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Posh Lifestyle Can't Prevent Heartache

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By JANINE DORSEY

Published: January 20, 2008

"Posh: A Novel," by Lucy Jackson (St. Martin's Press, $13.95)

Unlike "Prep," Curtis Sittenfeld's acclaimed microscopic examination of the brutal emotional and societal scarring of the upper class in its privileged world, "Posh" offers a glimpse into this same world where the major players suffer from the same tragic failings as the rest of us.
Lucy Jackson doesn't offer satirical views on the inner workings of the entitled world of private schools, but more a reporting of the behaviors of the students and adults in this all-too-real story.

Griffin is a private school on New York's Upper East Side that is populated with the most prestigious children of the biggest players on the East Coast. Readers are taken into their homes, their lifestyles and their relationships. What is exposed is eye-opening.

From the outside, it would seem that those with the most, the best, have the most favored of existences. But all is not as it would seem. Those with the best looks and the most money often have the most heartache, too.

Jackson (a pseudonym of a short-story writer and novelist) conveys that perhaps this is not just a novel but a compilation of tales of people she herself knows intimately.

The tale does not drag as she expertly changes players over the course of short and fast-paced chapters. A great read for anyone considering the world of upper-class private schooling.

Janine Dorsey is the news/special projects producer and entertainment editor for TBO.com.

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