a chic lit book with some depth exploring social class between the rich and the poor (had some memorable quotes about such) but, I found the book very disjointed at times and at times hard to follow. I enjoyed that the ending was tied up in a pretty little bow because that isn't real life but not the most enjoyable book I have read, would probably not recommend.
November 9, 2014
I love this wise, elegant, gritty contemporary reiteration of Edith Wharton's House of Mirth. The latter is one of my all time favorites, in part because of its handling of wealth and penury, money and sexuality,the constant exchange of different types of currency. Victoria Patterson nails that, too, and reading her novel with the other in mind (and heart) is riveting.
interesting-possibilities
February 20, 2011Description sounded interesting: "Victoria Patterson shines a keen and often wickedly humorous light on our very American obsessions with class, race, age, and the roles of men and women in our strive toward upward mobility."
May 22, 2011
The arc of this story is nicely conceived. I enjoyed not knowing where the story was going. The distasteful characters, however, were distracting, and I nearly quit reading, so I easily could have missed seeing the well crafted arc.
November 2, 2014
Didn't finish this one.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews