What happens when a modern Dian Fossey moves to the social jungle of Manhattan’s most exclusive zip code…and raises her children there?
When Wednesday Martin arrived on the Upper East Side with her husband and young son, she discovered a tight tribe of glamorous, uber-wealthy mommies with sharp elbows and massive ambitions. In a world where morning greetings went unreturned, getting play dates was a blood sport, and even walking down the sidewalk was an exercise in dominance and submission, she was a culture-shocked outcast. Using her background in anthropology and primatology to find her footing, she made like Goodall in Gombe, observing mating practices, display rituals, and moms acting like olive baboons at school drop-off. She channeled Margaret Mead to understand the tribe’s seasonal migrations, cultish exercise rites, and her own overpowering desire to possess a fetish handbag. But she also saw that not even sky-high penthouses and chauffeured SUVs could protect this ecologically released tribe from calamity. When Wednesday’s life turned upside down, she learned how deep the bonds of female friendship really are.
I absolutely loved this memoir and could not put it down! It’s incredibly clever…astonishingly illuminating. Somehow, Martin manages to be caustically perceptive but also generous, funny, moving, and erudite all at the same time. This is one of the most fascinating books I’ve read in a long time.” — Amy Chua, Yale Law Professor and author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and The Triple Package
“When mean girls and wannabes grow up, they become the women so perfectly depicted in Wednesday Martin’s funny and intelligent memoir. How wonderful that she survived the jungle of Park Avenue with strong female friendships intact.” —Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queen Bees and Wannabes
“Wednesday Martin’s blissfully funny memoir is also the definitive guide to survival on the Upper East Side—or wherever there are social ladders to climb. What a fresh new voice!” —Molly Jong-Fast, author of The Social Climber’s Handbook