An Absolute Scandal

Oh Penny how said I am that you are no longer with us and you will never write another book. If you want a juicy novel that will keep you reading grab a Penny Vincenzi book and have fun. Keep the handy list of characters in the front of each book at the ready so you can reference who is who. Always full of drama, tears, champagne and laughter...Penny is my go to for elevated fluff.

Penny Vincenzi is consistently a good writer and this book meets that criteria. I have read many of her novels but I find I have tired of reading her recently as they have become more predictable and for lack of a better word- mundane.

Penny's books are always great, this one lives up to what you would expect from her. A very entertaining read, great characters. Can be read again many times.

This novel is a big one both physically and in subject matter. It concerns the financial scandal of Lloyd's of London and the personal scandals that arise in its wake among the Names involved. It is clear that the author has done much research on the situation that occurred and was well informed of the facts. It is hard to believe that the arrangement that led the characters into so much trouble actually existed in real life! There is a wide cast of characters that at first seems overwhelming and hard to keep them all straight. Halfway through the novel I was familiar and involved with all of them since each one is written thoughtfully and has their own shortcomings and good points. They were very believable and I felt for most of their situations. The only reason I didn't give five stars is that I felt some of their stories could have been gone into in less depth, such as Lucinda and Blue, but of course that is my own personal taste and that story may be other people's favorite in the book. This was my first Penny Vincenzi book and I intend to read more of her work! I loved this book and am a little sad it's over.

I am a great fan of Penny Vincenzi's work. Her novels take place in England, and I enjoy her British characters. Her plots are interesting, thus making her novels something I look forward to, and read with mucho gusto! I recommend any book by this author.

Bear with me for a moment, for a history refresher course for those who don't remember (or weren't acutely aware of) the scandal that hit famous British insurance agents Lloyd's of London back in the late 1980s. Lloyd's insurance policies (perhaps most famous to Americans for insuring unusual items such as Celine Dion's vocal cords and Tina Turner's legs) are underwritten primarily by a society of individual members (known as "Names"), who pool their sizable investments in the company, ideally to spread the risk and limit individual liability in the case of large claims. For many, many years, being a Name at Lloyd's was considered akin to a risk-free investment, as members received sizeable annual returns on their considerable investments. In the late 1980s, however, primarily as a result of larger-than-expected claims from American workers stricken with asbestosis, Lloyd's Names were suddenly assessed huge amounts of money, to the extent that thousands of these formerly wealthy individuals declared bankruptcy. Okay, enough with the history lesson. Fortunately, Penny Vincenzi's latest novel, which is set amidst a circle of Lloyd's Names during this crisis, is remarkably engrossing despite its fairly dry and complicated subject matter. Or, perhaps, not so remarkably, as readers familiar with Vincenzi's previous books have come to expect epic page-turners from this prolific British author. AN ABSOLUTE SCANDAL, likewise, will keep her audience gripped in the lives and loves of this small group of privileged but unfortunate investors. There are the Beaumonts, Simon and Elizabeth, a well-off family with three children, from all appearances living the ideal British upper-class lifestyle, complete with private schools, a house in the country (complete with pony) and two fabulously successful careers. When Lloyd's starts to demand money, however, this financial pressure reveals some of the other cracks in the Beaumonts' façade, including Simon's infidelity and oldest daughter Annabel's misbehavior (and embarrassing career ambitions). There are the Cowpers, Lucinda and Nigel, a young, attractive upper-class couple. Nigel is a bit stuffy and boring --- and a Name at Lloyd's. Lucinda is dissatisfied, bored --- and too eager to fall into the arms of a devastatingly handsome, exciting stranger. She longs to leave her husband, but Nigel's (morally and legally suspect) decision to transfer all of his financial holdings to Lucinda in the wake of the Lloyd's scandal threatens to tie Lucinda's hands --- for a while. And there are the Fieldings, Debbie and Richard. Debbie is a bored housewife, resentful of her husband's wealthy mother, Flora, who has used her returns from Lloyd's to pay the private school tuition of Debbie and Richard's two children. As for Richard, he's a successful headmaster --- but when Flora's checks stop coming, he can't keep the family in the style to which they've become accustomed. Could the Lloyd's scandal be Debbie's chance to reign