Friday 16 October 2015

The Gilded Life of Matilda Duplaine by Alex Brunkhorst

Paperback
Published October 8th 2015 by MIRA (first published August 25th 2015)
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb: "Family secrets. Forbidden love. And the true price of wealth.

Thomas is a small-town boy and when Lily invites him to a dinner party, he gains access to the exclusive upper echelons of Hollywood society. As he enters a world of private jets and sprawling mansions, his life and career take off beyond his wildest dreams.

Then he meets Matilda Duplaine.

Beautiful and mysterious, Matilda has spent her entire life within the walls of her powerful father’s Bel-Air estate and Thomas is immediately entranced by her. But what starts as an enchanted romance soon threatens to destroy their lives and the lives of everyone around them."

This is a really well written novel. There are beautiful descriptions which really brings the characters and their setting to life. It really reminded me of The Great Gatsby both in style and content. This is a great depiction of the upper echelons of socialite society with all of its wealth and superficiality. As Thomas enters their world, more and more cracks appear in the perfect facade of their lives.

Matilda's character and life are very mysterious and the story develops great tension as you read on engrossed to find out their family secrets. Who is she and why she never been allowed to leave the luxurious estate in Bel Air? Thomas is just as intrigued and as a journalist he can't help but dig into the past which causes trouble not just for himself.

The characters are really well developed and you can understand all of their motivations, although it does amaze me the lengths some people will go to for wealth and power.

I particularly loved the character of Lily Goldman, she was really intriguing and mysterious. I liked Matilda's character to begin with as she was quite innocent having grown up away from the outside world with only old Hollywood movies to keep her company. However, as the story progressed I found it hard to like her at times.

I did feel that there were perhaps slightly too many twists in Matilda and Thomas's relationship but they did work well and I liked the way the book ended.

This was a great read that really draws you into the world of those with more money than sense. I would give this book 8 out of 10.

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