Overall, what did you think of Lies and Weddings? (no spoilers, please!)
The precise use of compound-complex sentences with a superior use of commas and semicolons is bliss for an old English teacher. A writer once said that the proper use of the subjunctive is the mark of an educated soul. Mr Kwan is very Educated.
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I always use Oxford commas. 
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Lies and Weddings was an entertaining and easy read filled with ample amounts of family drama, conspicuous consumption, and cultural satire. Oh, and a twist or two that kept the story interesting. Enjoyed the book enough that I would recommend it to someone looking for a beach read.
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Kevin Kwan is always entertaining, and Lies and Weddings did not disappoint! He is a perfect antidote after reading something heavy, sad and depressing.
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What a ride! The novel was entertaining and kept you turning the pages with its family drama and a peek into lives of excess. Loved it!
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I’m a sucker for anything Jane Austen-adjacent and this was precisely that. I bookmarked all the quotes in Lies and Weddings that rang familiar in terms of Austenesque tone and theme. I have a LOT of bookmarks. I mean, the title itself is Austen-y.
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@Ann_Beman, I’m so glad you brought that up! I noted a bunch of parallels w/ Austin’s novels, too, although I admit I didn’t pick up on the title until your post.
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In a phrase, this was the ultimate beach book.
For fun, I asked ChatGPT to a create a comparison chart illustrating the parallels between Kevin Kwan’s Lies and Weddings and Jane Austen’s novels.
| Theme / Element | Jane Austen (e.g., Pride and Prejudice) | Kevin Kwan (Lies and Weddings) |
|---|---|---|
| Marriage as Economic Strategy | “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” | Rufus is pressured to marry rich to save the Gresham estate. Marriage is a business transaction cloaked in glamour. |
| Satire of Social Elites | Gentle irony aimed at the gentry’s snobbery and rituals. | Lavish, over-the-top satire of global billionaires, aristocrats, and social climbers. |
| Family Pressure | Mrs. Bennet’s obsession with marrying off daughters to secure fortunes. | Lady Arabella pushes Rufus toward a financially strategic match with a rich heiress. |
| Heroines with Agency | Elizabeth Bennet: witty, independent, resists societal pressure. | Eden Tong: Harvard-educated, wealthy, and resists being used as a marriage pawn. |
| Inheritance Woes | Longbourn estate is entailed away from the Bennet daughters. | Greshambury Hall is crumbling; Rufus must marry money to preserve his family’s legacy. |
| Romantic Misunderstandings | Darcy’s proposal is rejected due to misunderstanding and pride. | Rufus is caught in romantic entanglements, with love clashing against family expectations and deception. |
| Social Climbing / Class Tension | Characters like Mr. Collins and Mr. Elton show the desperation to rise socially. | Nouveau riche figures seek aristocratic validation; characters flaunt wealth and status as power plays. |
| Setting as Symbol | Austen’s country estates reflect stability or decay of class. | Lavish settings—Greshambury, international resorts, elite schools—symbolize both privilege and pressure. |
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It was a fun read. A contrived ending, but still enjoyable.
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@Ann_Beman wow! That’s really impressive. I’ve dabbled w/ ChatGPT, but that’s really using the tool to find useful information. Nicely done!
Yup - lots of parallels between the two. I’m glad it wasn’t just my imagination.
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I was surprised how much I enjoyed it, especially considering that it was pretty predictable. It was so much fun, though!
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After having just read Daughters of Shandong, this was a welcomed change! I thoroughly enjoyed the book! I found the over-the-top opulence humorous. I thought there was a night dose of mystery, drama, social commentary, and heartbreak. It was like a modern day Cinderella story on steroids!
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This book was a new take on “Rich and Famous”. I enjoyed reading the book and finding out chapter by chapter the next moves that would be made in terms of regaining wealth and various proposed marriages.
The story features a group of wealthy and royal family/friends who are simply running out of money. I must admit that I went into this book wanting to love this book, however, that love never came to light. There were a few moments that I enjoyed and kept the story moving but my high hopes were soon squashed.
Rufus Gresham is a future viscount whose father has let his mother over spend and deplete the family trust. His mother has a plan to have all of her children marry into money to help the family to recover, but nothing goes as planned. The book follows the entire family as they scheme, participate in outrageous antics, and flaunt their wealth or lack of it around the world. The plot was very predictable and frustrated me for the whole of the book. Kwan spent too much time on status, branding and exotic locations. I must admit that I did not become attached to any of the characters, in fact many of them were obnoxious, very entitled and so out of touch with reality.
I am a sucker for rich people drama, but for some reason this did not hit for me. I think it was possibly because they were too over the top rich, almost comically so. That and the footnotes drove me crazy. I kept missing the asterix and then I had to go back and find it to see what the footnote was refences. But, I think it was a fun story and a nice light read.
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I really didn’t like this book about the entitlement and bad behavior of the uber-rich. It just left me with a bad taste, probably because of current events. I found it superficial and ridiculous and although I realize Kwan is satirizing these people, it struck the wrong note for me at this time. Eden is too good to be true and Rufus is too naive to be believed. Arabella cares only for money and status and not about the happiness of her children.