Gilding Lily by Tatiana Boncompagni: Snob Worthy Read

I am mad at Tatiana Boncompagni;

why you ask? Because she kept me up on the long flight to London!  It was my first real vacation with the entire

family in years and I was excited to board British Airways to relax in their

new and much hyped pod/cubicles.

After settling in and allowing the flight attendant to make my bed (twin cot

sized) with a down comforter, feather pillows, and Frette sheets; I curled up

with a glass of bubbly and a copy of “Gilding Lily“. My plan

was to read a chapter or two and then get some much needed shut eye but from

the very first page, I was drawn into Lily’s world and could not extract myself

away from it. 7 hours later, I reluctantly put the book down after reading the

very last page. By then, we were almost in London and our flight attendants had

started dismantling beds so passengers could have breakfast. How

could we be landing in 45 minutes??? I still needed to sleep! I also had to hop

on a connecting flight to Paris upon landing not to mention I could hear my

three year old wailing for me at the top of his lungs from the cabin behind us

as he woke up. Seriously, don’t you agree that is a valid reason to be mad at

Tatiana?

But she is a dear sweet friend so I forgave her and agreed

to host her book launch parties in Los Angeles and Dallas.  I mean it’s

not her fault she writes like a modern day Edith Wharton and has an endearing

self-deprecating sense of humor…. or is it?  All kidding aside,

Tatiana is truly one of the most thoughtful writers of our time. 

Throughout the book I kept thinking how easy “Gilding Lily” was to

read but also how well it was written (not the norm for this genre of

books!).  Instead of being a socialite pretending to be a writer, Tatiana

is a writer who stumbled upon socialite life when she married her gorgeous husband, Maximillian Hoover. 

“Gilding Lily“, Tatiana’s first novel, is an expertly spun tale of life in New York high

society from the viewpoint of an outsider.  Like her heroine, Lily

Bartholomew, the Georgetown graduate has written for Wall Street Journal,

Vogue, and is currently a contributor to the New York Times Sunday Style

section.  Among other things, Lily also shared Tatiana’s self doubts after

giving birth and both fell into the trappings of fame and glory of being

the “it” girl, if only for a moment.  But that’s where the

similarities end.  I gleefully devoured each word of this book

and of course played the guessing game to figure out what high profile

socialite inspired each character.  You will have to read this deliciously

fun novel to figure it out yourself.  Grab a copy quickly; I know you

won’t be able to put it down.  Just make sure you have at least seven

hours to spare.  Buy Gilding Lily here at Amazon.com.

Gilding Lily‘s New York launch party was sponsored by Vogue at the Tahari boutique in SoHo- and hosted by Emmy Rossum, Tinsley Mortimer, and Christian Leone.  I was in attendance at the fully packed venue and was not surprised to see the number of A-listers who clamored in line for Tatiana to sign their books. 
 

From Left: Amanda Ross, Emmy Rossum, Tinsley Mortimer, Hollywould, and Tina Craig

The following morning, Tatiana and I jetted to LA where I hosted her book signing party at DVF boutique on Melrose.  Once again, fashionistas flocked to meet Tatiana– Darren Star even made an appearance!  Check out photos from the DVF party in LA at Patrick McMullen.com

Tatiana Boncompagni and Tina Craig, both in DVF dresses.  We’re so colorful in our matching little dresses!!!  How gorgeous is she?  It’s almost unfair for Tatiana to be so talented and beautiful!