Closing Costs
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3.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
"Fans of Tom Wolfe and Jonathan Franzen will revel" in this tale of New York real estate and its outrageous fortunes (Booklist).
When Peggy Gimmel decides to sell the apartment she bought decades ago for a few thousand dollars, she's thrilled to discover it's worth almost two million. But her sudden windfall triggers a cascade of unexpected events, and plunges her into the orbit of Lucinda Wells—one of Manhattan's most successful, and ruthless, real-estate agents.
Peggy's not the only one at Lucinda's mercy. There's also the technology entrepreneur struggling to salvage his sinking company while gut-renovating his home; the socialite exiled from Park Avenue to the pullout sofa of her parents' West Side apartment; the illegal immigrant amassing a fortune printing money; and the clueless widow trying to unload a world-class collection of fake artwork. These are just some of the characters whose lives intersect in unlikely ways, all of them nearly overwhelmed by the rocketing real-estate market and the hard-charging broker who holds the key to their future.
"A fun-to-read, engaging look at how the other half lives, buys, and sells." —Minneapolis Star-Tribune
"Completely entertaining, wickedly funny and observant . . . Think Bonfire of the Vanities for real estate." —The Tampa Tribune
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The white-hot Manhattan real estate market forms the backdrop for Margolis's fifth novel, a pithy but slow-moving ensemble character study that weaves together the tales of several Manhattan couples trying to survive on the housing bubble's uncertain edge. The novel opens with Lucinda Wells, a gorgeous, high-power real estate maven, orchestrating the buying and selling of upscale apartments. Her most intriguing clients are the Granthams, who have to sell their digs after the Feds arrest Barnett Grantham for allegedly embezzling millions from his employer. He soon flees the country, leaving his wife, Lily (and the G-men) to track him down. Unfortunately, the other story lines are less lively; in a far more ordinary subplot, the upwardly mobile Guy and Rosemary Pearson see their future (and apartment financing) wither when Pearson's software company stock tanks and he becomes the victim of a corporate ouster. The well-drawn characters complement Margolis's wry observations on Manhattan life and the ups and downs of marriage and career, and though the real estate angle may fail to pique those living west of the Hudson, it will certainly resonate with New Yorkers.
