Snobs

The good thing about working in the book store is that when the internet is down and you've done all the non-internet stuff, there's no chance of you getting bored cause you're surrounded by books. Such was my day today. I came across the book "Snobs" while I was updating our website. Read the synopsis, thought it would be a good enough read. "Snobs" in a nutshell is a story of a British commoner marrying into royalty. Well not the prince/princess sort but the milord/milady sort nonetheless. The last time I read anything about British Society was during high school when I was hopelessly smitten about Judith McNaught's romance novels and I wondered how a contemporary novel about British Society would be like.

I was not disappointed. "Snobs" tells the story of Edith who by means of careful planning and forward thinking was able to snag a very eligible bachelor, the Marquess of Uckfield, Charles Broughton. The story is told by an observer but an essential character, Edith's friend, a commoner who by his honest charm was accepted by the various Lords and Ladies into their tight circle.

As things have a way of turning, Edith, dreadfully bored of her boring English lord decided it was time to take on a lover which she eventually did much to the chagrin of her mother-in-law, the delight of the media and the embarassment of those people who grudgingly accepted her as one of their own.

"Snobs" is full of secret codes and secret modes of behavior when moving around this elite circle. It dissects how families of royal lineage conduct themselves in public, in private and when they are ensconced in private clubs rubbing elbows with people they have known since birth who share the same lot as theirs. It is amusing to read about a seemingly alternate universe. We don't have entire families made up of lords and ladies, there are no country homes that are open for public viewing, no Ascot races to attend, no cocktail parties to give which can extend to dinner for some guests and straight home for others depending on how close they are to the host and hostess. Very confusing I must say. It's all very colorful in a weird way. We so like to look at things, people and places that are so far from our own reality.

But in the end, "Snobs" offers no revelation to the reader. It has no high point, no malevolent twist, no redeeming end and does not impart any nuggets of wisdom. It is merely a story about a common girl who thought herself high enough to be able to be one of "them." Momentum was the only thing that made me read this book from start to finish. From Judith McNaught to Julian Fellowes...the steamy romance may have changed to staid relationships -- other than that, it seems not a lot has changed.