Summary
Susan Branch, a perpetual drifter of the social elite, subsists on the generosity of affluent acquaintances who furnish her with couture and fleeting pleasures. Her heart, however, is tethered to the beleaguered novelist Nick Lansing, whose prose teeters on the brink of obscurity. The trio’s equilibrium destabilises when Ursula Gillow, Susan’s most powerful benefactor, sets her sights on Nick, and Ellie Vanderlyn, a calculating matriarch, persuades Susan to wed the writer for a contrived year of happiness. The nuptial ceremony, lavish yet hollow, is swiftly undone as the couple squanders the extravagant gifts, plunging them into a vortex of debt and desperation. Their marriage unravels amidst the Vanderlyns’ domestic intrigues, while Ursula’s relentless pursuit intensifies, turning affection into possession. A tenacious attorney, overseeing the Lansings’ impending divorce, orchestrates a reluctant reconciliation, prompting Nick to finally sell his manuscript and secure a fragile redemption. The narrative weaves themes of patronage, performative love, and the commodification of art, set against a backdrop of opulent decadence and moral ambiguity.
Synopsis
Although Susan Branch is herself without finances, she has many wealthy friends who supply her with clothes and gay times. She is in love with struggling author Nick Lansing, who also attracts the interests of Susan's chief patron, Ursula Gillow, and is persuaded by Ellie Vanderlyn to marry him for at least a year's happiness. Their marriage falls apart when their wedding gifts are spent; they become involved with the Vanderlyns' domestic affairs; and Ursula decides she wants Nick for herself. However, the lawyer handling the Lansings' divorce proceedings brings them back together, and Nick sells his novel.
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