In this Pygmalion tale of a novelist turned bond trader, Martha McPhee brings to life the greed and riotous wealth of New York during the heady days of the second gilded age.
India Palmer, living the cash-strapped existence of a novelist, is visiting wealthy friends in Maine when a yellow biplane swoops down from the clear blue sky to bring a stranger into her life, one who will change everything. The stranger is Win Johns, a swaggering and intellectually bored trader of mortgage-backed securities. Charmed by India’s intelligence, humor, and inquisitive nature, and aware of her near-desperate financial situation, Johns poses a proposition: “Give me eighteen months and I’ll make you a world-class bond trader.” Shedding her artist’s life with surprising ease, India embarks on a raucous ride to the top of the income chain, leveraging herself with crumbling real estate, and she never once looks back—or does she?
With a light-handed irony that is by turns as measured as Claire Messud’s and as biting as Tom Wolfe’s, Martha McPhee tells the classic American story of people reinventing themselves, unaware of the price they must pay for their transformation.
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"Based simply on the title, I wondered if I'd made it past page 3, but I truly liked this book. It's quite well written, and the main character grapples with an internal struggle that a lot of professional women face. " — Lynne (4 out of 5 stars)
"Based simply on the title, I wondered if I'd made it past page 3, but I truly liked this book. It's quite well written, and the main character grapples with an internal struggle that a lot of professional women face. "
“I can’t remember the last time I couldn’t put a book down. I read Dear Money in cars, in waiting rooms, even at a rest stop on the turnpike. I read whole passages out loud to my husband. Martha McPhee is a wickedly good social observer, a writer of beautiful, lyrical prose, and a consummate storyteller. This is a very smart novel that unpacks small surprises and pleasures on every single page.”
“Martha McPhee writes with verve and uncanny insight about those recent, heady dreams of easy wealth. This New York Pygmalian story takes us beyond what we thought we knew about money and art and all their precarious alliances, in an adventure that recreates the city’s temptations, both material and idealistic. Dear Money is conceived with such cutting precision and grace, it will make readers think of a contemporary Edith Wharton, but there’s a dark mischief here too, shades of Andy Warhol. Full of beautiful, unflinching sentences, this is an uncompromising, brave, brilliant story.”
“Wouldn’t be so funny if it didn't ring so true…India continues to engage the reader’s empathy, even affection, as she forsakes literary high-mindedness for filthy lucre.”
“Martha McPhee’s fourth novel wouldn’t be so funny if it didn't ring so true…McPhee has a lot of fun with a couple of archetypes—a Pygmalion transformation of the novelist into a financial high roller and a ‘city mouse/country mouse’ exchange of ambitions—but what makes this novel work so well is that India continues to engage the reader’s empathy, even affection, as she forsakes literary high-mindedness for filthy lucre.”
“Although no one can profess to comprehend the complexities of the current economic quagmire, McPhee dishes its jargon with all the aplomb of someone who TiVos CNBC. Delivering virulent social satire with a velvet, humanitarian touch, McPhee’s timely send-up deftly parodies the fallout from misplaced priorities.”
“McPhee plays with the notion of ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ in an entertaining and ironic way.”
" Interesting idea that one can just completely and totally change the direction of one's life. I liked it and I didn't like it. The writing was fine, I am not sure I bought the story/plot completely. The struggle of moving from idealistic beliefs to pragmatic choices as you age will certainly resonate with many. "
" I had a hard time even getting through this. Too much financial jargon, and not enough story. "
" Of all the novels I've read this year about the money crisis, this is the only one that has made it even faintly comprehensible to me. And it's beautifully written. "
" The writing was confusing. If the author was trying to convince me that she could handle being a bond trader then all is lost. The topic was way out of her league. "
" A great parable about our times. Very clever and incisive. Would definitely recommend it. Friends who live in NYC would probably be especially struck by the world that the author describes. "
" This was an allright book, worth finishing, though it seemed to just end abruptly. I was hoping for some more resolution to some characters. "
" Beautifully written, although it was hard to feel much sympathy for a protagonist who just gets greedier and greedier. "
" Dear Money let me live my secret dream of becoming a bond trader and flashing all those paper strips on the floor of the stock exchange like in Trading Places. "
" faded near the end, but it was okay. "
" 2010 quick read "
" Based simply on the title, I wondered if I'd made it past page 3, but I truly liked this book. It's quite well written, and the main character grapples with an internal struggle that a lot of professional women face. "
" This explores desire, greed, love, the artistic life, through the story of an author who abandons her art to become a bond trader. It explains the financial crisis and how it all happened and is still happening. "
" Just couldn't get into this book. The first half was slow, but okay to read, but once the second half started and all it talked about was the specifics of morgage trading, I completely lost interest! "
" Moves along nicely. Narrator is hard to love. For more thoughts, visit my One-Man Book Club at my name (all one word) dot com... "
" I would give this a strong 3.5 stars. Great story and great writing. Highly recommend! This woman certainly did her research! "
Martha McPhee is the author of several previous novels and a finalist for the National Book Award. Her fiction has appeared in the New Yorker and Zoetrope. A few years ago, when a legendary bond trader claimed he could transform her into a booming Wall Street success, she toyed with the notion but wrote Dear Money instead. She lives in New York City with her children and husband, the poet and writer Mark Svenvold.
Kate Reading, named an AudioFile Golden Voice, has recorded hundreds of audiobooks across many genres, over a thirty–year plus career and won the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration. Among other awards, she has been recognized as an AudioFile Magazine Voice of the Century, Narrator of the Year, Best Voice in Science Fiction and Fantasy, and winner of an Publisher’s Weekly’s Listen-Up Award. She records at her home studio, Madison Productions, Inc., in Maryland.
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