The Ex-Mrs. Hedgefund

"A cheeky tale for recession-era romantics," (More) from a bestselling author

The year is 2006 and Holly Talbott is married to the founder of Comer Capital at the apex of excess on Wall street. Sure, Holly loves being a stay-at-home mom and keeping house accounts at all the best places, but there are some downsides to being Mrs. Hedgefund. Even botox can't beautify her mother­in-law's withering stares, and her husband, Tim, is away so often it feels like she's single again. So when it turns out that not all of Tim's trips have been for business, the newly minted divorcée ventures beyond the Upper East Side and finds that sometimes exes have all the fun.

Impeccably rendered with wit and style, The Ex-Mrs. Hedgefund is an old-fashioned love story and a celebration of New York-in any economy.

In The Right Address, Jill Kargman went behind the doors of New York's most prestigious building. In Wolves in Chic Clothing, the junior jet set took center stage. In Momzillas, it was hyper-competitive Upper East Side mothers. And now, in The Ex- Mrs. Hedgefund, Kargman creates a hilarious, deliciously scathing send-up of the ultra-rich, ultra-ambitious hedge fund set.

Seemingly sheltered from the threats of economic collapse and the risk of downsizing from new Roger Viviers to consignment Manolos, the Hedge Fund men and their wives occupy a world of boundless excess and secluded luxury, a step above the already outrageous wealth of the Upper East Side.

Married to the founder of Comet Capital, Holly Talbott is slowing becoming a reluctant Mrs. Hedgefund. Sure, it's great to be a stay-at-home mom to her son Miles and to have a rolodex of eager donors when she is fundraising for the local hospital. But, the lunches are called luncheons because they take eons, even botox can't stop her mother-in-law's withering stares, and her husband, Tim, is away so often it feels like she's single again.

When an adventure in trendy Williamsburg leads to a shocking discovery, Holly soon learns that not all of Tim's trips have been for business. Forced to choose between living honestly and being a Mrs. Hedgefund, Holly begins to navigate a new New York existence and finds that sometimes exes have all the fun, and in the most unexpected places...

Publishers Weekly

In the gilded age of a few months ago, hedge fund managers were "the kings of ka-ching." Of course, now they're not, and there's a sparky frisson to Momzilla author Kargman's lively chronicle of a queen of ka-ching who ditches her hedge fund manager hubby. Hedge-fund wife Holly Talbott, 34, has forgone Botox and boob jobs and considers herself "more J. Crew than J. Mendel." She also thinks she has a happy marriage despite her ferocious mother-in-law and the cattiness of keeping up with the yummy mummies of her son's schoolmates. But once she and best friend Kiki discover her husband's cheating ways, the knives come out: among other things, the tough pre-nup makes divorcing the ultra-rich hedgie trickier than she expects. Dating isn't much easier, but readers will know to hold out for the glowing happy ever after. Effervescent Holly's romp through wealthy Manhattan is a gleeful little bonbon. (Apr.)

JILL KARGMAN is the author of Momzillas and the coauthor of Wolves in Chic Clothing and The Right Address, which were both New York Times and BookSense bestsellers. She has written for Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Interview, Town & Country, British GQ, Elle, Teen Vogue and Travel & Leisure. She grew up on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.