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Jump to navigationJump to searchSeating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead (view source)
Revision as of 15:31, 10 May 2012
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|date=May 2012
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>000742521X</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>000742521XB006I1CHFG</amazonus>
|website=
|video=
|summary=Exposing the pretentiousness of the New England elite, this character-driven story of the run up to a wedding is an entertaining read. Just be grateful you don't have to sit next to any of this lot.
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Weddings are always a potential source for intrigue and drama. In Maggie Shipstead's debut novel, ''Seating Arrangements'', there's plenty of that going on. Set in a New England island called Waskeke, Winn Van Meter's eldest daughter, Daphne, who is already heavily pregnant is about to marry Greyson Duff. The problems start when Daphne's retinue of bridesmaids, who include her sister, Livia , who has had her heart broken by her first love to the son of Winns Winn's social arch rival, and the flirtatious Agatha mix with Greyson's brothers. Add in the fact that Winn has always had a yearning for Agatha and things get decidedly messy.
It is often suggested that one of the differences between the US and the UK is that there is far less of a class structure in the USA. However, the New England set of 'old money' and social climbing make the Home Counties seem like North Korea by comparison. Winn's devotion is more towards which social clubs he can enroll in and which golf courses he is a member of than he is to his family. To a large extent, Shipstead is sending this value system up. There's little of the glamour of the Gatsby era left here and what's left is a world of keeping up with the Joneses. Although in New England there would probably be a better family name to it. Certainly there's hardly a normal first name amongst this set. We get a Mopsy, a Biddy, a Maude and even an Oatsie. You don't get a lot of Oatsies on this side of the pond.
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